Who Is the Importer of Record? IOR Rules for DDP in the US, EU, UK

What the importer of record does

The IOR declares the goods to customs, itself or through a customs broker, pays the duties and import taxes, and answers for the classification, value and origin declared. It keeps the entry records and receives any duty refunds. It is not always the company the goods are shipped to, and a broker or forwarder normally acts only as its agent.

Under Incoterms 2020 DAP the buyer handles and pays for import clearance; under DDP the seller does, including duties and taxes. The ICC notes that some countries require the local importer to clear goods itself, and that DAP suits a seller that does not want, or is not allowed, to handle import clearance.

United States: who can be IOR and what a non-resident needs

Under 19 U.S.C. 1484 the IOR must be the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser or consignee, and must use reasonable care in declaring value, classification and rate of duty. Duties are a personal debt of the importer, even if a broker fails to pay them (19 CFR 141.1). Refunds, including IEEPA refunds, go to the IOR named on the entry.

A foreign company can be IOR (a non-resident importer). A nonresident corporation needs a resident agent authorized to accept service of process in the state of the port of entry and a bond with a resident corporate surety (19 CFR 141.18).

• Importer number: the company's IRS employer identification number (EIN) or, without one, a CBP-assigned number requested on CBP Form 5106 by the first formal entry (19 CFR 24.5).
• Bond: needed for formal entries, generally shipments over USD 2,500; single transaction (one entry) or continuous (multiple entries).
• Broker: needs your power of attorney (19 CFR 141.46); a nonresident's is accepted only if the agent named is a US resident authorized to accept service of process (19 CFR 141.36).
• Low-value goods: the USD 800 de minimis exemption has been suspended since 29 August 2025, indefinitely since 24 June 2026, so courier and freight shipments need an informal entry (generally up to USD 2,500) or a formal entry. By law it ends on 1 July 2027.
• Records: keep them 5 years from the date of entry (19 CFR 163.4).

European Union: declarant, representative and import VAT

EU law has no importer of record; the key role is the declarant, who lodges the customs declaration in its own name or in whose name it is lodged. The declarant must be established in the EU, except for transit or temporary admission, occasional declarations that customs accept as justified, and some declarants from adjacent countries (Union Customs Code, Article 170).

A customs representative can act directly, in your name, or indirectly, in its own name on your behalf (Article 18). Under direct representation you stay the declarant, so non-EU sellers normally use an EU-established indirect representative, and both then owe the customs duty (Article 77(3)).

Import VAT is owed by whoever the country of import designates (VAT Directive, Article 201). If that is a non-EU seller, its sale to the buyer takes place in that country (Article 32), so a DDP seller usually needs a local VAT registration; rules vary. Consumer consignments up to EUR 150 can use IOSS or a marketplace instead (see Triplicate's EU import note).

United Kingdom: someone established in the UK

A business usually needs premises in the UK (being established) to get a GB EORI number. HMRC says a person without a UK establishment needs someone to deal with customs for it, who completes the import declaration and, if you cannot get an EORI, gets one instead.

A non-UK business registered for UK VAT can use postponed VAT accounting by instructing that agent in writing and being entered as consignee.

Third-party IOR services

Some companies offer to act as importer of record, or in Europe as indirect representative, for foreign sellers, making DDP possible without a local set-up. Check how the provider qualifies (in the US, as owner or purchaser or as a designated licensed broker), who pays and reclaims import VAT, who keeps records and receives refunds, and who bears extra duty if customs later changes the entry.

Exporter of record

"Exporter of record" is trade shorthand for the party named as exporter on the export declaration and answerable for export rules; US regulations do not define it. The Foreign Trade Regulations use the U.S. principal party in interest (USPPI), the person in the US that receives the primary benefit of the export, such as the US seller or manufacturer (15 CFR 30.1, 30.3). The Export Administration Regulations define the "exporter" as the person in the US with the authority of a principal party in interest to determine and control the sending of items out of the US (15 CFR 772.1).

The USPPI or its authorized agent files Electronic Export Information (EEI) in AES; a foreign entity that is the USPPI must use an agent. In a routed export transaction, the foreign buyer authorizes a US agent to handle the export and file the EEI.