CBP Form 5291 Power of Attorney: Signing, Duration, and Liability

CBP Form 5291 is the Customs and Border Protection power of attorney you use to authorize a customs broker or other agent to transact import business in your name. You fill it out once, sign it, and give it to your broker — you do not file it with CBP yourself. The form is governed by 19 CFR 141.32, and CBP will also accept any general or limited power of attorney executed with equivalent detail, though brokers almost always ask for the 5291 or their own version of it.

Who Can Sign It

The person signing must have legal authority to bind the principal, and the rules shift with entity type. This is where most rejected forms fail.

Individuals and sole proprietors sign for themselves. A sole proprietor lists the owner’s full legal name.
Corporate presidents, vice presidents, treasurers, and secretaries who are known to CBP can sign customs documents on the corporation’s behalf without a power of attorney at all. When someone else signs — or when a broker wants the formal authorization on file — the form must be executed by a duly authorized person and paired with a board resolution or a secretary’s certificate under the corporate seal confirming that authority.¹
Partnerships must list every partner on the form. Either all partners sign, or a general partner with authority under the partnership agreement signs alone. The port director may ask to see the partnership agreement.²
A trustee signing on behalf of a trust must attach a copy of the trust instrument, or a certified extract, showing authority to act.²

Filling In the Form, Field by Field

The form is a single page. At the top, check the box that matches your entity type. Then work through the numbered items.

Item 1, principal’s full legal name. Enter the exact legal name of the individual, each partner, corporation, or sole proprietorship owner. If a partnership has too many partners to fit, attach a rider and note the rider on the form.
Item 2, state of incorporation. Corporations only. Everyone else leaves it blank.
Item 3, entity type. Individuals, partnerships, and sole proprietors indicate which. Corporations and unincorporated associations leave it blank.
Item 4, assumed business name. Your “doing business as” name, if you use one.
Item 5, residence address. For individuals, each partner, or the sole proprietorship owner. A rider is fine if you need more space.
Item 6, business address. The principal’s business address.
Item 7, expiration date. Enter a specific date if you want the authority to expire on its own. Leave it blank and the power of attorney runs until you revoke it in writing. Partnerships get no more than two years regardless of what appears in this field.³
Items 8 through 10, signature block. Print the name from Item 1, sign, and print the signer’s name and title or capacity, such as “President” or “General Partner.”
Item 11, date. The date of signing.

The pre-printed body of the form grants the broad customs authority the broker needs: making entry, endorsing bills of lading, signing bonds, filing drawback claims, submitting protests, and generally transacting customs business on your behalf. A standard importer-broker relationship does not require any changes to that language.

The Identification Number

Your importer identification number ties the form to your customs account. Businesses use their IRS-assigned Employer Identification Number. Individuals importing on a personal account use their Social Security number.⁴ If you have neither, apply for a CBP-assigned number on Form 5106 before executing the power of attorney.

A Shortcut for One-Time Personal Shipments

Individuals who are not regular importers, and who are not partnerships or corporations, can skip Form 5291 entirely for a single noncommercial shipment. A short power-of-attorney statement written, printed, or stamped on the commercial invoice (or attached to it), naming an unpaid agent, is enough to authorize entry for that one shipment.⁵

Documents to Have Ready With the Form

The form by itself is not always enough. Depending on the entity, CBP or the broker may want backup paperwork:

Corporations: a board resolution or secretary’s certificate under the corporate seal confirming the signer’s authority.¹
Partnerships: the partnership agreement, if the port director asks for it.²
Trustees: a copy or certified extract of the trust instrument.
Nonresident corporations: a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation or a certificate of good standing, plus the bond and resident agent designation described below.

Can You Sign Electronically?

CBP does not prohibit electronic signatures on a customs power of attorney. Validity turns on the law of the state governing execution. The federal E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001, says electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce cannot be denied legal effect just because they are electronic, but some states carve out or limit that rule for powers of attorney. Check your state’s law before relying on an e-signature, and remember that your broker must be able to produce the signed document on CBP request.⁶

Where the Form Goes After You Sign It

You do not submit CBP Form 5291 to CBP. You give the executed original to your customs broker. The broker keeps it in their records and produces it when CBP asks. The regulations require the broker to have a valid power of attorney before transacting customs business in your name, but not to file it with CBP proactively.⁶

How Long It Lasts and How to End It

For every entity type except partnerships, the power of attorney can run indefinitely. A blank expiration field keeps it live until revoked. Partnerships are capped at two years from execution, so a partnership has to renew before that window closes or its broker loses authority to file.³

Revocation requires written notice given to and received by CBP at the port of entry or electronically.⁷ Notify the broker directly as well so they stop filing in your name. Until CBP actually receives the written revocation, the power of attorney is still valid in the agency’s eyes. A phone call or email to the broker is not enough on its own.

Nonresident Importers Have Extra Steps

A nonresident individual, partnership, association, or corporation must appoint a resident agent in the United States who can accept service of process in any legal proceedings arising from the customs transactions. The nonresident principal also files a bond with the port director in an amount the port director sets as sufficient to cover potential liability to the government.² Nonresident corporations add one more step: filing a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation, or a certificate of good standing, with the port where the power of attorney will be filed, along with the resident agent designation.

The Form Does Not Transfer Your Liability

Handing your import business to a broker does not hand off your legal responsibility. Under 19 U.S.C. § 1484, the importer of record, whether acting personally or through an authorized agent, must use “reasonable care” when filing the documentation CBP uses to release merchandise, assess duties, and enforce trade laws.⁸ You are expected to give your broker accurate product descriptions, correct tariff classifications, and truthful values. If the broker files an entry based on bad information you supplied, the penalties fall on you.

Electronic entries carry the same weight as signed paper. Each electronic transmission is certified as true and correct, and that certification binds the importer of record.⁸ Fraudulent entries can draw civil penalties up to the full domestic value of the merchandise.⁹ Even where the fraud started with the broker, CBP will look at whether the importer exercised reasonable care in overseeing the process. The power of attorney creates a legal relationship, not a legal shield.

1
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.38 – Resident Corporations
2
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 141 Subpart C – Powers of Attorney
3
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.34 – Duration of Power of Attorney
4
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Importers – Why Is an Overseas Supplier Asking for My Social Security Number/Tax ID Number/IRS Number/Importer Number?
5
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.33 – Powers of Attorney for Single Noncommercial Shipments
6
CustomsMobile. Use of Electronic Signatures on a Customs Broker Power of Attorney
7
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.35 – Revocation of Power of Attorney
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1484 – Entry of Merchandise
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S. Code 1592 – Penalties for Fraud, Gross Negligence, and Negligence