What Happens to Items Seized by Customs: Petitions and Forfeiture

When U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizes items at a port of entry or international mail facility, the property ends in one of four places: back with the owner, destroyed, sold at public auction, or transferred to another federal agency. What happens to items seized by customs depends on the type of goods, whether the seizure is contested, and how the owner responds to CBP’s formal notice. The single biggest factor you control is that response. Miss the deadline and the government keeps the property; file something, even imperfect, and you preserve every option below.

The Seizure Notice Starts the Clock

CBP must send written notice to every known interested party within 60 calendar days of the seizure.¹ The agency can extend that by 30 days in narrow circumstances, such as when early notice would endanger someone or compromise an investigation, and a court can extend it further.

The notice contains everything you need to respond: a Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures (FP&F) case number, a description of the property, the seizure location, the legal authority CBP relied on, the appraised domestic value, and contact information for the FP&F office handling your case. Use the FP&F case number in every communication that follows.

Along with the notice, CBP typically includes an Election of Proceedings form laying out your response options and the deadline to choose one. That deadline is the number that matters most on the page.

For property appraised at $500,000 or less, CBP handles the whole process administratively. Anything above that must go through federal court.²

Your Response Options

The Election of Proceedings form presents several paths. Which one fits depends on how strong your legal position is, what the property is worth, and how quickly you need it back.

Petition for remission or mitigation. The most common response. You ask CBP to return the property or reduce the penalty by arguing the violation was neither intentional nor willfully negligent. The case stays within CBP.
Offer in compromise. You propose a specific dollar amount to settle and submit a check for that amount with the offer. This route fits when your legal defense is weak but the property is worth more than the settlement figure.
Pay the appraised value for immediate release. If you need the property back fast, CBP can release it for its full appraised domestic value while the case continues. For property valued at $100,000 or less, the local FP&F Officer can approve; higher-value requests go to the Commissioner of Customs. You must show a substantial ownership interest, and the goods cannot be prohibited from entering the country.³⁴
Request judicial forfeiture. The case moves to federal court, where a judge decides. Customs seizures under Title 19 are excluded from the federal civil forfeiture reforms that eliminated bond requirements for most other federal seizures, so you must file a formal claim and post a cost bond. The bond is typically 10% of the appraised value or $5,000, whichever is lower, with a $250 minimum.
Abandon the property. You give up all rights and CBP disposes of it. This makes sense only when fighting the seizure would cost more than the property is worth.

Petitioning to Get Your Property Back

A petition for remission or mitigation is the workhorse of the customs seizure process. You are asking CBP’s deciding officer to find that the violation occurred without willful negligence or any intent to break the law or underpay duties.⁵ If the officer agrees, or finds enough mitigating circumstances, CBP can return the property outright, return it with a reduced penalty, or drop the case.

The petition follows no specific format, but it must include four things: a description of the seized property, the date and place of the seizure, the facts and circumstances you rely on, and proof of a legitimate ownership interest.⁶ Attach original or certified copies of ownership documents such as purchase receipts, invoices, or bills of sale. If someone else was carrying the goods when they were seized, explain how the property came to be in that person’s possession.

The heart of the petition is your written explanation of why the violation was unintentional. A bare assertion that you didn’t know the rules is rarely enough. Concrete evidence helps: correspondence showing you asked the seller about import requirements, shipping records from previous compliant shipments, or documentation that a customs broker gave you incorrect guidance. Specifics carry the argument.

Send the completed petition to the FP&F office listed on your seizure notice. CBP issues a written decision granting full relief, granting partial relief with a reduced penalty, or denying the petition.

If Your Petition Is Denied

A denial is not the end. You can file a supplemental petition within 60 days of receiving the denial, whether or not you have paid the penalty from the original decision.⁷ The supplemental petition goes to the same FP&F office. Use it to present new evidence, address the specific reasons CBP cited in the denial, or argue that the mitigated penalty was too high given the circumstances.

Counterfeit Goods Are a Special Case

If CBP determines your imported goods bear a counterfeit trademark, the property heads for forfeiture unless the trademark owner gives written consent to an alternative. Within 30 days of being notified, the trademark owner can consent to letting you import the goods, export them, or remove the offending marks.⁸ Without that consent, the goods are destroyed. You can still file a petition for relief, but getting counterfeit goods released is extremely difficult in practice. Most trademark owners have no reason to consent.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

Ignoring the seizure notice is the most common way people lose property they might have recovered. If no one files a claim or petition by the stated deadline, CBP publishes notice of the seizure for three consecutive weeks and then administratively forfeits the property.² At that point the government owns it, and your rights are gone. No grace period, no second chance. Even if you believe the seizure was unjustified, silence counts as consent.

Where Forfeited Property Actually Goes

Once property is officially forfeited and no one has a remaining legal claim, CBP disposes of it based on what the goods are and whether they have any lawful commercial value.

Destruction

Counterfeit merchandise, controlled substances, unsafe consumer products, and goods that violate agricultural or health regulations are destroyed. For counterfeit goods, destruction is the default outcome unless the trademark owner consents to an alternative.⁸ No auction, no repurposing. The goods are physically destroyed under documented chain-of-custody procedures.

Transfer to Government Use

Forfeited property with practical value can be transferred to other federal agencies. Vehicles may join a government fleet, electronics can support agency operations, and specialized equipment goes where it is needed. The receiving agency reimburses CBP for storage and transportation costs incurred between the seizure date and the delivery date.⁹

Public Auction

Forfeited goods with legitimate commercial value, such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, and electronics, are sold at public auction. The Treasury Department contracts with asset management companies to handle the sale of seized real property, and other forfeited goods are sold through government auction platforms. Culturally significant items like fossils or artwork are sometimes donated to museums or educational institutions.

Seized Currency

Forfeited cash and monetary instruments are deposited into the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, which finances law enforcement operations, covers storage and disposal costs, and funds other authorized expenses.¹⁰

Storage Costs Are Running the Whole Time

Seized property does not sit in a warehouse for free. CBP incurs storage, cartage, and labor costs from the date of seizure forward, and those costs come out of your pocket one way or another. If your petition succeeds and the property was already sold, the storage expenses are deducted from the sale proceeds before you receive anything.⁹ Daily storage rates at CBP-contracted facilities vary by location and by the type of property held, but they add up fast. For vehicles or cargo containers, weeks of storage can erode a successful petition’s value considerably. Moving quickly on your response is a financial strategy as much as a legal one.

1
eCFR. 19 CFR 162.92 – Notice of Seizure
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S. Code 1607 – Seizure; Value $500,000 or Less, Prohibited Merchandise, Transporting Conveyances
3
eCFR. 19 CFR 162.44 – Release on Payment of Appraised Value
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S. Code 1614 – Release of Seized Property
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1618 – Remission or Mitigation of Penalties
6
eCFR. 19 CFR 171.1 – Petition for Relief
7
eCFR. 19 CFR 171.61 – Time and Place of Filing
8
eCFR. 19 CFR 133.21 – Articles Suspected of Bearing Counterfeit Marks
9
eCFR. 19 CFR 162.51 – Disposition of Proceeds of Sale of Property Seized and Forfeited Other Than Under 19 U.S.C. 1592
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S.C. 9705 – Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund