Reasonable care is the legal standard established under 19 U.S.C. 1484 that requires importers to exercise responsible supervision and control over their customs transactions. It means taking all necessary steps to ensure that the information provided to CBP — classification, valuation, country of origin, marking, and all other entry data — is accurate and complete. CBP evaluates whether an importer met the reasonable care standard when deciding whether to assess penalties for entry violations.
Why It Matters for Importers
Reasonable care is the dividing line between an honest mistake and a penalizable violation. When CBP discovers an error in a customs entry, the first question they ask is whether the importer exercised reasonable care. If you can demonstrate that you had systems, procedures, and qualified professionals in place to ensure accurate filings, CBP is more likely to treat the error as a correctable mistake. If you cannot, CBP can classify the violation as negligence or gross negligence and assess substantial penalties.
The standard is deliberately subjective. What constitutes reasonable care for a company importing $10 million of electronics from multiple countries is different from what constitutes reasonable care for a small business importing $50,000 of clothing from one supplier. CBP expects your compliance efforts to be proportional to the complexity and volume of your import activity.
Demonstrating Reasonable Care
- Engage a licensed customs broker with expertise in your product category.
- Obtain binding rulings from CBP for products with ambiguous classification.
- Maintain written procedures for import operations, including classification, valuation, and record-keeping.
- Conduct periodic internal audits of customs entries to identify and correct errors.
- Respond promptly to CBP requests for information (CF-28s).
- Keep complete records of all import transactions for at least five years.
- Provide your customs broker with accurate and complete product information, including material composition, intended use, and value.
The Reasonable Care Checklist
CBP publishes an Informed Compliance Publication titled "What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: Reasonable Care" that includes detailed checklists for different aspects of importing. Working through these checklists with your customs broker is one of the most straightforward ways to build a defensible reasonable care record.
Learn more about building a robust compliance program at our import compliance services page.