Flag
From the invoice description.
We read the line for the agency. Cosmetics and foods draw FDA. Wood draws Lacey. Exotic skins draw FWS and CITES. Rough diamond draws Kimberley.
PGA clearance
The hold is a missing packet.
We flag the agency from the invoice description. Every declaration sits in the vault before ACE. We will not transmit a 7501 that still owes a PGA fact.
Book a consultation Free Entry AuditFDA. EPA/TSCA. FWS/CITES. Lacey. Kimberley. Named from the invoice.
An invoice that names the brand and skips the agency is how cargo sits. Cosmetics owe FDA Prior Notice. Exotic leather owes FWS eDec. Rough diamond owes Kimberley. Composite hardware may owe TSCA. The hold is a missing packet — not a mystery delay.
We flag the requirement while the aircraft is still over the water. If the packet is incomplete, we pause. We will not transmit a 7501 that still owes a PGA fact.
01 · The method
Flag it. Vault it. Then transmit.
Vault
Every declaration on the file.
Prior Notice confirmations, eDec numbers, TSCA statements, Lacey declarations, Kimberley certificates — in the vault before ACE.
Gate
No transmit until complete.
A yellow line on the dashboard beats a detained belt. We will not send a 7501 that still owes a PGA fact.
Named
Agency by agency.
FDA Prior Notice. EPA / TSCA. FWS & CITES. APHIS / Lacey. State / FinCEN for Kimberley. Named from the invoice — not bolted on for show.
02 · The real cost
A missing packet is not a logistics delay.
Cargo holds and refused entry attach when the agency packet is absent. Dressing that as a “customs mystery” wastes the clock. The expensive hold is the one you could have filled before the doors opened.
We isolate the PGA work on the same licensed file as the heading. The dashboard shows the yellow line before the crate moves — not in a Friday email.
03 · On the file
The packet sits in the vault before ACE.
PGA clearance is desk work. It is done before the 3461 and before ACE. The entry does not transmit until the declaration is on the file. A licensed broker still signs.
04 · What we need
Send the invoice. We will say which agency rides.
- Commercial description What it is — cosmetics, food, leather, wood, tech composite — not only the brand name.
- Composition / species Fiber, ingredients, leather species, wood species. Unnamed is a pause.
- Prior Notice / permits FDA confirmation, foreign CITES, Kimberley number when the invoice earns it.
- Manufacturer / shipper The facts the agency form actually asks for — on the file, not reconstructed at the door.
- Country of origin On each line. Harvest country when Lacey is in play.
On the same file
The desk around the PGA flag.
Classification
Tariff classification
The heading and the agency flag are read from the same invoice.
Entry
3461 / 7501
Nothing transmits until the packet is complete and a broker signs.
Defense
Audit defense / CF-28
PGA facts already in the vault survive a Request for Information.
Questions we actually get
The file before the appointment.
When does FDA Prior Notice apply?
When the invoice covers food, beverages, or cosmetics that require Prior Notice. The confirmation sits in the vault before arrival. We will not transmit a beauty or food entry that still owes that fact.
Do you bolt Kimberley onto every diamond line?
No. Kimberley is for rough diamond under 19 CFR 12.140. Polished, mounted stones are a different fact pattern. We do not stamp Kimberley to look thorough.
What belongs in the vault before ACE?
Every declaration the invoice earns — Prior Notice, eDec, CITES, Lacey, TSCA, Kimberley. Missing any of those is a pause, not a guess.
Is a PGA hold the same as a late truck?
No. A missing packet is a regulatory hold. A late dray is logistics. We will not dress one as the other.
The desk
Bring one invoice that still owes an agency.
A consultation returns classification notes, PGA flags, and a flat fee. If the packet is not one we can defend, we will say so in the memo.