CBP Form 7507: Air Manifest General Declaration for Freight Forwarders
CBP Form 7507, officially titled General Declaration (Outward / Inward) Agriculture, Customs, Immigration and Public Health, is the air manifest document that every commercial aircraft must lodge with US Customs and Border Protection on arrival into or departure from a US airport. Pilots, airlines, and the freight forwarders that act as authorized agents file it electronically through the Air Manifest module of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). It declares the crew, the cargo overview, the last and next port of call, the aircraft owner or operator, and the public health and agricultural declarations required by US law.
Key Takeaways
- CBP Form 7507 is the air General Declaration (often called the Gen Dec) required for every commercial aircraft entering or leaving the United States.
- It covers crew details, cargo summary, last and next port of call, aircraft owner or operator, and the public health and agriculture declarations.
- The legal filer is the aircraft operator or its authorized agent. For charter cargo flights the freight forwarder commonly files on behalf of the operator.
- Electronic submission through the ACE Air Manifest module is the standard. Paper Form 7507 is still accepted as a backup when the system is down or for non scheduled emergency flights.
- The 7507 sits alongside the air waybill manifest (filed through the Air AMS module) and, for passenger aircraft, the APIS passenger data feed. All three must align.
What is CBP Form 7507?
CBP Form 7507 is the General Declaration form for commercial aircraft entering or leaving the United States. It records aircraft identification, owner or operator, the route flown (last port of call and next port of call), the names and positions of crew on board, a summary of cargo and passengers, and the public health and agriculture declarations required under US Customs, Immigration, and Public Health law.
The 7507 is the international civil aviation equivalent of a ship's general declaration. ICAO Annex 9 standardizes the layout across countries, which is why the same data set appears on equivalent forms in Canada, the UK, the EU, and most other jurisdictions. In the US, CBP owns the form and enforces filing through ACE.
One detail worth pinning down early: the 7507 is the general aircraft declaration. It is not the cargo manifest itself. The detailed air waybill data lives in the Air AMS module, the passenger data lives in APIS, and the 7507 is the cover sheet that ties everything to the specific aircraft, crew, and rotation.
When is Form 7507 required?
Form 7507 is required for every commercial aircraft, scheduled or charter, that:
- Arrives in the United States from a foreign port (Inward General Declaration).
- Departs the United States to a foreign port (Outward General Declaration).
- Stops in the United States en route between two foreign ports (transit movement).
Private and corporate aircraft on non commercial flights have a parallel CBP requirement (Form 178 or the ACE eAPIS portal for general aviation) and do not use the 7507. Pure domestic flights between US airports are out of scope.
For US inbound flights, the most common freight forwarder scenario is a charter or part charter aircraft where the forwarder books the lift and acts as the operator's authorized agent for filing on arrival. Forwarders running Air Import Freight Management Software workflows typically build the 7507 and the underlying AMS waybill data from the same inbound shipment record. On commercial scheduled all cargo services (freighters operated by Atlas, Cargolux, or Polar), the airline files its own 7507 and the forwarder only handles the underlying air waybill data through AMS.
What data is required on CBP Form 7507?
The form is short but every field has a documentation source that must reconcile. The required data set:
| Block | Data required | Source document |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft identification | Owner or operator, registration mark, flight number, aircraft type | Operator's aircraft registration certificate |
| Route | Last port of call (departure), next port of call (destination), date | Operational flight plan |
| Crew | Number of crew, names, nationalities, license numbers, positions | Airline crew schedule |
| Passengers | Number boarding, number disembarking (zero for all cargo flights) | Passenger reservation system |
| Cargo | Total pieces, total weight, brief nature of cargo | Master air waybill ledger, AMS data |
| Health declaration | Illness on board, disinsection status, animal carriage | Crew report, lavatory and galley disinfection log |
| Authorization and signature | Authorized agent name, signature, date | Operator's letter of authority for the filing agent |
The cargo block on Form 7507 is a summary only. The piece count and weight totals must match the sum of every house and master air waybill filed through the Air AMS module. A mismatch between the 7507 totals and the AMS waybill totals is one of the most common reasons CBP holds an aircraft on arrival.
Electronic vs paper filing
Since the full rollout of ACE M1 air manifest functionality, electronic filing through ACE is the default and effectively mandatory for every scheduled commercial flight. The Air Manifest module accepts the 7507 either through a direct user interface in the ACE portal or through an EDI or API connection from the operator's or forwarder's system. Freight Integrations Software for Forwarders typically holds the ACE certified connection and pushes the 7507 plus the AMS waybill data in one transaction.
Paper Form 7507 is still printed and signed in two narrow cases:
-
1System outage backupWhen ACE is down or the operator's transmission fails, CBP accepts a printed and signed 7507 presented to the arrival officer at the port of entry. The form is later digitized into ACE for record retention.
-
2Non scheduled emergency or diverted flightsAn aircraft diverted into an unscheduled US airport for medical, technical, or weather reasons may not have a pre filed ACE manifest. The crew presents Form 7507 on paper and CBP processes the arrival manually.
-
3Crew clearance at the aircraftA signed printed copy is still commonly handed to the CBP officer at the aircraft door even when the electronic filing has already been accepted. This is a documentation practice more than a regulatory requirement at most ports.
The current paper version of Form 7507 is hosted on the CBP forms portal. Operators that need it should pull the latest PDF from cbp.gov rather than recycling an older internal copy, because field numbering has changed across revisions.
Who is responsible for filing?
The legal filer is the aircraft operator. In practice the filing is done by one of four parties depending on the flight type:
- Scheduled commercial airline. Airline operations files its own 7507 through its ACE certified system. The forwarder is not in the loop on the Gen Dec itself, only on the underlying AMS waybill data.
- All cargo scheduled freighter. The airline or its general sales agent (GSA) files. Forwarders submit master and house waybill data into AMS; the GSA assembles the Gen Dec.
- Charter cargo flight booked by a forwarder. The forwarder typically holds the operator's letter of authority and files Form 7507 as the authorized agent, alongside all of the AMS waybill data for the cargo on board.
- Diverted or emergency arrival. The pilot in command presents a paper 7507 to the arrival CBP officer at the unscheduled airport.
For US outbound flights, the practical filer picture is the same. On scheduled all cargo departures the airline files the Outward Gen Dec; on charter cargo lifts booked by the forwarder the forwarder files as authorized agent. Forwarders running Air Export Freight Management Software workflows out of the US work off the same shipment record that already carries the master air waybill and the ACE export filings, so the 7507 draws from data the team has already built.
How Form 7507 fits with AMS and APIS
Air arrivals into the US are governed by three connected filings under the ACE umbrella. Each covers a different layer of the same flight:
| Filing | Scope | Filed by | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBP Form 7507 (Gen Dec) | Aircraft, crew, route, cargo summary, health | Operator or authorized agent | Prior to arrival, at wheels up at the latest |
| Air AMS | Detailed master and house air waybill data per shipment | Carrier, deconsolidator, or forwarder | No later than wheels up from the last foreign airport. For long haul, 4 hours before US arrival |
| APIS | Per passenger and per crew member biographic data | Operator (passenger or mixed flights only) | Within 15 minutes of departure for the US |
Three filings, one aircraft, one rotation. CBP cross checks: the cargo summary on the 7507 must add up to the AMS waybill total, the APIS crew list must match the crew section of the 7507, and the route and aircraft data must reconcile across all three. Disagreement triggers a hold.
A last minute load change after the AMS filing has been transmitted but before the 7507 is finalized is the most common source of 7507 to AMS mismatches. Build the 7507 from the same shipment record that produced the AMS push, not from a separate spreadsheet, so any add or drop flows into both filings in one update.
Common Form 7507 filing mistakes
The errors that show up most often in CBP arrival reviews:
- Cargo totals do not match AMS. The summary piece count or weight on the 7507 differs from the sum of the master air waybills on file. CBP holds the flight until the operator reconciles.
- Last port of call wrong. A technical stop for fuel between the origin and the US is the last port of call, not the original commercial departure airport. Filing the wrong code is a routine reject reason.
- Crew license numbers blank or wrong. Required for the captain and first officer at minimum. CBP cross checks against FAA airman registry.
- Health declaration left at default. If a crew member reported illness, or animals were carried, the declaration must reflect it. Leaving the block at "no" when there was a reportable event is a regulatory exposure.
- Authorized agent without a current letter of authority. The forwarder filing on the operator's behalf must have a signed and current letter on file with CBP. Expired letters cause AMS account flags.
Form 7507 and the freight forwarder operating model
For most forwarders moving air freight into the US, the 7507 is a touch point rather than a daily filing. The data feeding it (cargo totals, route, aircraft) is the same data already in the air waybill ledger and the AMS submission. Forwarders that run repeat charter lifts on a fixed rotation get the biggest lift from Workflow Automation Software for Forwarders, which reapplies the operator profile, authorized agent block, and standing health declaration defaults across every filing in the same charter program. The cleanest operating model is to manage all three filings in one platform:
- AMS filed from one system, 7507 typed into ACE portal manually
- Cargo totals reconciled by hand at the end of the build
- Letter of authority tracked in a shared drive folder
- Health declaration filled in from memory by the agent
- Reconciliation errors caught at arrival, after the flight is on the ground
- AMS and 7507 transmitted from the same shipment record
- Cargo totals auto reconciled at build time
- Letter of authority status visible on the operator profile
- Health declaration prompted in the flight close workflow
- Errors caught and resolved before wheels up
What changes if a flight is diverted to a different US airport?
An aircraft diverted into an unscheduled US airport (medical, mechanical, or weather) still owes a 7507 to CBP at the diversion airport, not at the original destination. The process:
- Pilot in command notifies the destination airport CBP duty officer of the diversion and the new arrival airport.
- The operator (or its agent) updates the AMS filing to reflect the new arrival port. If ACE is unavailable in time, a paper 7507 is presented at the diversion airport.
- The cargo on the aircraft is bonded into the diversion airport's CBP custody. The forwarder must file an in bond movement (CBP Form 7512) to move the cargo onward to the original destination.
- Once the cargo arrives at the original destination airport, the standard customs entry process resumes.
The 7507 itself is rarely the rate limiting step in a diversion. The in bond movement and the AMS amendment usually are.
Where to get the latest Form 7507 PDF
CBP publishes the current PDF of Form 7507 on its forms portal at cbp.gov/document/forms/form-7507-general-declaration. The same page hosts the instructions. The form has been revised multiple times. The most recent revision (current as of 2026) carries the OMB control number 1651-0002. Always pull the live PDF from CBP rather than reusing an internal copy more than 12 months old, since field numbering and the health declaration block have both changed across revisions.
Filing the 7507 cleanly means the AMS waybills, the Gen Dec totals, and the operator authority all line up in one workflow. GoFreight runs all three from a single shipment record so your team transmits once and lands clean.
Request a GoFreight DemoFrequently Asked Questions
What is CBP Form 7507?
CBP Form 7507 is the General Declaration form for commercial aircraft entering or leaving the United States. It records the aircraft, owner or operator, route, crew, summary of cargo and passengers, and the public health and agriculture declarations required by US Customs, Immigration, and Public Health law. It is often called the Gen Dec.
Who files CBP Form 7507?
The legal filer is the aircraft operator. In practice, scheduled airlines file their own 7507 through ACE. On charter cargo flights booked by a freight forwarder, the forwarder commonly files as the operator's authorized agent under a signed letter of authority. On diverted or emergency arrivals, the pilot in command presents the form at the arrival airport.
Is Form 7507 the same as the air manifest?
No. Form 7507 is the General Declaration, which is the cover document for the aircraft, crew, and route, plus a summary of cargo. The detailed cargo manifest (every master and house air waybill) is filed separately through the Air AMS module. The 7507 cargo summary must reconcile with the AMS waybill data.
When must Form 7507 be filed?
Form 7507 must be on file with CBP prior to the aircraft's arrival into a US airport (Inward Gen Dec) or prior to departure from a US airport to a foreign destination (Outward Gen Dec). The standard practice is to transmit at wheels up from the last foreign airport at the latest. AMS waybill data has its own deadline of 4 hours before arrival on long haul flights.
Is Form 7507 filed electronically?
Yes. Electronic filing through the Air Manifest module of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the default and effectively mandatory for scheduled commercial flights. Paper Form 7507 is still accepted as a backup when ACE is down, for non scheduled emergency arrivals, and is often handed to the arrival CBP officer in printed form even when the electronic filing is already accepted.
What is the difference between Form 7507 and APIS?
Form 7507 covers the aircraft, crew, route, and cargo summary. APIS (Advance Passenger Information System) covers per passenger and per crew biographic data on passenger or mixed flights. Both filings reach CBP through ACE, both must reconcile with each other, but they capture different data and have different deadlines. APIS is due within 15 minutes of departure to the US.
Does a freight forwarder need to file Form 7507?
It depends on the flight type. On scheduled airline flights the airline files. On all cargo scheduled freighters the airline or its general sales agent files. On charter cargo flights where the forwarder books the lift, the forwarder typically holds the operator's letter of authority and files Form 7507 as the authorized agent. In most forwarder operating models, the 7507 is a touch point rather than a daily filing.
What happens if Form 7507 does not match the AMS data?
CBP cross checks the cargo totals on Form 7507 against the sum of the master and house air waybills filed through Air AMS. A mismatch triggers an arrival hold. The operator must reconcile by either amending the 7507 or amending the AMS waybill data before cargo is released. Filing both from the same shipment record in one platform is the cleanest way to prevent this.
Where can I download CBP Form 7507?
The current Form 7507 PDF is on the CBP forms portal at cbp.gov/document/forms/form-7507-general-declaration. The current OMB control number is 1651-0002. The form has been revised multiple times and the field layout has changed, so always pull the live PDF from CBP rather than reusing an internal copy more than 12 months old.
