Every ISF must reference at least one BOL at the lowest level transmitted to CBP in ACE (i.e., house bill or regular bill). The BOL number is part of the customs manifest information that is already required to be transmitted to CBP by the carrier or automated NVOCC in ACE 24 hours prior to the cargo being laden on a vessel destined to the United States.

The return message “Accepted, No Bill on File” means that the ISF was accepted but the BOL number listed as part of the ISF did not match to a house BOL or regular BOL on file within ACE. These are some common reasons why there may be a “No Bill on File” message:

The ISF preceded the transmission of the customs manifest information. In these cases, CBP will send out a match message as soon as the manifest data is received in ACE and the BOL number and BOL type match to the BOL number and BOL type reference on the ISF.

The BOL number referenced on the ISF may contain a typographical error. In these cases, please check again with the parties who provided the BOL information. There is a query in ABI that can confirm whether or not a BOL number currently exists in ACE.

The BOL type referenced on the ISF does not match the BOL type in ACE.
Please do not send a replace (amended) ISF to in order to try to force a match message as these types of actions could potentially impact your compliance profile. If you have gone through all these steps and you are confident that the BOL number transmitted as part of your ISF is the lowest level BOL in ACE, the correct bill type code was referenced, and the Vessel Operating Carrier (VOC) or NVOCC transmitted the manifest information in ACE, you should contact your CBP Client Representative for assistance.

An “Accepted” message does not indicate that the ISF has been finalized.