Automate customs clearance
Unstract reads each entry packet before the goods land, cross-checks the invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin, and sends clean entry data to your customs filing or ERP system for a licensed broker to file.
Trusted by logistics and supply chain teams around the globe
The packet lands in pieces, days before the vessel
A shipment's paperwork comes from the shipper, the forwarder, the carrier and a chamber of commerce. Someone on the import desk compares it page by page and keys every line into the entry while the vessel sails closer.
Invoice lines keyed into the entry before the vessel berths
A certificate of origin scanned at an angle, stamp over the exporter
An invoice quantity the packing list doesn't support
One shipment's documents spread across four emails
The same commercial invoice attached to two entries
Every packet has to be read, compared document against document and keyed before the broker can file, and a missed difference surfaces as a hold at the port.
Unstract reads the packet as each document arrives, cross-checks values, quantities, origin and HTS codes, and drafts the entry data. The broker sees only the lines that need a decision.
From the forwarder's email to your brokerage software, without the keying
Five steps, run on their own for every entry packet. Parsing by LLMWhisperer, extraction by Document Studio, the whole run by Flow.
Pick up the entry packet wherever it lands
The commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill and certificate of origin come from the shipper and the forwarder, often days before the goods. Each document is picked up where it arrives and filed under one shipment, matched by bill of lading number, invoice number and importer.
The packet builds itself as the pieces come in, so a missing certificate shows up while there is still time to ask for it.
Read every document, then pull the fields the entry needs
LLMWhisperer reads each document as text with its layout kept, so a packing list spreadsheet, a scanned certificate with a stamp across it and a multi-page invoice all come out readable. Document Studio then extracts the fields you defined: importer, consignee, HTS codes, country of origin, quantities, values, currency, Incoterms and weights, from every document in the packet.
The same field definitions run on every shipper's paperwork, whatever their invoice looks like.
Check the packet against itself before anyone keys a line
Values and quantities are compared across the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading. The origin on the invoice is checked against the certificate of origin, and each HTS code against your tariff table, your product classification records and the description on the invoice. A packet that agrees keeps moving. One that doesn't stops with the documents side by side.
Set the conditions once (a quantity or value that differs, a missing HTS code, no certificate of origin) and only those packets wait for a person.
Hand the broker only the lines that need a licensed decision
Lines that need a classification decision, a license or a partner-agency filing are flagged for a licensed customs broker, along with any difference the cross-check found. The broker opens the line, the page it came from and the reason it stopped, and decides.
Unstract prepares the data. The classification call and the filing stay with the licensed broker.
Open the entry draft where the broker already files
Clean data goes into your customs brokerage software, such as CargoWise or Descartes, to prepare the entry and the ISF, ready for the broker to file. Quantities and values also go to your TMS or ERP, and every decision the broker made is recorded against the packet.
Nothing is keyed a second time between the packet and the entry.
See it run on a week of your own entry packets.
Send the packets from one import lane, scans and spreadsheets included. We run them in front of you and walk through each cross-check and every line that went to the broker.
Everything that arrives with a shipment
Documents
- Commercial invoices
- Packing lists
- Bills of lading
- Air waybills
- Certificates of origin
- Customs declarations
- Cargo manifests
- Arrival notices
- Import licenses and permits
- Product specification sheets
- Customs powers of attorney
- Tariff tables and classification records from your systems
Fields captured
Our agents are extroverts.
Cloud storage like S3, Google Drive, Dropbox and Box. Databases and warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, Postgres and SQL Server. Accounting, ERP and CRM systems like QuickBooks, Xero, SAP, NetSuite, Salesforce and HubSpot. Project trackers like Jira, Asana, ClickUp and Linear. And anything with an API.
Live on one import lane first
No developers on your side and no switch-over day. The run is built on your own entry packets and proven on one lane before other lanes join.
Book a consultation
We go through a week of your entry packets together: who sends each document, how it arrives, and what your team checks before a broker files.
Built on your documents
The fields, the cross-checks against your tariff table and classification records, and the hand-off to your brokerage software are set up on your own packets, not samples.
Pilot on one lane, then roll out
One import lane runs live within days. Once its packets clear the checks reliably, the next lanes and shippers follow with the same rules.
Built for the people who get goods through customs
Entry packets that arrive checked, with only the lines that need your classification call, a license or a partner-agency filing left on your desk.
Customs clearance automation that catches a short-shipped line or a missing certificate before the packet goes to the broker.
HTS codes checked against your own classification records on every shipment, with each broker decision recorded against the entry.
Quantities and carton counts from the packet in your TMS or ERP before the container reaches the dock.
Entry packets checked in minutes, differences caught before filing
Built to carry your importer and supplier records
An entry packet names your suppliers, what you buy from them and the price you paid, alongside importer numbers and your HTS classifications. Together that is your sourcing map and your landed cost.
- Encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Entry packets and classification records are never used to train models.
- Access by role, importer and lane, with every broker decision and correction recorded against the packet.
- Retention you set: processed packets are deleted on the schedule you choose.
- Self-hosted deployment for brokers and importers whose controls keep trade documents inside their own environment.
What import teams ask before they start
Start with the checks people already run by hand. Unstract collects the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill and certificate of origin into one packet, reads every field, and compares values, quantities, origin and HTS codes across them. Clean packets go straight to entry preparation, and a licensed broker sees only the lines that need a decision.
Unstract prepares the data for it. LLMWhisperer reads the documents, Document Studio extracts the fields, and Flow runs the cross-checks and sends the result to the system your broker files from. Automated customs clearance still ends with a licensed customs broker reviewing and filing the entry.
A typical import entry needs the commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading or air waybill, and a certificate of origin when a trade agreement or origin rule applies, plus any license or permit for regulated goods. OCR alone turns those pages into text. Unstract goes further: it extracts the fields an entry needs and checks the documents against each other before a broker sees them.
No. Unstract is not a customs broker and does not file entries or ISF. It reads and checks the packet and prepares the entry data, and a licensed customs broker reviews it and files.
Yes. Flow sends the checked data to the customs brokerage software your team already uses, such as CargoWise or Descartes, and to your TMS or ERP. The broker opens a prepared entry there instead of keying one.
Each HTS code on the invoice is checked against your tariff table and your product classification records, and against the product description on the same line. A missing code, or one that doesn't fit its description, stops for a licensed broker with the reason attached.
The packet stops in a review screen with the invoice, packing list and bill of lading side by side and the differing value highlighted. The broker confirms the right figure or asks the shipper, the decision is recorded against the packet, and every other packet keeps moving.
Wherever a licensed decision is required: a classification call, a license, a partner-agency filing, or a difference between documents that only the shipper can explain. Customs automation takes over the reading, keying and comparing so the broker's time goes to those lines.
Unstract is SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and HIPAA compliant. Entry packets are encrypted in transit and at rest, never used to train models, and kept only as long as you choose. Brokers who must keep packets in-house can self-host Unstract; see the Trust Center.
No developers are needed on your side. In a consultation we build the run around your own entry packets, your tariff table and your brokerage software, then switch it on for one import lane, which is usually live within days.
Bring a week of entry packets to the consultation
The packets from one import lane, scanned certificates and shipper spreadsheets included. We run them live and show you which lines would have reached the broker.