Panjiva: how to remove your company (and keep new shipments off)

You searched your company on Panjiva and found your shipments, your supplier's name and address, and how often you reorder. You actually have two separate problems: the records that are already published, and the records that will be published with your next shipment. They have different fixes, and only one of those fixes is fully in your hands.

Where Panjiva gets your shipments

Panjiva, part of S&P Global, is one of several import-data sites, alongside ImportYeti, ImportGenius, ImportKey, Volza and others, built on U.S. ocean import records. Every ocean shipment into the United States is declared on a vessel manifest. Each bill of lading on it names a consignee, a shipper and a notify party, and describes the cargo with its marks, weight, ports and dates.

Under 19 CFR 103.31, manifest information is made available to the press, and data companies obtain it, clean it up and turn it into searchable company profiles. Nobody hacked you, and your customs broker or forwarder didn't leak anything. It's how the system is set up.

Some data sites also sell trade records from other countries' customs data. A U.S. confidentiality request only affects U.S. inward vessel manifests, so it won't touch those.

Two problems, two fixes

• New shipments: request vessel manifest confidentiality from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This works at the source, so it applies to every data site at once.
• Old shipments: ask each data site to remove or suppress the records it already published. This is best-effort. Each site decides for itself.

Do them in that order. Getting old records removed while new ones keep arriving is bailing water without plugging the hole. Having confidentiality in place first also gives you a clearer, simpler request to make to each site.

Step 1: Stop new records at the source

Under 19 CFR 103.31(d), an importer or consignee can ask CBP to keep its name and address confidential on inward vessel manifests. The same certification can cover the names and addresses of your foreign shippers, so your factory drops off the record too. Approval lasts two years and covers all ports of entry; renewals are due 60–90 days before expiry.

The detail that trips people up: names must match exactly. "Acme Goods LLC" and "ACME GOODS, L.L.C." are different strings, and any spelling you don't file stays public. Before you file, write down every version of your name that Panjiva and the other sites show. Our step-by-step filing guide walks through the whole request.

Know the limits before you start:

• Not retroactive. It applies from approval forward. Records published before then stay where they are, which is why Step 2 exists.
• Ocean only. The program covers vessel manifests, not air or truck shipments.
• Exact-match names. Each spelling, DBA and affiliate has to be listed.
• No guarantee. CBP itself says it can't guarantee a party's identity will never be published.

Step 2: Ask for older records to be removed

Here's what the major sites publicly offered when we last checked their own help and privacy pages in October 2026. Processes change, so check each site's current pages before you write.

• ImportYeti is the only major site we found that publicly offers to remove company shipment data. Its FAQ says it can help, and it has a contact page and support email. Send this one first, with links to your company profile and the exact name variants.
• Panjiva points privacy requests to an S&P Global privacy portal, linked from its privacy policy. That portal is built for personal-data requests under privacy laws, not company records, and there's no published process for removing a company's shipments. You can still submit a request, but treat it as a goodwill ask. If someone files on your behalf, S&P asks for its authorized-agent designation form.
• ImportGenius has a privacy contact and removes individuals' personal information from profile pages, but its FAQ says it doesn't arbitrarily remove or hide data. Expect pushback on company records.
• ImportKey, Volza, Trademo, Descartes Datamyne and others publish privacy channels for personal data. None publishes a process for company records.

What to include in a removal request

• Your legal company name and every name variant the site shows
• Links to the specific profile or record pages
• Who is asking, and on what authority: an officer or employee of the company, or an agent with written authorization
• If confidentiality is already in effect, its effective date, with a copy of CBP's acknowledgement
• A clear ask: remove or suppress records that name your company as consignee or notify party, including where the name appears in cargo descriptions or marks

Keep it short and factual. You're not disputing how the site got the data; you're asking it to stop showing records published before your confidentiality took effect.

Realistic expectations

• Some sites will remove records, some will decline, some won't reply. Log the date and outcome of each request, and follow up once after two or three weeks.
• Removal on one site doesn't affect any other. Each is a separate request.
• Anyone who exported or saved the data before it was removed still has their copy.

Watch the cargo description

Confidentiality withholds your name and address, the marks and numbers that would reveal them and, if you include them, your suppliers. It doesn't withhold the cargo description. If your supplier types your company or brand name into that field, it can still identify you, and at least one data site says it can often recover company names from cargo descriptions even after confidentiality. Ask your supplier and forwarder to keep your name out of descriptions and marks, and include those fields when you search for leaks.

Check that it worked

After approval, search every name variant on Panjiva and the other major sites regularly. A shipment dated after your effective date that still shows your name usually means a spelling wasn't filed, or your name is in a description. Add the variant and file an amended request.

Where Supplier Privacy fits

We do the variant research, prepare the certification for your company to sign, submit it, check the data sites for leaks and renew on schedule. Pro, Multi-Entity and Enterprise plans include removal requests to the top data sites; on Starter it's an add-on. Removal is always best-effort, because each site decides. If you'd like to see what's public about your company today first, start with an Exposure Check.

Sources

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Electronic Vessel Manifest Confidentiality
• 19 CFR 103.31 — Information on vessel manifests and summary statistical reports

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Supplier Privacy is not affiliated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.