My shipment is stuck at customs

What you won't find on this page: a promise of a resolution, or any talk of "expediting" or getting it through by connections. A hold is cleared by dealing with its cause inside the formal procedure — which is what we do. What a document cannot fix, nobody can fix.

First: find the reason — don't guess it

A shipment is never held without a recorded reason. It sits either in a note on the declaration, or a request from the desk, or an objection raised at inspection or valuation, or a pending regulatory approval. Until that exact point is known, every move is in the wrong direction.

If you have a broker following the file, ask for the text of the note as it stands, not a summary of it. The difference between "customs want a document" and the literal wording of the request is the difference between a week and an hour.

Seven causes that explain most cases

1. A missing document, or one not acceptable in its current form

By far the most common. A certificate of origin unattested where attestation is required, or issued by an unauthorised body; an invoice with no delivery term; an original bill of lading that hasn't arrived. The fix usually runs through the supplier, which is why the earlier it is known the shorter it is.

2. A description that doesn't match the package

Inspection opens the package and compares it with what is written. Any gap — type, model, quantity, an extra item not declared — holds the file until the declaration is corrected. And correcting a filed declaration is a procedure of its own, not an edit to a line.

3. A dispute over the tariff heading

The heading follows classification, not trade name, and customs may hold that your goods fall under a different heading from the one filed. That changes the duty and may bring in an approval nobody expected. It is addressed with the technical specification, the catalogue, and whatever evidences the nature and use of the goods.

4. A valuation dispute

The invoice value was not accepted as it stands, so the value is set by an alternative method and duty is calculated on a higher figure. It is addressed with documents: evidence of the payment method, the freight and insurance values, and whatever explains a discount or an exceptional price where there is a genuine reason. The importer also has a formal right of objection.

5. A regulatory approval that hasn't been issued

Your goods fall under a regulator — Food and Drug, Standards and Metrology, Agriculture, Civil Defence — and the approval was never started, is still in process, or came back incomplete. The goods are not released before it, however complete the rest of the file. What stretches it most is starting after the shipment arrives rather than before.

6. A name or detail that doesn't match the register

The importer's name on the bill of lading differs from its form in the commercial register, or the tax number doesn't match, or the authorised signatory isn't registered. Details that look like formalities and genuinely hold files.

7. The goods themselves are restricted or prohibited

Some items are restricted, prohibited, or require a prior licence nobody knew about. These are the hardest cases, and re-export or another formal route may be the only option. If that is your situation we say so plainly rather than leaving you waiting.

What we need to start

To read your file's position and tell you exactly where it stands and what it needs, we need:

• The declaration number if one has been filed, or the bill of lading number.
• The customs point the shipment arrived at.
• The text of the note or request as you received it — a photo beats a paraphrase.
• Copies of the invoice, certificate of origin and packing list.
• The actual goods description and country of origin.
• How long it has been held.

We read them and tell you the cause as we understand it, the options available, and whether it is solvable with a document or not. No obligation on your side, and no promise from us about an outcome before we have seen the file.

And once it's cleared — how not to repeat it

Most of what holds shipments could have been avoided by a phone call before shipping. Read the documents clearance requires and how duty is calculated, and send us a photo of the invoice on your next shipment before it leaves the supplier.