Increased Customs exams, delays in Savannah
We have noticed an increase in Customs exams in Savannah in the last 3-4 weeks. The CES’s are short-staffed to provide social distancing during the exams, which causes delays. Further, there are not enough dock doors to handle the level of exams, so it can take 10 days or more for a container to get a slot at the CES to be examined after being called for inspection. To add insult to injury, the steamship companies are NOT waiving demurrage. We have at least one customer that has incurred over $5000 in demurrage due to this. Unfortunately, there is little recourse outside of complaining to the FMC, and it is unclear that they will intervene. If this should happen to one of your shipments, please bear with us and realize the situation is completely out of our control.
Generalized System of Preference (GSP)
GSP is a duty preference program that offers most lesser developed countries (LDC’s) duty-free or reduced duty treatment on all or most of their merchandise imported into the U.S. GSP expires on December 31, 2020. Congress has historically always reinstated it retroactively, but in this political environment, we cannot predict. Please contact our office for any questions.
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