Detained LCL container leaves legitimate importers out of pocket

Major delays in the release
of a groupage container
detained by border police
on suspicion that one of the
consignments contained
counterfeit goods has raised
industry hackles and left
honest importers out of
pocket.
The less than container
load (LCL) shipment, carried
by Pacific International
Lines (PIL), arrived in
Durban from Hong Kong on
February 19 this year, with
the container earmarked for
inspection on February 23.
At time of writing, the
container had still not been
released.
The clearing agency
involved raised the issue
with FTW on behalf of
one of its clients, Organico
Distributors, who was one of
12 cargo owners whose goods
had been detained, despite
only one consignment – not
owned by Organico – being
flagged as “suspicious”.
Organico’s consignment
contained cycle lights worth
US$45 000, director Charl
du Plessis told FTW.
“After several delays – with
no clear reason given for the
delays – we were informed
that the whole container had
been detained and that our
goods would only be released
once the investigation
had been completed,” he
explained, adding that no
timelines for release had been
provided.
Currently the importer,
the groupage operator and
the clearing agent are still
trying to get the consignment
released and are receiving
no joy.
Du Plessis meanwhile
has lost out on huge revenue
opportunities – he was to
sell his cycle lights at the
Cape Town Cycle Race
expo earlier this month –
and continues to incur
expensive storage costs.
The groupage operator
who handled Du Plessis’
LCL consignment estimated
the storage costs to be over
R100 000 by now. “It is
around R30 000 per week
per twenty foot container,”
said Afristar Freight Services’
MD, Michael Ryan.
He told FTW that while
the carrier was still in control
of the LCL shipment – it
would only be released to
Afristar once the carrier
had the release letter. His
company was “doing all it
could” to ensure release of
all the other parties’ goods,
he said.
Lee Viljoen, national
GM at groupage operator
CFR Freight, said that LCL
operators had to trust the
information contained on
the house bill of lading
from their customers. “We
simply cannot open a client’s
goods until they have been
released to us. Even if a box
is damaged, we simply record
the damage and tape the box
up, letting our client know
that damage has occurred.”
Clive Nel, managing
director for ZacPak Durban,
said it was standard
procedure for the whole
container to be detained
while it was still under
control of the shipping line.
Furthermore, the South
African Police Service (SAPS)
does not have the manpower
to investigate every case
quickly. “As a storage depot
with state warehouse
facilities, we will often get
requests to unpack the goods,
once they’ve broken the seal,
in their absence with them
saying they will return to
inspect the goods at a later
stage,” Nel explained.
He pointed out that cargo
stops were a worldwide
problem, adding that
legitimate importers
also benefited from the
crackdown on counterfeit
goods. “It’s unfortunately the
crooks that make it difficult
for the legitimate traders,”
he said.
“There are about 11
different sub-sectors
of government that are
allowed to stop goods,
either arriving in the ports
or airports or en-route to
the final destination,” said
Nel. And according to him,
these entities also do not
provide the cargo owner/
importer or groupage
operator with insight into
why a consignment has been
stopped.
He said that Zacpak
Durban, a depot licensed
to unpack and repack
confiscated goods, saw stops
occurring on a weekly basis.
“And the consignments
can be stopped more than
once by separate entities and
for different reasons,” Nel
commented.