What Slows A Port Clearance

Most delays are documentary, not physical. The goods are on the quay and the file is what is holding them, which is a frustrating way to lose a week and a preventable one.

The costly mismatches are between documents that were each correct on their own. A description on the bill of lading that does not match the invoice. A weight that differs between the packing list and the shipping document. A consignee named one way on the invoice and another on the certificate of origin. A certificate raised against a form the discharge port does not accept.

None of the four is caught by checking documents one at a time. They are caught by reading them against each other before the container leaves, which is the only point at which the fix is a correction rather than an amendment.

That is the argument for having the paperwork prepared alongside the shipment rather than after it. The desk that books the freight and the desk that raises the certificate should be the same desk, and here it is.