Forwarders blame carriers for burden of scanning costs

BRITISH and Irish forwarders are unable to pass on the cost of random custom inspections to shippers because of a lack of back-up documentation from ocean carriers detailing additional cost which can include storage fees and transport to the scanners that can run up to US$717.

One Irish forwarder said that although shippers 'begrudgingly pay' for scans of up to five containers out of 20, they advise a Shanghai stop instead of a Rotterdam one because of the latter's higher checking level on international feeder cargo.

"But we can't always do that and if containers are scanned in Rotterdam, we get an invoice and the shippers are now saying, 'give us the back-up documentation or we won't pay'," he said, speaking to London's International Freighting Weekly on condition of anonymity.

Danish carrier Maersk told IFW it was unaware of the concern over a lack of detailed documentation on random scans customs performed.
(Source:www.schednet.com)