1. Customs clearance

Why customs clearance? What are the obligations of goods crossing a border, or arriving at a port or airport?

These formalities are not very transparent, and intermediaries (forwarding agents, shipping agents, airlines, commission agents) readily use "customs blocking" to justify the non-delivery of containers or international parcels on time.

The port or airport environment is complex, due to the large number of operators involved in handling goods. Customs formalities are only one element in the sequence of port operations, but they are nonetheless an essential one.