Cargo Held by Customs in Australia — What To Do Right Now

If your container is on hold with the Australian Border Force, two things matter today: what triggered it, and what it is costing you while it sits. Both are answerable within a couple of hours. The charges are not going to wait for you.

Licensed customs brokerage · All Australian ports · We will tell you if you don’t need us

What a border hold actually means

A border hold means the Australian Border Force has selected your consignment for attention. It does not mean you have done something wrong. In most cases it does not mean anything has been found.

The ABF runs targeting profiles across incoming cargo. A consignment can be selected for reasons that have nothing to do with the goods themselves:

• The profile matched on the commodity, the origin, the supplier or the route
• Something in the documentation did not reconcile
• The declared value looked inconsistent with the commodity
• Random selection
• The importer recently changed customs brokers

That last one is worth sitting with. A recent change of broker is a known trigger. If you switched providers and your first shipment under the new broker was held, that is a recognised pattern — not bad luck, and not necessarily a sign that anything is wrong with your goods.

What happens to the container

Depending on what the profile calls for, your container may be subject to:

• Documentary examination — no physical inspection. Questions are asked about the entry.
• X-ray — the container is scanned at a Container Examination Facility.
• Tailgate inspection — the doors are opened and the visible portion inspected.
• Full unpack — the container is emptied and repacked.

The escalation is not automatic. Most holds resolve at the documentary or X-ray stage. A full unpack is the expensive end, and it is comparatively uncommon.

The free storage concession — and the deadlines that already decided it

This is the part most importers find out about too late.

When a full container load of sea freight is held by the ABF and sent for examination, a period of free storage is generally available on its return from the Container Examination Facility. That concession is not automatic. It is conditional on two lodgement deadlines having already been met — and both of them fall before the vessel arrives.

The two conditions are:

1. The cargo report must have been provided to the ABF within the statutory timeframe — generally 48 hours before arrival at the first Australian port.
2. The import declaration must have been lodged at least 24 hours before the vessel arrives at the port of discharge.

Miss either one and the storage clock runs at your cost from the beginning.

The uncomfortable implication: by the time you find out your container is held, the question of whether you qualify for free storage has usually already been answered — weeks earlier, by whether someone lodged on time. Two identical containers held for identical reasons can produce completely different bills on that basis alone.

The free storage period differs by port. Tell us your port and we will tell you what applies to your container and when it expires.

What the concession does not cover

This is where the unpleasant surprises live. The concession is narrow:

• It applies to FCL sea freight only. LCL and air cargo storage is charged to the importer.
• It applies to border holds, not biosecurity holds. If the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has your container, storage is charged to you regardless — see biosecurity hold on imported goods.
• It covers terminal storage, not container detention. The shipping line’s detention clock keeps running on the box itself, and detention is charged to the importer.
• If the ABF changes a container’s status after it has already been cleared, storage and detention charges arising from that are not compensated.

What a hold is costing you while you wait

There are three separate meters running, charged by three different parties.

1. Terminal storage — charged by the stevedore for your container occupying terminal space beyond its free period. Rates are published by each terminal, escalate by day band, and get expensive quickly after the first few days.

2. Container detention — charged by the shipping line for the box not being returned within its free days. This is per container, per day, and it is entirely separate from terminal storage. A container can accrue both at once.

3. Examination costs — where a physical examination is performed, the associated costs are borne by the importer. A full unpack and repack is labour, and it is charged as such.

We are not going to publish a daily figure on this page, because storage and detention tariffs differ by terminal, by shipping line, by container size, and by how many days you are into the escalation bands. Anyone quoting you a single number without those details is guessing.

What we will do is calculate yours. Give us the container number, the line and the terminal, and we will tell you what the meter is actually running at — including which cost band you are about to cross. That number usually decides what you do next.

What to do today, in order

1. Establish what kind of hold it is.
A border hold (ABF) and a biosecurity hold (DAFF) look identical from the outside. They have completely different resolution paths and completely different cost consequences. Work out which one you have before doing anything else. If it is biosecurity, go to biosecurity hold on imported goods.

2. Get the entry documentation in front of someone who can read it.
Most border holds resolve on documentation. The commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and import declaration all need to reconcile with each other. Where they do not, that discrepancy is usually the entire story.

3. Establish your storage position.
Three separate dates: whether the lodgement deadlines were met, when free time expires at the terminal, and when the shipping line’s detention free days expire. Write all three down.

4. Do not guess at the response.
An amended declaration lodged on a wrong assumption creates a second problem stacked on the first. If the ABF has asked a question, the answer needs to be right rather than fast.

5. Decide about the goods, not just the container.
If the hold is going to run long and the cargo is time-critical — a construction program, a seasonal line, a customer commitment — the commercial decision about the goods may be more urgent than the customs decision about the entry.

How we help

Plainly, so there is no confusion about what you are calling.

What we do

• Establish what the hold is and which agency issued it
• Review the entry and supporting documentation for the discrepancy that triggered it
• Have the licensed customs broker we work with manage the correspondence and any amended lodgement
• Calculate your live storage and detention exposure, and tell you when the next cost band hits
• Deal with the terminal, the shipping line and the transport operator on your behalf
• Set out, in writing, what the realistic options and timeframes look like
• Where inspection, treatment or specialist services are required, arrange them with approved providers

More on customs clearance and tariff classification.

What we do not do

• We do not release cargo. Only the ABF or DAFF can lift a hold.
• We do not promise a timeframe for a government decision, because we do not control it.
• We do not provide legal advice. If a hold escalates into something requiring legal representation, we will tell you that clearly and early.
• We do not require you to move your ongoing freight to us in order to help with this shipment.

You do not have to be an existing customer

Most people who call this number are not. Their cargo is held, their current forwarder is not giving them straight answers, and they want a second opinion. That is a reasonable thing to want and we are happy to give it.

If the answer is that your existing provider has it under control and you do not need us, we will tell you that.

Questions we get when cargo is held

Why has my cargo been held by customs?
The ABF targets consignments using risk profiles. Triggers include the commodity, the origin, the supplier, the declared value, documentation inconsistencies, random selection, and — commonly — a recent change of customs broker. A hold is not an allegation. Most resolve without anything being found.

How long will a customs hold take?
There is no published timeframe and we are not going to invent one. Documentary holds can resolve quickly. Physical examinations depend on examination facility scheduling and workload. What we can do is tell you what stage yours is at and what typically moves it forward.

Who pays for storage while cargo is held by customs?
It depends on the hold type and the cargo type. For FCL sea freight held by the ABF for examination, a free storage concession is generally available on return from the examination facility — but only where the cargo report and import declaration were lodged within the statutory timeframes before arrival. For LCL, for air cargo, and for all biosecurity holds, storage is charged to the importer. Container detention charged by the shipping line is charged to the importer in every case.

What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
In general Australian usage, storage or demurrage relates to the container sitting at the terminal beyond its free period, and detention relates to the container not being returned to the shipping line within its free days. Definitions vary between lines, so your contract governs. See our guide to demurrage and detention.

Can you get my cargo released faster?
We cannot instruct the ABF, and neither can anyone else. What makes a hold resolve faster is a complete, accurate and prompt response to whatever triggered it. That is the part we can help with. Be sceptical of anyone who tells you otherwise.

My customs broker isn’t telling me anything. Can you look at it?
Yes. Give us the container number, the vessel and the port and we will tell you what we can establish. No charge, and no obligation to move your business.

Does using a different freight forwarder prevent holds?
No. Selection is done by the ABF against its own profiles. What a good forwarder and broker change is the quality of the lodgement going in — which affects how often documentation discrepancies trigger a hold in the first place — and the speed and accuracy of the response coming out.

Is my cargo insured while it is held?
Check your marine cargo policy. Cover during a customs hold, and during examination handling, varies by policy and is not something to assume. If you do not have a policy in front of you, that is worth resolving today rather than later.

If the issue is a query about the customs value you declared rather than a hold on the goods, that follows a different path. And if the problem is that no declaration has been lodged at all, start there instead.

While the cargo is held, the container is still on hire. If free time has already run out, or the empty cannot be returned once you do unpack, see container detention charges and empty returns.

Get help with a held shipment

Container number, vessel, port. That is all we need to start.

Call 1300 972 040 — or send the details and we will come back to you during normal business hours.

No charge for the initial assessment. No obligation to move your freight.

Planning an import rather than dealing with a hold? Request a freight quote.