Consternation among importers due to scanning of containers port of Rotterdam

Importer Ron Jongejan expresses his surprise about the scanning of containers in and around the port of Rotterdam. “An example: of the fifteen containers we received, five had to be scanned. One of the ships arrives on Wednesday, the other on Thursday, they'll leave on Thursday evening and on Friday morning. On Friday a container will be released to us so that we can scan it ourselves (external, fortunately). It is a general rule that customs release containers for an external scan after 36 hours, which happens in most cases. Everyone is pointing fingers at each other, but they do not offer any solutions. I wonder what the port of Rotterdam thinks of this as well. The other containers will probably be released after the weekend, with the necessary additional costs. For five times transfer over the weekend it costs approximately 1,000 Euro extra. And this is happening weekly now. Unfortunately we do not always have the option to go to a different port.”

“On all sides I am hearing from companies who have similar problems. This just has to stop. I am not opposed to scanning, but the delays this is causing are not normal, and they are not of the year 2016. One solution could be to let certified companies do their own scanning, or that containers are released quicker for external scanning. Customs is not doing anything, except saying that they hear the complaints more often and that they have to observe regulations. But we are working with perishables and when everything is delayed it all takes five days longer. They say only a small percentage is concerned, but when you are working with perishables, a small delay can have large consequences.”

“This loss for me is already 50,000 Euro today, because customers cancel orders. And I am not even talking about the value of containers that are spoiling. This is dramatic for companies such as ours. It is costing heaps of money and we cannot earn anything or keep appointments. When will this stop?”