Customs Regulations: Get Me to the Show on Time

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 5/2/2005

If you're a freight forwarder or customs broker, CSI isn't a television show you watch on Thursday nights. Rather, it's an acronym you're very familiar with: the Container Security Initiative, one of a phalanx of federal regulations that must be waded through to get shipments to tradeshows on time.

Some of the rules, like CSI, were established in the wake of Sept. 11. Others are more stringent versions of regulations that have been on the books for years. Freight forwarders must not only know them backwards and forwards but must also keep exhibitors apprised of what is now a rapidly changing regulatory environment.

In an era of heightened security, failing to comply with the letter of the law can lead to shipments being subjected to very close examination. And ultimately, that means delays.

"I always felt I had a responsibility to make sure the cargo is safe for transport," said Jay Cease, director of operations for the Las Vegas-based TWI Group, "but it can be tiresome. It drains you sometimes."

TWI Group, which targets the tradeshow industry, has an entire division devoted to getting foreign exhibitors' goods into the United States. Some 80 percent of TWI's business is international. Typically, said Cease, foreign goods bound for U.S. shows are subjected to far more scrutiny than U.S. exhibitors' shipments re-entering the country.

Since the U.S. Customs Department became Customs and Border Protection, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, its role has changed considerably, say those in the transportation business. "They're certainly more security-conscious," said Phil Hobson, president of Phoenix Logistics. "They have an additional role, and that is to protect the borders."

A big focus of the regulations now is getting freight to shipping areas in advance, giving CBP officials adequate time to check paperwork and examine the contents of containers and shipping boxes.

"They're much more diligent with checking their paperwork to make sure the documentation is correct. Sometimes it's causing delays, sometimes it's not," said Cease.

The CSI deploys customs officers to ports in countries that are deemed high security risks. Another 20 countries have volunteered to participate in the program, intended to prevent terrorists from using shipping containers by screening risky containers at the point of departure before they arrive in U.S. ports. According to CBP, about 90 percent of the world's freight is transported by container.

But so far, there's little uniformity among ports. "Some ports are very helpful; some ports are unbelievable. They make it very difficult to work efficiently," Cease said.

The government is also using voluntary programs to screen out low-risk freight transported by known shippers. The rationale is that such programs will let federal officials focus more closely on higher-risk shipments being transported by unknown individuals.

"We like to say we screen 100 percent of anything that is suspicious," said CBP spokesman Barry Morrissey. "We believe it is far better than it was prior to 9/11. We also understand that there is room for improvement."

To ensure that booths and products get to tradeshow destinations well in advance of opening day, freight forwarders recommend that exhibitors start the process sooner than they have been accustomed to in the past.

"Just ship it earlier," said Hobson. Phoenix even provides free storage for goods that arrive well in advance of their shipping dates.

Phoenix, which is frequently hired as a show's official logistics provider, sends exhibitors explicit instructions about how to arrange for tradeshow shipments in the current environment.

Even so, exhibitors don't always get it right. Language barriers and cultural differences also make things complicated.

"When they send the documents, they're not always correct," Hobson said. "We've got to go back and ask for it to be translated. Sometimes they refer to the product only by a code. Or there might be other questions. All of this takes up time, especially with the time differences."

Exhibitors also must now be more careful about accounting fully and clearly for the contents of their tradeshow shipments. And freight forwarders must be certain to collect exhibitors' driver's license and passport information to make sure officials can track them down if necessary. Knowing the shipper's identity is important, since goods transported by unknown shippers can only travel on certain types of airplanes or ships.

Hobson recommends that foreign exhibitors have their shipments at the port in the destination city eight to 10 days before the start of the tradeshow. Airfreight typically takes three or four days, while sea freight can take two or three weeks.

If government officials do decide an examination is warranted, there can be serious delays, especially if customs officials unload an entire shipping container to inspect an item inside that raised suspicion during an X-ray screening. That can add days, or even weeks, to the processing time. In addition, exhibitors pick up the tab, which can be as much as $800.

Cease said exhibitors must be sure not to add anything to their shipment that could raise a red flag. For example, a U.S. exhibitor sending goods to a European show got his shipment to the show without incident. But on the way back into the United States, something labeled "cleaning fluid" was added to the shipment. It turned out to be a bottle of Windex, but the vague labeling nonetheless sparked enough suspicion to warrant an exam.

Cease said such examinations are more frequent than they used to be. "We've had quite a few containers pulled," he said. "If they don't like what they see during an X-ray, they might pull it aside. And containers can sit in the port for weeks."

Although Cease said it's rare for a TWI Group shipment not to make it to the show on time, there have been some close calls. He recalled one nerve-wracking delay involving a container from China destined for a Las Vegas show. "We finally got the container released the morning the show opened, got it into Las Vegas and got it opened," he said, adding that in those cases, there is "not a whole lot of happy exhibitors."

Examination delays can also wreak havoc with move-in schedules that must be heavily regimented, even under the best of circumstances. For instance, not much can be done when the roof of a multi-story booth arrives before the floor. "If something's late like that, it can mess up the whole assembly line," Hobson said.

As if that were not enough, there's also the problem of visas for foreign exhibitors. Every now and then the exhibit booth shows up, but the exhibit personnel do not. "As it's getting closer to the show opening, we'll notice the freight sitting there real quiet and ask, 'Where are the people?'" Hobson said.