What to do when customs holds your shipment

Ask the responsible contact where the goods are and what event led to the status described as a hold. Keep the carrier's location update separate from the customs professional's explanation. A warehouse message, a request for additional information and a formal authority notice may describe different situations. Obtain the actual reference and the person handling it. Explain what your company knows without filling gaps from another shipment's experience. Keep the date and source of each update in the working file. Before changing the delivery plan, ask the specialist to distinguish confirmed facts from questions still being reviewed.

ANAM describes reconocimiento aduanero as examination of goods and documentation to check the declared information.

Official reference: ANAM: customs glossary ↗

If an examination is involved, ask the customs professional what information has been requested and what the current stage means for your shipment. Do not tell a customer that an examination itself proves a violation or guarantees release. Keep the product description, invoice and packing information ready for the actual questions raised. If the carrier uses a general status label, ask the professional to explain the formal position. This guide offers no examination duration or result prediction. The useful next step is an accurate account of the goods, records and authority communication involved in your own operation.

Ask for the complete notice or request to be reviewed by the responsible adviser. Keep all pages, attachments and references together. Note who received it and how the company learned about it. Avoid sending only a screenshot of a heading when the explanation and response instructions are elsewhere in the document. Create a short cover note describing the shipment and the issue your company understands. Do not rewrite the authority's wording or replace it with a colleague's summary. The professional needs the original communication to assess the next steps and any response requirements for the actual situation.

Gather the original invoice, packing list, purchase terms and technical specifications. Identify which person can answer questions about manufacturing origin, product composition and the commercial transaction. If the supplier changed an invoice or model before dispatch, retain the version history and the reason. Compare the commercial file with what was actually loaded, including split shipments or repacking. Keep any inconsistency visible for professional review rather than editing documents to hide it. A clear evidence file helps the adviser understand whether the issue concerns a missing record, a product description or another point that requires a particular response.

ANAM's glossary describes PAMA, the administrative customs procedure, as a process allowing the interested party to present evidence and arguments in the specified circumstances.

Official reference: ANAM: customs glossary ↗

Ask the responsible professional whether such a procedure has actually begun and what document establishes that fact. If it has, involve the adviser qualified to review the formal response and the particular notice. Do not apply a generic online deadline or a response from another company's case. Keep the actual instructions, evidence and responsible contact together. This page does not provide a litigation strategy or say that a shipment can be released. Its purpose is to help you organize the facts for the professional handling your situation.

Assign a company contact to gather supplier, purchasing and logistics answers so the professional receives consistent facts. Keep the original documents from each source and identify who supplied them. If colleagues disagree about a quantity, manufacturing detail or purchase term, resolve the factual question using the original records before presenting a conclusion. Ask the adviser which unanswered question is the next priority. Avoid sending repeated versions with no explanation of changes. Record the materials actually submitted and retain the relevant acknowledgment through the responsible channel. Internal organization helps the review; it does not replace the professional's assessment of the response.

Tell the carrier, receiving site and purchasing team what is confirmed about the shipment's stage. Ask who controls any storage or handling arrangement while the matter is being reviewed. Explain installation or production commitments to the responsible shipment contact without asking for an unsupported release promise. Keep proposed changes separate from actions agreed by the parties. If a supplier offers a replacement shipment, ask the specialist what that proposal means for the existing goods and records before proceeding. No clearance time, cost estimate or outcome is given here. The professional review and actual communications determine the next practical steps.

Once an actual response or decision is received, retain it with the shipment file and ask the professional to explain what it means for the next action. Share that explanation with the people responsible for the movement. Record which documentation gap or product question needs attention before a later shipment. Update supplier instructions where clearer specifications or consistent packing information would help. Do not turn the outcome of one operation into a claim that future goods will avoid examination. Each shipment has its own facts. For a quote request about a current issue, describe the general stage and goods without uploading the notice or confidential identifiers.