Why are my goods held at customs?
A hold is nearly always one of five things: money owed, a document missing, a description that does not match the code, a licensing requirement nobody checked, or a random examination. The first four are preventable and the fifth is not.
The useful first step is finding out which one it is. A courier tracking page saying goods are held tells you nothing actionable; the entry reference and the reason code tell you everything.
Charges outstanding
The most common hold is not an investigation at all. Duty and tax are due before release, and on a consumer parcel the carrier will often hold the goods while it tries to collect from the recipient, who was not expecting a bill.
This clears the moment it is paid. The way to avoid it entirely is to know the charges in advance and decide who is paying them before the goods move, rather than discovering the answer at the door.
A document that was always required
Certain goods cannot be imported without a licence, a certificate or a conformity declaration, and the requirement attaches to the commodity rather than to the value. A low-value sample of a controlled product needs the same paperwork as a container of it.
These holds are the slowest, because the missing document usually cannot be obtained retrospectively in the country of import. It has to come from the origin, and sometimes from a body that has to inspect goods that are no longer there.
The declaration contradicts itself
A description that does not match the code, a value that does not match the invoice, a weight that does not match the packing list. Each of these is a query, and a query stops the consignment while somebody answers it.
Answer precisely and once. A vague reply generates a second query, and each round trip is measured in working days while storage charges continue to accrue.
Examination, and what to do meanwhile
Some consignments are selected for a documentary or physical check on risk grounds, and there is nothing to fix. Provide what is asked for quickly, keep the goods where they are, and let it run.
What makes the next one faster is a clean history. Traders with a record of accurate declarations are scored differently, so the way to stop being examined is to keep being right.
Intellectual property, and the hold nobody expects
Rights holders can lodge an application with customs asking them to detain suspected counterfeit or pirated goods, and border seizures on that basis are common in branded categories. It catches legitimate importers as well as counterfeiters: parallel imports, refurbished units and genuine stock bought through an unauthorised channel can all be detained while ownership of the trade mark is argued.
The remedy is documentary and it is easier to assemble beforehand. Keep the purchase chain back to an authorised source, keep any licence or distribution agreement to hand, and answer the notification within the deadline it states, which is short. Silence is generally treated as consent to destruction.
A worked example
Medicaments into Germany, a category where the duty is the easy part and the regulatory gate is not.
| Goods value on the invoice | 2,500.00 |
| International freight | 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | 25.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on (CIF basis) | 2,645.00 |
| Duty at 0% | 0.00 |
| Germany tax at 19%, charged on the value plus the duty | 502.55 |
| Total, before commercial charges | 3,147.55 |
| Estimate uses the CIF customs valuation method, so international freight and insurance are part of the dutiable value. Union Customs Code (Reg. 952/2013) Art. 70 and Art. 71(1)(e): transport and insurance to the place of introduction are added to the price paid. Rate last verified 2026-08-31. | |
A zero or low duty line is not a signal that a consignment will move quickly. The licensing question is a different question.
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