Less than 48 hours after the federal government's shutdown, shippers dependent on some agencies to clear cargo are seeing delays at U.S. ports of entry.
Shipments requiring paperwork from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture, which face severe staff reductions because of the shutdown, have been delayed several hours…
Customs and Border Protection, whose mission is considered essential, hasn't faced the same stiff staff reductions, with only 6,000 of the 58,000 agency employees furloughed following the government shutdown over President Obama’s health care law.
But the shutdown has resulted in far fewer resources at the EPA, FDA and USDA to process certifications and other documents needed to clear some cargo... In other words, shippers of food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, radiological products and environmentally sensitive items should be ready for slower Customs clearance.
The good news for shippers is that hours of service at ports remains the same, and staff will be at full strength for U.S. validations under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism... The Centers for Excellence and Expertise remains open…
There haven’t been any reports of air cargo shippers seeing clearnace delays...
This articles has been excerpted from 2 October 2013 edition of the Journal of Commerce, and is available in its entirety at: http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy/customs-regulations/us-customs-regulations/government-shutdown-delays-us-shipments_20131002.html (subscription may be required.)