Uncleared goods clogging up warehouses

Customs-licensed depots
– which provide state
warehousing space for
uncleared or confiscated
goods – are running out of
space. Furthermore, there
is no revenue for the space
utilised for the storage of state
warehoused (SWH) cargo.
According to managing
director for ZacPak Durban,
Clive Nel, storage depots
can hold uncleared goods
for a period of 28 days but, if
detained by a governmental
department, cargo can stay
there until the case is resolved
or the cargo is destroyed
– with no income for the
storage.
“Sometimes the importer/
cargo owner has sourced more
goods to meet client demands,
or the goods are spoiled or
the investigations drag on
for months and years. They
therefore no longer have need
for the confiscated goods, or
the storage fees incurred are
higher than the initial value
of the goods, so they simply
never claim them,” said Nel.
He added that state
warehousing space was
becoming increasingly scarce
because of this. “And we aren’t
responsible for the goods so
we can’t take the decision to
simply dispose of them,” he
commented.
Nel told FTW of a
consignment from West
Africa that had been in the
state warehouse for over a
year as a dispute around the
clearance of the goods raged
on.
“Thankfully, the state has
about four auctions a year
but they decide which goods
to put on the auction or not
and storage depots have no
recourse,” he said.