Physical inspection
Also known as: physical check, scan inspection
On a physical inspection customs, or NVWA or KCB, wants to see the goods before they are released. The consignment must stay available until the inspector has released it on site.
What is a physical inspection on import?
A physical inspection means someone inspects the goods before customs releases them. That can be customs itself, or NVWA or KCB on consignments that are liable to inspection. The container, the trailer or the airfreight consignment must stay at a location where the inspector can see it. The automated process stops here. The declaration has been accepted, the MRN exists, but release does not follow. An appointment has to be made, an inspector has to attend, and then a message has to come back into the system. Until that message the consignment stays under supervision. That is different from a document check. On a document check the goods often stay put until the papers have been assessed, but nobody comes to look. On a physical inspection they do. The planning, the location and the opening hours of the inspection site set the pace, not the one-minute response of DMS.
How does a physical inspection arise?
The first route is the customs risk profile. After the IMA is filed in DMS the profile weighs goods code, origin, value, parties and history. The outcome can be a physical inspection, sometimes as a scan, sometimes as opening of the consignment. You see that back as a control result, not as a refused declaration. The second route is the inspection. On plant or veterinary consignments you send a pre-notification before arrival via CLIENT PD. The response is code 1 (free) or code 2 (inspection). Code 2 means NVWA or KCB wants to see the consignment. That inspection must take place before the import declaration can be released finally. Both routes can coincide. A consignment can be liable to inspection and also be selected by customs. Plan two inspections then, not one. The inspector's release is not the customs release.
What should you do when a physical inspection comes in?
Keep the consignment available. A container that has already been driven inland must come back or wait at an authorised location. Carrying it away after a control order is a breach of supervision. Report the location, the container number and the MRN to the inspection body or to customs, depending on who set the check. Schedule the inspector. For NVWA and KCB that runs via the inspection appointment at the designated site. For customs via the office that issued the check. The automated file waits. There is no button that dismisses the check. There is a person with a diary. Inform the client at once. On fresh product an extra day on the terminal or in the inspection shed is shelf life. On automotive or project cargo it is a missed unloading. The message is not that the declaration has been refused. The message is that the goods must be seen before they are let go.
How long does a physical inspection take?
DMS and DVA answer within about a minute. A physical inspection does not. In practice an inspection can still take place the same day, or the next working day, depending on the location, the time of notification and how busy customs, NVWA or KCB is. At the weekend or on a late ETA that slides further. After the inspection the inspector releases on site, often on a device at the location. That message comes back into the system, after which the import declaration can be released. As long as that message is missing, the status stays on check, even if the inspector has already been. Then do not only call the inspector. Check whether the message has landed. Build that uncertainty into the planning. A truck that stands ready an hour after filing is too early on a physical inspection. An inspection-liable consignment without a buffer to the shelf-life limit is a file you would rather notify a day earlier than a day later.
What is the difference between scan, opening and inspection?
A scan check sends the container or the consignment through a scanner. Customs assesses the image. If the image matches the declaration, release follows. If the image raises questions, opening still follows. The consignment has to go to a scan site for that, which can be an extra trip. Opening means customs opens the doors, counts packages, compares marks with the packing list and takes samples if needed. That takes longer and leaves traces: broken seals, restacked pallets, a container that can no longer go plug-and-play into the warehouse. Plan unloading only after the seal is restored or after the inspector has released. An inspection by NVWA or KCB is not a customs check, even though it holds release just as firmly. The inspector looks at plant health, food safety or quality. Customs looks at the declaration. Both can hold the consignment. Both must give green before you drive away.
How do you avoid unnecessary physical inspections?
You do not avoid every check. The risk profile belongs to customs, the inspection duty follows from the goods code and the country of origin. What you do steer is the quality of the declaration. Vague descriptions such as goods or parts, a value that does not fit the code, or a missing certificate, are standard reasons for a control order. Pre-notify inspection-liable consignments in time via CLIENT PD. A pre-notification that only goes out at ATA leaves the inspector no room and raises the chance that code 2 hits the planning. The result of the pre-notification, code 1 or 2, belongs in the import declaration. Without that code DMS stalls or release stalls. Keep the history clean. Repeated corrections, additional assessments or missing papers on the same importer or the same code feed the profile. An AEO status of the client lowers the chance and gives priority on the checks that do happen. That is an authorisation of the client, not of the software.