TT is heavily dependent on imports. From a billion-dollar food bill to emergency imports of parts and machinery to continue with manufacturing and production locally, TT uses its ports to supply the nation with a majority of its needs.

Transit sheds such as the Swissport, Aviation Business Ltd (ABL) and the Amerijet bonds are in many ways the gateways through which these goods pass, having the task of unloading containers, tallying goods and separating them for customs clerks to deliver these goods to businesses.

But for the past month, there has been a backlog in one of the larger transit sheds in which the lion’s share of goods not able to be imported by ship, pass through.

Customs clerks and businesses are complaining that delays at transit sheds and bonds in Piarco are racking up costs and making things difficult to plan for. But sources at transit sheds at the airport have said an increase in the number of brokers and goods, along with the very necessary checks in goods for illegal items such as guns, drugs and other contraband makes it necessary for workers at the transit sheds to take more time.

Clearance challenge

“Clearing cargo is becoming a real challenge,” said one customs broker at the Swissport bond on Tuesday.

The broker complained that he had a shipment in the airport since the beginning of August and it took close to a month for the items to clear. He said he still has to have the items transferred to another bond.

“It was only last Friday that the goods cleared,” the broker said. “I came today to collect and prepare my documents, but I can’t because there was a glitch in the system, so I have to go back to Caribbean Airlines because it was a CAL plane that brought in the cargo, then get back to my office to sort it out.”

He said if brokers wanted to speed up the process, they could have their goods transferred to another bond. However that would take a PTR – a product tracking and reporting request – which will come at additional costs.

[caption id="attachment_1035235" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Swissport Cargo Service, Golden Grove Road, Piarco. - Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]

The broker told Business Day that for every day that his items were at the bond, he was charged rent.

He added that if he wanted goods transferred right away he would have to pay the workers at the bond overtime, a cost that starts at around $1,800.

“Once you are able to pay the overtime then you are able to go forward.”

A customs clerk at the bond told Business Day the delays at the Swissport bond started after the bond was shut down by the Customs and Excise Division in August.

“They didn’t take any cargo from August 17,” the clerk said. “They got instructions from Customs and Excise. Then there was a pile-up and now they are taking a long time to tally the goods.”

The clerk said because the goods are unable to be cleared at the Swissport bond, most brokers would have to do a PTR to transfer the goods and have them tallied at one of the other bonds. This too, can rack up additional costs if