When a food shipment is detained at the EU or US border, the authority holds it while it samples, tests or reviews documents. If it passes, it is released. If it fails, it is refused entry, and you must usually choose between contesting the finding, treating the goods, sending them back or out, or destroying them.
Most of these steps run on deadlines and cost money every day the container waits. Get your customs broker involved straight away.
In the EU
- Official controls: border authorities check documents, identity and, for some products, take physical samples. Products listed in Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 are checked more often.
- Holding: the consignment stays under official control until results are known.
- If non-compliant: the authority can order destruction, re-dispatch outside the EU, or in some cases special treatment or use for another purpose.
- Second opinion: EU rules generally give the operator a right to ask for a second expert opinion, often using the reserve sample. Ask your broker how this works at the port.
- Notification: a rejection is usually reported in RASFF as a border rejection.
In the US
- Hold or detention: FDA may hold the entry for sampling, or detain it, and issues a Notice of FDA Action.
- Response: you have a chance to present evidence, such as lab results, within the period set in the notice.
- Reconditioning: you can apply to bring the goods into compliance, for example by relabelling or sorting, under FDA supervision.
- Refusal: if the goods are refused, they must be exported or destroyed within a set time, under customs supervision.
- Import alert: repeated problems can put the product or firm on an import alert.
What to do straight away
- Ask the broker for the exact reason, the test result and the deadlines.
- Retrieve your pre-shipment lab report and the sealed counter-sample record.
- Tell the supplier in writing, quoting the contract clause on quality and claims.
- Decide quickly whether to contest, recondition or re-export. Storage and demurrage keep running.
- Check whether your insurance covers rejection. Many cargo policies do not.
- Keep a written record of every step, cost and message for your claim.
Preventing it next time
Most detentions come from known hazards: pesticide residues, ethylene oxide, aflatoxin, Salmonella, or document errors. Test the packed lot at origin for the hazards your market finds, from a sample you drew yourself, and check the documents before loading. For handling the claim, see how to handle a quality claim with an Indian supplier.
How we help
If a shipment is held, we gather the origin test reports, sampling records and counter-samples, and support your claim with the supplier. Before shipment, we test the packed lot and check the document pack to reduce the risk. Ask for a free sourcing review.