Cargo held at customs in Chile: what to do in the first 48 hours and who is responsible

You were told your cargo "is being held at customs" and nobody explains why. The first thing to know is that held does not mean seized.

In short: cargo held at customs in Chile may be waiting for an inspection (aforo), a document, a correction to the declaration or a permit from another agency. The urgent thing is to find out, in writing, who is holding it and what they are asking for. Meanwhile, three things run at the same time: the facility's storage, the shipping line's demurrage and a legal 90-day storage period, after which the goods fall into presumed abandonment (presunción de abandono).

Why does cargo get held at customs?

Being told "it's at Customs" is not enough, because each hold has a different party responsible and a document that lifts it.

Having your cargo selected for inspection is not a penalty, because the Customs Ordinance (Ordenanza de Aduanas) empowers the Service to verify any declaration. Permits from other agencies, product by product, are covered in SEC, ISP, SAG and SUBTEL permits.

What to do in the first 48 hours

1. Ask for the reason in writing: DIN, BL or air waybill number, the physical location of the cargo and the observation, report or resolution, with its notification date.
2. Identify who is holding it: Customs, SAG, ISP or the Regional Health Authority, or else the shipping line and the warehouse.
3. Put together a single file with the invoice, packing list, BL, freight and insurance, certificate of origin, DIN with its proof of payment, the warehouse's receipt slip, reports, permits and rate sheets.
4. Submit what is missing (documents, written responses, the SMDA or the application to the relevant agency) and keep the filing receipt.
5. Tackle the charges in parallel. Ask the shipping line in writing for the last free day and an extension, and ask the warehouse for an itemized statement.
6. Set owners and dates in a simple spreadsheet (hold, missing document, owner, committed date and additional cost) and ask for a daily report.

Also check the email address registered for your clearance: Customs sends notifications that way (Article 25 bis of the Ordinance), and notification is deemed made when it is sent, whether you read it or not.

What costs run per day and who charges them?

Using the rate Maersk publishes for a 20-foot dry container, ten days past the free days cost US$1,250 in demurrage. If ten days of off-dock storage at US$100 also run, the delay adds up to US$2,250. The step-by-step calculation is in demurrage, free days and storage.

There is one relief worth asking for: in 2025 Customs confirmed that storage is suspended during the days of its inspection, from selection for inspection until the result is recorded. Ask your broker for a record of those dates and send it to the warehouse operator with a request to exclude those days. The criterion covers only the periods directly linked to that inspection and does not extend to demurrage, which the shipping line charges.

How long do I have before presumed abandonment?

The cargo can remain in storage for up to 90 days from its actual receipt at the warehouse (the date on the receipt slip, not the date the vessel arrived). An extension exists only for qualified cases.

Once the deadline passes, the goods are presumed abandoned. After 18 business days they can go to auction. To recover them before that, you must pay the taxes, the storage and a surcharge of up to 5% of the customs value, plus an increment for each day of delay. The table in force since August 14, 2026 sets that increment between 0.03% and 0.10% per day, depending on the value of the cargo. Having paid the taxes does not, by itself, prevent abandonment.

What ways out are there?

• Correct the declaration: if the problem is a piece of data in the DIN, your broker files the SMDA within 60 days of the declaration's legalization (legalización), and the resolution takes, as a rule, up to 10 business days.
• Answer the doubt about value: you have at least 15 business days to support the price and, while it is being resolved, you can request release of the cargo against a guarantee.
• Private Bonded Warehouse (Almacén Particular): lets you take the cargo to your own approved facility without paying the taxes yet, for up to 90 days. It requires a guarantee and must be requested before the storage period expires. More in Private Bonded Warehouse (DAPI).
• Re-export, that is, send the goods back abroad. If they arrived defective or different from what you ordered, there is a procedure that must be requested within 60 days of legalization.
• Express abandonment: a written waiver, with the BL endorsed, which Customs must accept. Do not assume it wipes out what you owe the shipping line or the warehouse.
• If SAG rejects the product, the only options are reshipment or destruction, at the importer's expense.

Who is responsible for the cargo and the costs?

Before Customs, the importer is liable for all of its obligations, even if it has hired a broker. The customs broker handles the clearance and the corrections to the declaration, and each agency decides on its own permit.

Who bears the storage and demurrage caused by the delay depends on the contracts and on what is on record in the file, so keep every notification and every receipt. If the dispute is with Customs, you have 30 days for an administrative reconsideration (reposición administrativa) and 90 days from notification for a claim before the Tax and Customs Court (Tribunal Tributario y Aduanero).

What SICE does in this case and where its responsibility ends

SICE's work happens mostly beforehand: it contacts the supplier and reviews the invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and transport document before shipment, when correcting a document does not yet cost any storage. It coordinates clearance with customs brokers from its network and, when it makes sense, handles the Private Bonded Warehouse and its guarantee bond through that same network. SICE is not a customs broker: corrections to the DIN and dealings with Customs are carried out by the broker, and each agency resolves its own permits. You deal with a single partner, who coordinates everyone and keeps you informed.

Frequently asked questions

Is held the same as seized?

No. The cargo may be pending an inspection, a document or a permit, and it is released once that requirement is met.

How long does a customs inspection take?

There is no single legal deadline of 24, 48 or 72 hours. It depends on the reason for the inspection and on what still has to be submitted.

Whom do I call at Customs?

Your customs broker deals with the customs office handling the clearance. For general guidance, the Service has an information office (OIRS) at aduana.cl.

Can I move the cargo to a cheaper warehouse?

Only with prior authorization from Customs. And deconsolidating the container inside the storage facility does not stop the 90-day clock.

Official sources (in Spanish)

• BCN: Customs Ordinance Inspection, presumed abandonment, surcharge, liability and claims.
• Customs: Compendium of Customs Rules, Chapter 3 90-day storage period and supporting documents.
• Customs: Compendium of Customs Rules, Chapter 5 Amendment and clarification of the declaration (SMDA).
• Customs: Article 154 rates Table of the daily surcharge for presumed abandonment.
• Customs: Legal Reports 2025 Suspension of storage during inspection.
• SAG: imports and transits Inspection, rejection, reshipment or destruction.