China-US Sea Freight: Avoiding Sensitive Goods Inspection

The United States allows new immigrants one opportunity to bring personal belongings and furniture duty-free, so many new immigrants pack up their calligraphy and painting collections, pianos, large furniture, and other items to take with them. However, customs inspections of containers shipped from China to the United States are quite strict. If you have sensitive items, how can you avoid inspection?
1. Loading the container is very important
If you have sensitive items, try to load them toward the back and do not place them near the container doors. When customs inspects containers, they usually check the packages placed near the container doors more often.
2. Cardboard boxes must be uniform
The outer packaging of shipped items must be consistent. Whether the contents are clothing, antiques, or sensitive items, do not use different packaging to distinguish them. Conspicuous outer packaging easily attracts customs attention, and the probability of inspection is also quite high. If customs still finds uniform cardboard boxes, then you can only say you are out of luck.
3. Where to put sensitive items
Sensitive items can be included, but you need to pay attention to technique. The key point is to inform the customs declarant in advance, preferably with photos, so that if an inspection occurs, there may be a way to mislead customs and avoid a random check. In fact, in general practice, the customs officers conducting inspection stand below without doing the manual work; they have designated laborers open the container and move things. However, this process is completed under the supervision of armed police and with cameras watching.
If at this time the person opening the container is someone unfamiliar, then there is no way around it. They will have the laborers open the container and then clear a passage through the middle of the items. Clearing a passage through the middle means emptying out the items in the center to leave a walkway for people, so that someone can walk freely inside all the way to the deepest part of the container. At this time, there are boxes on both sides of the path, and the container walls cannot be seen; only a path is cleared for someone to enter. Then customs will have the declarant go into the container and randomly pull out one or two boxes from both sides at the very back for inspection.
Therefore, to avoid inspection, it is recommended to place sensitive products in the deepest part of the container and in the bottom row, pressed down by other items so they are not easy to pull out. Second, place them on both sides against the walls, against one side but not against the front wall of the container, rather against the side walls. The approximate position is the third or fourth row from the back. Be sure to remember where they are placed so the declarant can avoid them. Do not put one here and one there.