Most importers have never heard of General Order until the day it happens to them. Miss the customs clearance window on an import shipment and your cargo doesn’t just sit at the terminal — it gets moved, at your expense, into a bonded General Order warehouse, where storage runs expensive and the clock starts ticking toward government auction. Here’s the timeline, the costs, and the boring habits that make GO a thing you only read about.
The rule in one paragraph
Under U.S. customs regulations, imported merchandise must be entered — a customs entry filed and cargo cleared or moved under bond — within 15 calendar days of arrival at the port. Cargo that isn’t entered in time is sent to General Order. After six months in GO without entry or export, the merchandise is treated as unclaimed or abandoned and can be sold at government auction (perishables and some restricted goods on much shorter timelines).
How cargo actually ends up in GO
It’s rarely deliberate abandonment. The common paths:
- Documentation stalls. Missing commercial invoice, unresolved ISF mismatch, or a consignee dispute that nobody escalates until day 14.
- Importer surprise. The buyer refuses the goods, goes quiet, or goes out of business while the container is on the water.
- Broker gaps. No customs broker engaged, or the broker is waiting on a power of attorney that’s sitting in someone’s inbox.
- Payment standoffs. Supplier and buyer argue over terms; the container waits; the deadline doesn’t.
What GO costs
Once cargo goes GO, a bonded cartman drays it to the GO warehouse — a move you pay for. GO warehouse storage rates are substantially higher than commercial storage, billed from day one, plus handling in and out. Add the original demurrage accrued at the terminal before transfer, and a modest shipment can rack up thousands of dollars before you even restart the clearance conversation. To recover the goods, the importer files entry, pays duties, and settles all accrued GO charges — the warehouse holds a lien until paid.
If nothing happens by month six, the goods are auctioned; proceeds go first to storage liens and duties. Importers rarely see a dime back.
How to never meet a GO warehouse
- Engage the broker before the vessel sails. Entry can be prepared and filed before arrival, which turns the 15-day window from a deadline into a formality.
- Watch the arrival notice dates. The 15-day clock runs from arrival, not from when someone reads the email. Someone must own that date for every shipment.
- Escalate document problems on day one. Nearly every GO story includes two quiet weeks where a fixable problem sat unfixed.
- Use the port infrastructure to buy time correctly. If cargo is cleared but your receiving isn’t ready, that’s not a GO risk — that’s a staging problem, solved by a pre-pull to a secure yard. Our pre-pull explainer and yard storage cover that play. GO risk is specifically uncleared cargo — the fix is always on the paperwork side.
- Know your exam status. Cargo under customs exam moves on a different track — our guide to customs exams in Miami explains holds versus GO transfers.
If your cargo is already in GO
Move fast, in this order: confirm which GO warehouse holds it (the terminal or your carrier’s arrival notice will say); get a broker filing entry immediately; request an itemized statement of charges; pay and schedule pickup with a carrier that can handle bonded facility pickups. Every additional week adds storage. The situation is recoverable for months — it’s just expensively recoverable.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to clear imported cargo before General Order?
Fifteen calendar days from arrival at the U.S. port. After that, cargo is eligible for transfer to a GO warehouse.
Can I still get my cargo back after it goes to GO?
Yes — file entry, pay duties, and settle all accrued GO storage and handling charges. You generally have up to six months before the goods can be auctioned.
Does a customs exam put my cargo in General Order?
No. An exam is a hold within the normal entry process. GO applies to cargo with no timely entry filed at all — though an exam that drags while documents are missing can run out the same 15-day clock.