Customs Clearance Status Board

'Entry filed' — the declaration is lodged and queued; 'Under assessment' — customs is reviewing value/classification; 'Query raised' — they need information (respond same-day; the queue restarts after you answer); 'Exam' — physical or scan inspection ordered; 'Duty paid' and 'Released' close the regulatory hold. The expensive misunderstanding is treating filed as done — assessment and queries are where the days live.

Pre-file wherever the regime allows (advance BOE in India, pre-arrival in the US/EU), send complete docs to the broker before the vessel arrives, answer queries within hours, and keep product master data (HS codes, valuations, certificates) consistent shipment to shipment — repeat mismatches are what train the system to query you. Most 'slow customs' is actually slow paperwork.

Mechanically the broker files and follows up; substantively the importer owns document quality and query answers. The board's stall pattern reveals which: entries stuck at 'Docs to broker' or 'Query raised' point at your desk; entries filed promptly but sitting in 'Under assessment' across many shipments point at the broker's follow-up or the product's risk profile.

Rarely automatically — terminal and CFS clocks usually keep running through holds, with waiver paths where the delay is attributable to customs itself (exam queues, system outages). Capture the hold and release timestamps on this board; they're the evidence for those waiver applications and for disputing charges the hold caused. The hold's cost is exactly why query-response speed matters.