Long Delays in Processing Cargo Cited : Importers Ask Customs Service to Beef Up Work Force in Southland

For years, the Los Angeles Customs Brokers Assn. has tried to get the U.S. Customs Service to assign more employees at local ports. And for years, the trade association says, the federal agency has more or less snubbed it.

“We have the feeling that those in Washington think of this area as a sleepy little suburb that really doesn’t do much,” says John Peterson, head of the 120-member association and president of a San Pedro customs brokerage firm.

Now, however, the brokers have decided to join forces with five other local trade groups, as well as the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, to press customs to beef up its work force here, especially at the harbors.

The groups contend that as trade across the Pacific has boomed in recent years, the 550 or so customs employees assigned to the Los Angeles area--a number customs says reflects an 8% increase in the last three years--have been hard-pressed to make inspections and process paper work in a timely fashion. As a result, the groups say, cargo is often delayed in arriving at its final destination.

The trade groups’ complaints are shared by some local retailers.

Sometimes Diverts Cargo

Rita Ergas, media marketing manager at the Western headquarters of Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Alhambra, says periodic delays in processing goods through Los Angeles has forced the firm at times to divert cargo to Seattle for delivery to its final destination.

And Jack Aden, who as traffic manager for Broadway Department Stores coordinates that firm’s shipping activities, says the firm has experienced delays in clearing merchandise through local customs for about two years.

“It used to take three or four days to clear a shipment and have it (delivered) to our distribution system,” says Aden, who serves as chairman of the Western Traffic Conference, a trade group composed of traffic managers. “Under the present system, it takes eight to 10 days to get a shipment out of customs for delivery.”

Aden adds that The Broadway has also had difficulties in clearing merchandise that falls under federal regulations which limit the amount of certain imports, such as textiles. “Even though customs clears it, it must be sent to the customs quota desk,” he says. “The quota desk is not staffed properly to handle this influx of volume, and we’re looking at a three- to four-day delay to get the paper off the desk.”

The first public fruits of the joint effort to pressure the U.S. Customs Service came earlier this month when Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), at the chamber’s invitation, met with brokers and other businessmen to discuss their concerns and tour customs’ operations at the harbors and Los Angeles International Airport. Roybal is chairman of a congressional subcommittee that rules on appropriations for the Treasury Department, which oversees customs.

Seeks More Inspectors

Roybal told a press conference that he will attempt to persuade members of Congress that a shortage of customs personnel does exist at local ports, and request that 100 more inspectors be assigned to the area. At present there are 104 inspectors assigned to the harbors and 187 at the airport.

The congressman also said he will seek assurances from customs that it will not close its downtown office at the World Trade Center, a branch used by some of the city’s largest customs brokerage houses. Customs, which operates its main office on Terminal Island, is contemplating closing the branch to save money, and has cut its staff of 24 there by at least half during the past six years.

“What I want to do is get a commitment from customs to staff the office downtown more adequately, and to install a system of efficiency that will further reduce the paper work and wasted motions these businessmen now have to go through,” Roybal said.

But Roybal’s job won’t be easy. Deputy Customs Commissioner Alfred R. DeAngelus, appearing at the press conference with Roybal, said budget constraints will hurt any hopes for expansion locally. The Treasury Department has recommended a 1.8% reduction in the U.S. Customs Service budget in the next fiscal year.

‘Emotional Argument’

Moreover, Quintin L. Villanueva Jr., commissioner of U.S. Customs for the Pacific region, said in a telephone interview that he believes that cargo in Los Angeles is moving “faster than ever,” and that some of the brokers’ complaints appear to be more an “emotional argument” than anything else.

However, customs officials were unable to supply figures on the amount of time it now takes, on average, for cargo to clear the local ports or to say how much better--or worse--the record is now versus a few years ago.

Customs inspectors are sometimes the “whipping boys” when brokers face problems expediting cargo, Villanueva complains.

He suggests that such problems have included the temporary shortage of dockworkers at the seaports last summer that forced many ships to wait in line to unload.

Villanueva notes that the service has been automating many of its procedures in an effort to speed up to process. For example, the agency last fall implemented a computerized cargo clearance entry system to eliminate a portion of the paper work and permit inspectors to make better decisions about which cargo to inspect. Other automated systems are scheduled to be in place by 1986 or soon thereafter, he adds.

“We’re going to have some rough spots until we are fully automated,” Villanueva said. “I would suspect this cry for more people will subside (when the automated systems are in place.)”

Increases and Decreases

But the trade groups maintain that while trade at local seaports has increased in recent years, the U.S. Customs Service has refused to increase its work force accordingly, and, in fact, has decreased the number of inspectors at the harbors by 19% during the past five years.

Meanwhile, the number of inspectors assigned to LAX has increased by 17% to meet the increase in passenger and cargo volume at that facility.

Recent figures compiled by the ports show that cargo volume, including dry bulk items, was up 13.5% to 18.1 million metric revenue tons at the Port of Los Angeles in 1984. At the Port of Long Beach, general cargo volume increased 28.4% to 29.8 million metric revenue tons. Other statistics compiled by brokers from customs records show that show dutiable goods coming through San Pedro Bay have increased 254% since 1975, while customs collections have increased 430% during the same period.

Collections for the Los Angeles District reached a record $2.1 billion last year, up from $1.5 billion the previous year. Customs’ collections nationwide increased to $12.5 billion last year, up from $9.8 billion the previous year.

“It’s my understanding that when you deal with a customs official, a physical body, that the amount of revenue that person brings in exceeds the cost of the person,” said Ray Remy, former Los Angeles deputy mayor who took over as president of the chamber last year.