What Happens When Customs Flags Your Shipment
How a Centralized Examination Station works — and why having Mercer handle the exam on-site keeps freight moving.
A Centralized Examination Station (CES) is a CBP-approved facility where U.S. Customs inspects selected import shipments. As a CES operator for the Seattle and Tacoma ports, Mercer handles those examinations on-site — with on-site CBP officers, VACIS X-ray and FDA/USDA-certified inspection — so a customs hold doesn’t mean your freight sits somewhere else, waiting.
Customs examination is one of the most disruptive variables in an import timeline. You can’t always predict whether CBP will flag a shipment — but you can control how smoothly the exam goes when it does.
Mercer is a U.S. Customs bonded Centralized Examination Station operator for the Seattle and Tacoma ports. On-site CBP officers, VACIS pallet X-ray, an on-site Agriculture Lab and a large inside exam area mean examinations are handled under one roof — not bounced to a separate facility while your cargo waits.
And because our CES connects directly to Mercer’s bonded warehousing, CFS and fulfillment operations, cleared cargo keeps moving onward through the same network — everything under one roof.