A dedicated customs clearance facility for handling express cargo imported through Gunsan Port has been established. This facility will be utilized as a hub for customs clearance in the Honam region going forward.
On the 2nd, the Korea Customs Service announced that it will build and operate the 'Gunsan Customs Express Logistics Center' (hereafter Gunsan Center). The Gunsan Center was established on the first floor (3,153㎡) of the Gunsan Logistics Support Center with support from Jeonbuk Province and Gunsan City.
The Gunsan Logistics Support Center is a property owned by Gunsan City and was completed in 2007 as part of the Small and Medium Distribution Joint Wholesale Logistics Center construction project. The Korea Customs Service aimed to complete the project quickly and at low cost by establishing the Gunsan Center here. After a pilot operation starting in February, it began full operation on the 30th of last month.
Until now, Gunsan Customs did not have its own customs clearance facility, so express cargo imported through Gunsan Port had to be transported under bond to places like Pyeongtaek and Incheon for clearance. This caused private companies to bear increased logistics costs, and customs faced difficulties in risk management.
Moreover, the volume of express cargo imported through Gunsan Port increased from approximately 770,000 cases in 2019 to about 1,156,000 cases last year.
In this regard, voices calling for the installation of an express cargo customs clearance facility in Gunsan grew louder on-site. The mainstream opinion was that logistics hubs concentrated in the metropolitan areas such as Incheon and Pyeongtaek should be dispersed to the West Coast to revitalize the regional economy and strengthen cargo monitoring and control.
The Korea Customs Service reflected these field opinions and established and operates the Gunsan Center. In particular, the Gunsan Center is equipped with three sets of X-ray scanners capable of processing over 6 million cases annually, three sets of a 'simultaneous implementation system' that displays express cargo information and X-ray images, and the latest surveillance equipment such as narcotics and explosives detectors, enabling immediate risk management of hazardous items at the port of entry.
Ko Gwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, said, “The Gunsan Center recently opened and has begun full-scale operations,” adding, “The Gunsan Center will be utilized as a customs clearance hub for the Honam region in the future.”
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