'Overwhelming Volume of Overseas Direct Purchase Customs Clearance' Pyeongtaek Customs Calls for Promotion to Headquarters Customs

The Pyeongtaek Customs Office under the Korea Customs Service is experiencing an overload of work due to an increase in overseas direct purchase clearance volumes. Compared to the adjacent Incheon Port and Incheon Airport, the workload per employee is about three times higher. Given this situation, civic groups have also raised the need to expand the scope of the Pyeongtaek Customs Office. They argue that Pyeongtaek Customs should be upgraded from a direct customs office to a headquarters-level customs office.

Pyeongtaek Port panorama. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the Korea Customs Service on the 10th, last year, the Pyeongtaek Customs Office conducted 38,578,922 clearance list examinations annually. There are a total of 10 employees responsible for this task at Pyeongtaek Customs, and the average daily clearance list examinations handled by one employee last year reached 14,838 cases. Clearance list examination is one of the important procedures conducted when bringing goods purchased overseas into the country, serving as a necessary gateway to impose customs duties and value-added tax.

Last year, Incheon Port had 13 employees handling 15,675,127 cases annually (an average of 4,691 cases per person per day), and Incheon Airport had 30 employees handling 47,508,206 cases annually (an average of 6,091 cases per person per day). Considering this, one employee at Pyeongtaek Customs handled 2.4 times more cases than at Incheon Airport and 3.2 times more than at Incheon Port.

The situation is not much different in the X-ray reading field, which is a commonly used inspection method at customs. Last year, 11 employees at Pyeongtaek Customs read a total of 40,087,033 cases annually using 7 devices (an average of 14,016 cases per person per day). In comparison, Incheon Port had 15 employees using 9 devices to process 18,665,280 cases (4,786 cases per person), and Incheon Airport had 70 employees using 82 devices to process 77,417,046 cases (4,254 cases per person), which means Pyeongtaek Customs handled about three times more cases per person.

Moreover, the volume of maritime express shipments brought into Pyeongtaek has been steadily increasing recently, which is expected to further increase the clearance workload at Pyeongtaek Customs. The increase in express shipment volume is interpreted as a result of the growing overseas direct purchase volume from China, including AliExpress and Temu.

The Korea Customs Service expects the volume of maritime express shipments entering the Pyeongtaek area to increase from 32.04 million cases in 2022 to 40.09 million cases last year, and further to 52.98 million cases this year and 76.43 million cases next year. Incheon Port is also expected to increase from 12.5 million cases in 2022 to 18.67 million cases in 2023, with projections of 24.46 million cases this year and 32.01 million cases next year. Considering this, the gap in maritime express shipment volumes between Pyeongtaek and Incheon is expected to widen from 19.54 million cases in 2022 to 21.42 million cases in 2023, 25.82 million cases this year, and 44.42 million cases next year.

Civic groups in the Pyeongtaek area have advocated for upgrading the status of Pyeongtaek Customs. On the 8th, Won Yoo-chul, chairman of the Pyeongtaek Citizens' Association, personally delivered a petition to Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, requesting the promotion of Pyeongtaek Customs from a direct customs office to a headquarters-level customs office.

Chairman Won met with Minister Lee and introduced, “Pyeongtaek Customs clears raw materials entering Pyeongtaek Port 24 hours a day, and simplified bonded cargo import and export procedures through the bonded system during the construction of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory.” He added, “It has also contributed to the local community by playing roles such as tax payment deferrals for small and medium-sized export companies in the region.”

He further pointed out, “However, recently, the surge in direct purchases from China, including AliExpress and Temu, has caused an overload of work. The severe shortage of personnel and equipment relative to the increased workload raises concerns about weakening the customs’ ability to block illegal goods such as drugs.”

Minister Lee responded, “I am well aware of the importance of Pyeongtaek Port,” and said, “I will carefully review the petition.”

Meanwhile, the Pyeongtaek Citizens' Association is a civic group that participates in regional development with about 250 members from various sectors, including local lawmakers, the mayor, city council chairpersons as advisory members, as well as business, political, and governmental circles.