When a consignee refuses cargo, stops answering, or a customer simply does not pay, a forwarder has two problems running at once: money owed, and goods sitting at a terminal or warehouse while storage, demurrage and customs deadlines tick on. The forwarder’s main tool is its lien, a right to keep goods (and often documents) until it is paid. The key takeaway: a lien is a right to hold, not automatically a right to sell. Selling needs a contractual power, a statute or a court, plus proper notice, and customs may get to the goods first. This post walks through the sequence. For the clause-by-clause detail of a UK forwarder’s lien, see our credit control guide for forwarders.
Particular lien vs general lien
A lien exists only while the forwarder lawfully has possession or control of the goods or the documents that control them. Release the cargo and the lien is gone: what remains is an unsecured invoice. Two kinds matter.
| Particular lien | General lien | |
|---|---|---|
| What it secures | Charges on the specific goods being held | Any sum the customer owes, including old invoices on other shipments |
| How it arises | Can arise by law for some bailees and carriers who worked on or carried the goods | Generally only by contract (trading conditions) or an established trade custom |
| Typical example | Holding a container until its own freight and clearance charges are paid | Holding this week’s shipment against last quarter’s unpaid invoices |
| Power of sale | Not by itself; needs contract, statute or court order | Not by itself; standard trading conditions usually add one |
The general lien is the one forwarders rely on, and it lives in the trading conditions. That makes incorporation the whole game: if your conditions were never properly made part of the contract, you may be left with only a narrow particular lien, or none. Our guide to what a forwarder’s trading conditions actually say covers how they are incorporated.
Three limits catch people out. First, if the goods belong to someone other than your customer (a seller under CIF terms who has not been paid, or a buyer who has paid and holds title), the owner may challenge a lien created by a contract it never signed, and wrongly holding a third party’s goods can expose you to a claim. Second, a lien does not override insolvency protections: in the UK an administration moratorium or a liquidation restricts enforcement, and US bankruptcy has its own automatic stay. Third, a lien can be lost by conduct: releasing the goods ends it, and accepting other security in its place may too.
Where the lien and the power of sale come from
The two most common association terms both combine a general lien with a power of sale, but on different timetables.
- BIFA Standard Trading Conditions (UK), 2025 edition, clause 8. Gives the member a general lien on all goods and documents relating to goods in its possession, custody or control, for all sums due from the customer on any account. Clause 8(A)(ii) allows a sale as agent for the customer on at least 7 days’ written notice (the earlier 2021 edition required 21 days, as Kennedys and other law firms have noted). Clause 8(B) allows an immediate sale where goods are perishable or where storage and rent charges are likely to exceed their sale value, which is the abandoned-cargo case. The 2025 edition also states the lien applies to goods outside the UK, though whether a foreign court will respect that is a separate question.
- NCBFAA Terms and Conditions of Service (US), revision of September 2023, section 14 (as reproduced by members using that revision; check the numbering in your own copy). Gives a continuing lien on the customer’s property and related documents in the company’s actual or constructive possession, custody or control, or en route, for charges on that shipment and prior shipments, and says the lien survives delivery. The company must give written notice of intent to exercise the lien with the exact amount due and ongoing storage charges. If within thirty days the customer does not post cash or a letter of credit at sight (or, where the amount is disputed, a bond of 110% of the total due), the company may sell at public or private sale or auction and refund any net proceeds.
Where there is no contractual power of sale, statute may fill the gap. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, section 12 and Schedule 1 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 let a bailee sell uncollected goods after a notice of intention to sell sent by registered post or recorded delivery. Where money was already owed, the notice period must be at least three months, and the notice cannot be given while the bailor is disputing the amount claimed. The bailee must account for the proceeds less the costs of sale, and is assumed to have used the best method of sale reasonably available. In the US, a carrier’s lien under UCC section 7-307 covers charges including demurrage and terminal charges, and section 7-308 allows a commercially reasonable public or private sale after notice to everyone known to claim an interest, with any surplus held for the person entitled to the goods. A willful failure to follow those steps makes the carrier liable for conversion. Note that the UCC lien is lost on goods the carrier voluntarily delivers.
The carrier’s lien and the demurrage clock
While you work out your own position, the ocean carrier has its own. Most carrier bills of lading give the line a lien on the cargo for freight, demurrage and other charges, and define the “Merchant” so that shipper, consignee and holder are each liable. If you are an NVOCC or have booked in your own name, you are the shipper on the master bill, and the carrier will invoice you for demurrage, detention and eventually disposal, whatever happened between you and your customer. The carrier can also refuse to release the box to anyone until its charges are paid, which can block your own sale.
Every day of delay costs money: terminal storage and demurrage on the cargo side, detention on the container. Our guides to detention and per diem charges and to the FMC rules on demurrage and detention invoices explain what US carriers may bill and to whom. Ask the carrier early whether it will agree to devanning into a warehouse you control, which converts open-ended container charges into ordinary storage you can quantify in a notice.
What customs does with unclaimed goods
Uncleared goods are still under customs control. A lien does not suspend customs deadlines, and once those run out the authority, not the forwarder, decides what happens to the cargo.
United States: general order and unclaimed merchandise
| Stage | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unentered goods at the place of unlading | May stay there until the 15th calendar day after landing | 19 CFR 4.37(a) |
| Notice of unentered goods | Carrier notifies CBP and a bonded warehouse within 20 days of landing; penalties of up to $1,000 per bill of lading for failure | 19 CFR 4.37 |
| General order (GO) storage | Goods go to a GO warehouse at the risk and expense of the consignee | 19 USC 1490; 19 CFR 127.1 |
| Unclaimed | Goods in customs custody for 6 months from the date of importation, with charges unpaid, are treated as unclaimed and abandoned, then sold at public auction; CBP may instead vest title in the US on notice, effective the 30th day | 19 USC 1491; 19 CFR 127.11 |
| Perishables, explosives, dangerous articles | May be sold after 3 days’ public notice; goods likely to depreciate below their charges on 6 to 10 days’ notice | 19 CFR 127.28 |
| Surplus after sale | Paid after storage, expenses, duties, taxes and fees and any lien for freight or charges; goes to the Treasury unless claimed within 10 days of the sale; a claim is supported by the original bill of lading | 19 USC 1493; 19 CFR 127.36 |
A carrier or customs broker can file a notice of lien for freight or charges with the port director on CBP Form 3485 under 19 CFR 141.112. The regulation names carriers and customs brokers (and their successors or assigns), so whether a forwarder or NVOCC qualifies in its own right is worth settling with the port and counsel before you need it. An importer that wants out can also abandon goods to the US within 30 days of entry (19 CFR 127.12).
United Kingdom: the 90-day temporary storage limit
HMRC guidance (last updated 11 August 2021, checked October 2026) says goods can be held in temporary storage for up to 90 days, after which duty and import VAT must be paid and the goods entered to a customs procedure or re-exported, and that goods may be seized if the limit is exceeded. Under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, goods still owing a declaration when the period ends become liable to forfeiture under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. A lien sale in that window only works if the buyer clears the goods or they are re-exported.
European Union: Articles 149, 198 and 199 UCC
Under Article 149 of the Union Customs Code, goods in temporary storage must be placed under a customs procedure or re-exported within 90 days. The European Commission says that if the limit is exceeded customs will dispose of the goods by sale or destruction, with costs falling on the party that made the initial declaration. Article 198 sets out when customs may sell, destroy or confiscate goods, and Article 199 allows goods to be abandoned to the State only with customs’ prior permission. Member states run these procedures nationally, so timelines and practice vary.
Selling or disposing of the goods lawfully
A sale that skips steps turns a debt you are owed into a conversion claim against you. The sequence below reflects what the BIFA, NCBFAA and statutory routes have in common; your own conditions and local law decide the details.
- Confirm your footing. Check that your trading conditions were incorporated for this customer, that the goods or documents are in your possession or control, and who owns the goods.
- Stop the bleeding. Ask the carrier for the running charges, request devanning to a warehouse you control, and note the customs deadline (15 days in the US, 90 days in UK or EU temporary storage).
- Serve written notice. State the lien, the exact amount owed, the storage still accruing, and the date after which you will sell. Send it to the customer and, where you know them, the consignee, notify party and any bank or owner with an interest.
- Keep evidence. Keep the notices, proof of delivery or posting, the warehouse tallies, photos and the carrier’s invoices.
- Deal with customs. Either clear the goods (paying duty yourself, recoverable only from proceeds), sell them in bond to a buyer who clears them, arrange re-export, or seek permission to abandon or destroy them.
- Sell properly. Get the best price reasonably available: a recognised auction, a broker in that commodity, or several written bids. Do not buy the goods yourself through a private sale.
- Account for the money. Deduct the debt and the costs of holding and selling, then pay any surplus to the customer or owner with a written statement.
Who pays the costs
| Cost | Who the bill usually lands on |
|---|---|
| Ocean demurrage, detention, terminal storage | The party named on the carrier’s bill; for an NVOCC or a forwarder booking in its own name, that is the forwarder |
| US general order storage and cartage | The consignee in law (19 USC 1490), but GO warehouses will chase whoever they can |
| Duty and import VAT on clearance | The importer or declarant; in a lien sale, the buyer or the forwarder from the proceeds |
| EU disposal by customs | The party that made the initial declaration, per the European Commission |
| Costs of the forwarder’s own sale | Deducted from proceeds; any shortfall stays a debt owed by the customer |
Abandoned cargo often sells for less than the charges, especially low-value consolidations and used goods. A common misconception is that customs will pay the forwarder out of an auction: in the US, storage, expenses, duties, taxes and fees come first, and low-value goods often leave nothing. Expect a shortfall and claim it against the customer, and check whether trade credit insurance or your liability cover responds.
Preventing it: deposits, credit control and document control
- Deposits and prepayment for new or collect-heavy accounts. Take charges up front where the consignee is unknown to you, the goods are low-value or second-hand, or the shipment is collect at destination. Our guide to prepaid vs collect freight explains why collect freight shifts the risk to you.
- Credit limits set on what you could recover. A general lien is only as good as the next shipment you hold, so exposure should not exceed what is in your hands.
- Original bill of lading control. With a negotiable bill, holding the originals is itself an exercise of the lien. A sea waybill or an early telex release gives that control away; issue it only once you are paid. See bill of lading types explained. Air waybills are not documents of title, so air cargo needs release instructions to the handling agent instead.
- Know the consignee before the goods sail. Confirm that someone at destination has agreed to take delivery and can clear the goods, including import licences and permits.
What to do next
- Pull your current trading conditions and note the exact lien clause, notice period and sale trigger you would rely on.
- List open shipments where the consignee is new, the freight is collect, or the customer is past terms, and decide which originals you will hold.
- Draft a template notice of lien and intention to sell, reviewed by a lawyer in your main jurisdictions.
- Agree with your carriers and warehouses in advance how devanning and storage will be priced if a consignee walks away.
Abandoned cargo is far rarer when you know who is on the other end. More than 29,300 logistics companies are searchable by country and service in the CargoLinked directory, which helps when you need a reliable agent or warehouse at destination, and the public requests board lists freight that shippers have posted for forwarders to quote on directly.
This article is general information, not legal, financial or customs advice. Lien rights, sale procedures and customs deadlines differ by country, by the trading conditions in force and by the facts of each shipment. Before holding or selling goods, confirm the position with a licensed professional in the relevant jurisdiction and with the customs authority concerned.
