The Overstated Crate: A Customs Declaration Dispute

≈ 6 min

Edmund Fosser has submitted a customs import declaration for a mixed cargo of household goods and foodstuffs arriving aboard the SS Veendam at Harwich on 14 June 1923. The declaration lists six categories of goods, each with a quantity and declared unit value. Customs officers have flagged the declaration for audit after a discrepancy was noted during routine cross-referencing of the ship's manifest, warehouse survey, and trade invoices. You are asked to identify which declared line contradicts the independent records and which record reveals the contradiction.

The scene

Port of Harwich, England, 1923. A merchant has filed a customs declaration for a shipment of imported goods arriving from Rotterdam.

Source documents

SS Veendam Cargo Manifest, 14 June 1923
Supplier Invoice No. 4471 from Van der Berg & Zn., Rotterdam
Harwich Customs Warehouse Survey, 15 June 1923
Port of Harwich Excise Register, June 1923

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