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port of entry

A port of entry is the seaport, airport, or land border crossing where people or goods first enter a country or customs territory for customs and other border control.

In plain English

This is the official first crossing point into a country or customs territory for travellers or cargo. It can be a place at sea, in the air, or on land. Customs and other border control happen there when entry begins.

In context

Here, it means the seaport, airport, or land border crossing where the shipment first enters the destination country or customs territory for customs and other border control.

Situation
Completing customs, import, export, duty, declaration, and clearance administration
What it communicates
labels the field for the shipment's arrival point into the destination country.

Meaning limits

By itself, the term identifies only the first entry location for border control and does not indicate the shipment's final destination.

Examples

“Although the goods were bound for Milan, their port of entry was Naples, where customs first inspected them.”

Core meaning

“Customs recorded Dover as the port of entry for the lorry carrying the machinery.”

In context