After the September 11 attacks in the US and the passage of the Patriot Act by the US Congress , balikbayan boxes have been subjected to rigorous inspections by the United States Department of Homeland Security 's Out-Bound Exam Team that caused massive delays of up to three weeks at the US Customs inspection facility . This extended shipping time from 21 days to 30 plus days . The inspections also resulted in opened balikbayan boxes and complaints of pilferage and mishandling . The Bureau of Customs also conducts 100 % inspections that added to the burden of delayed shipments . The inspections are the result of some unscrupulous individuals who use balikbayan boxes to smuggle commercial items without paying taxes or smuggle contraband . Since balikbayan box shipping is a consolidated shipment , even one illegal item will affect all 400 or so packages inside the container . The inspection process has been modernized with the installation of high performance X-ray machines
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Balikbayan box