The requirement to have invoices for incoming packages has proven onerous for some local customers, who complain of long waits to get their deliveries from overseas.

Delays since December have ignited an online furore — however, according to the Bermuda Government, blame for the holdup does not lie with HM Customs. Asked if customs officials had placed extra conditions on incoming deliveries, a spokesman for the Collector of Customs said the procedure remained the same as ever.

It came as frustrated residents told The Royal Gazette about exceptional delays in having their shipments released, even though the goods had already been sent.

While last week’s industrial action appears to have affected the release of packages, the issue goes back into last year.

One customer said he had been told by his courier that a Government agency has placed several shipments on hold.

Posts online by irate customers questioned whether customs had amended their policy on incoming packages, requiring that buyers supply courier companies with invoices to pass on to customs. But one local company said the invoice requirements were “really not new at all”, saying their firm had implemented a system years ago in which no package would ever be shipped to the Island without an accompanying invoice.

The courier said they had not experienced any delays.

Meanwhile, via Facebook, more than a dozen people decried weeks of waiting time. Some said they had sent off their orders before Christmas.

“Customs policy has not changed,” a spokesman said last night. “If an invoice is with the package, it is acceptable, and a Bermuda Customs Declaration for duty collection should be submitted by the courier agency. Apparently this issue is with one agency (IBC) who are sending packages without any invoices.”

Some disheartened customers said they showed their receipts or credit card payments to customs but this did not suffice.

Others claimed they had submitted their invoices repeatedly to their courier company without seeing any results.

The Royal Gazette left a message for International Bonded Couriers (IBC) but had received no response by press time last night.