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On July 1, 2026, a new inspection facility for refrigerated cargo will be put into operation at the Port of Savannah. This facility, which is part of a comprehensive project, includes a 372 square meter climate-controlled area operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The aim is to expedite the processing of perishable goods while ensuring food safety.
Optimization of perishable goods processing
Griff Lynch, President and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), emphasizes the importance of this new facility: “Our on-site customs station supports the expedited handling of perishable goods.” Inspections will be conducted in a temperature-controlled environment to avoid disrupting the cold chain. The facility is equipped with specialized infrastructure that ensures temperature control, cleanliness, ventilation, and freshness throughout the entire processing and inspection process. Additionally, 20 refrigerated outlets are available on the outer walls for refrigerated containers.
The inspections also serve to protect domestic agriculture from invasive pests and plant diseases. The new temperature-controlled section provides importers of fresh products the opportunity to have their refrigerated cargo inspected directly at the port. This complements the numerous nearby cold storage facilities operated in the Savannah area, which offer a total of nearly 223,000 square meters of cold storage, including 152,000 square meters for frozen goods and nearly 70,000 square meters for refrigerated products.
Investments in infrastructure
The new inspection facility is part of a $49.25 million project that has relocated customs and border protection operations from a previous site of 12,000 square meters to an adjacent building of nearly 28,000 square meters. This new facility not only allows for inspections by the customs authority but also by other agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition to the warehouse, the new customs area includes 37,000 square meters of parking space for external inspections.
The introduction of the new inspection facility comes at a time when imports of refrigerated cargo at the Port of Savannah have increased by 10.5% in the current fiscal year. By May 31, 2026, 43,540 TEUs had been imported. This development underscores the growing importance of the sector for the GPA.
The Georgia Ports Authority has invested $3.2 billion in infrastructure improvements over the past ten years and plans to invest nearly $5 billion over the next ten years. This includes the creation of five new container berths in Savannah as well as a fourth RoRo berth in Brunswick to accommodate future growth.
