Jeffrey Havelaar

When you operate internationally and ship goods from or to the European Union, you face customs rules, regulations and procedures. Whether you are an importer or an exporter, you need to be compliant. But what happens when there is a change in procedures or regulations, and this change impacts your business?

It is essential to comply with all customs rules and regulations. Non-compliance can lead to delays, fines, or even refusal of your shipment. Sometimes the line between compliance and non-compliance is thinner than companies realize. We are seeing an increased number of issues with imported bike parts, where the Customs Authority sees them not as bike parts but as non-assembled bicycles.

Dutch Customs is implementing a new procedure. With this new procedure, it is no longer possible to make an import declaration before the goods have been unloaded. The new import procedure is called Container Vrijgave Bericht (CVB), which translates into Container Release Message.

Discover what the Container Release Message (CVB) is and how it can benefit businesses. Learn more with Customs Support.

Until now, Dutch companies have requested Certificates of Origin and EUR.1 Certificates from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce via regular mail. As of April 5 2021, the Chamber of Commerce will only accept digital requests.

Some companies have been importing goods from outside the European Union for a long time. For others, this is a new process since the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union.

When you become a Customs Support customer and need import- or export documents you need to give us your Power of Attorney. We need it to be allowed to act as your customs agent. When (potential) customers want to give us their power of attorney there are strict guidelines.

As of January 1st of 2021, the United Kingdom has left the European Union and is now a third country. This means that it is no longer possible to ship goods from the European Union to the United Kingdom with just a CMR.

If we compare the customs brokerage industry with the financial industry, it is behind when it comes to digital transformation. Our industry is a very traditional one.

Since January the Incoterms 2020 are in effect. Every ten years these Incoterms are updated. You can read more about the most important changes compared to Incoterms 2010 in one of our earlier blogs in the Incoterms series. The Incoterm in this blog is one of the Incoterms specifically for transport over water: Cost and Freight (CFR).