Frequently asked questions
Get Ready for Brexit
Our frequently asked questions cover the Dutch port solution to Brexit and the impact of the Brexit on your transport.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about Brexit?
Highlighted questions
In phase 1 (31-01-2024) and phase 2 (30-04-2024), the TOM is important first and foremost for exporters and their supply chain partners exporting veterinary and phytosanitary cargo from the EU to the UK. In phase 3 (31-10-2024), the TOM affects all exporters and their supply chain partners.
TOM stands for Border Target Operating Model. With it, the UK government introduces additional customs rules and a renewed control regime for access of goods to the UK.
The UK government is introducing the TOM in phases:
- 31 January 2024
Requiring health declarations and phytosanitary certificates for imports into the UK of animal products, plants and plant products with a medium risk from the EU. - 30 April 2024
Introduction of documentary checks and risk-based identity and physical checks of medium-risk animal products, plants and plant products risk from the EU. - 31 October 2024
All exporters from the EU will be required, prior to transport to the UK to submit a safety declaration (ENS).
The customs rules in the Border Target Operating Model (TOM) complement existing customs formalities set out in the Border Operating Model (BOM).
Brexit in general
Because the United Kingdom has left the European Union, a border is created and customs formalities have to be performed. This automatically means that parties in the logistics chain are now dependent on each other. One party needs to use the data of another party to perform its next steps. The exporter or importer has to ensure that Customs is provided with a customs declaration. That is the first step. The customs documents must next be pre-notified at the terminal via Portbase. If this doesn’t happen, the cargo – and therefore the transporter – will by definition come to a standstill at the border. Think of it as checking in online at the airport. In order to do this, a ticket has to be booked. You can next use that ticked number to check in in advance; once you arrive at the airport, the check-in has already been arranged digitally, allowing for a smooth passage.
Since 1 October 2021 you will need a valid passport for entrance to the UK. If you became a UK resident on or before 31 December 2020, you can continue to use your ID card to travel between the Netherlands and the UK until at least the end of 2025. Read more here.
Border Target Operating Model (TOM)
In phase 1 (31-01-2024) and phase 2 (30-04-2024), the TOM is important first and foremost for exporters and their supply chain partners exporting veterinary and phytosanitary cargo from the EU to the UK. In phase 3 (31-10-2024), the TOM affects all exporters and their supply chain partners.
TOM stands for Border Target Operating Model. With it, the UK government introduces additional customs rules and a renewed control regime for access of goods to the UK.
The UK government is introducing the TOM in phases:
- 31 January 2024
Requiring health declarations and phytosanitary certificates for imports into the UK of animal products, plants and plant products with a medium risk from the EU. - 30 April 2024
Introduction of documentary checks and risk-based identity and physical checks of medium-risk animal products, plants and plant products risk from the EU. - 31 October 2024
All exporters from the EU will be required, prior to transport to the UK to submit a safety declaration (ENS).
The customs rules in the Border Target Operating Model (TOM) complement existing customs formalities set out in the Border Operating Model (BOM).
Consequences Border Operating Model (BOM, since 1 January 2022)
Submitting import declarations to UK Customs has been possible through two different models since 1 January 2022: Pre-lodgement and Temporary storage. Key features of both models:
Pre-lodgement
In the pre-lodgement model, the UK importer or his representative files his customs declaration even before goods are embarked in the EU. The EU carrier must then link the declaration(s) to its trailer even before it can start driving towards the ferry terminal via the UK Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS). The resulting Goods Movement Reference (GMR) is what the carrier needs for access to the Dutch ferry terminal. Once the goods arrive by ferry at the UK port, they can generally go straight through, or the driver is referred to an Inland Border Facility (IBF) for inspection.
Temporary storage
Goods entering the UK in accordance with the temporary storage model can be stored in a temporary storage facility for up to 90 days at the border. After being declared to UK Customs, the goods then travel on to their final destination in the UK.
Customs
Customs performs risk-based inspections. As part of this, it also verifies whether the correct formalities have been completed (e.g. the presence of an export declaration, otherwise the shipment is prohibited from leaving).
The solution will consequently not lead to a reduction in the number of inspections. The starting point of Dutch Customs is smart supervision with minimum disruption to the logistics chain, under the assumption that all formalities have been completed. The process that has been automated in the ports via Get Ready for Brexit makes this possible.
First of all, check on this website whether an EORI number has already been allocated. The EORI number is derived from the VAT number. This means the VAT number can be entered on the site, without B01 at the end.
There are 2 application forms on this page of the Dutch tax authorities; one for companies headquartered in the Netherlands looking to apply for an EORI number and one for companies which have their headquarters outside the European Union.
TAKE NOTE! It is important that the form is filled in digitally. In addition, an EORI number cannot be issued to a fiscal unity, this is done to the underlying entities. Furthermore, the company must have a valid legal form.
The EORI number is issued within 3 working days of application. The confirmation letter will be sent within a week. If the customer already wants to check the EORI number, this can be done via this site.
PLEASE NOTE! This lead time only applies to companies that already have a tax identification number in the Netherlands. If the customer does not yet have a tax identification number in the Netherlands, the lead time is 2 weeks on average.
You can only compile an EORI number yourself when you submit declarations in the Netherlands. Should you start submitting declarations abroad, you must request an EORI number.
Because of Brexit, all GB EORI numbers have expired for use in the EU. A customer in Britain will require an EU EORI number for this. If the company’s headquarters are located outside the EU, you can use a special form to request this. Please note! The EORI application will be processed faster if the company already has a Dutch RSIN (fiscal number).
Because of Brexit, EU companies will have to apply for an EORI number in Great Britain in order to be able to enter it. Great Britain has chosen to continue with the ‘EORI number’ principle. This is a GB EORI Number. These GB EORI numbers can only be used in UK software and not in EU software because these numbers are not valid within the EU. This issue is therefore completely separate from the EORI number that the customer must have in order to trade in the EU.
NVWA*
*Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority
Because of Brexit, many things are changing regarding the transport of animals and animal products. Visit the website of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority to learn what to expect when importing or exporting animals and animal products.
Because of Brexit, many things are changing regarding the transport of plants and plant-based products. Visit the website of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority to learn what to expect when importing or exporting plants and plant-based products.
Read the letter from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) dated January 8, 2021 describing the new process.
Pre-notification customs document
You submit a customs declaration at Customs to notify them of the goods that you are transporting. Before you can submit a customs declaration, you need an EORI number. This is an identification number that your company has to request from Customs once so that you are known there. After you have submitted a customs declaration, you will receive a unique number from them (e.g. Movement Reference Number (MRN)) for the submitted shipment.
You need this document number issued by Customs to pre-notify the customs documents at the terminal via Portbase. In Portbase, you link the customs data (MRN) to the required logistics data (which truck/container/trailer, terminal, times etc.). Through your pre-notification via Portbase, you ensure that all the required customs formalities are automatically arranged at the terminal. This way, your transport can be performed without delay.
This depends on the applicable procedures at the ferry companies. As soon as your booking number changes, a correction will be required to the pre-notification of your customs documents via Portbase.
You are not authorised to use the document type in question at the relevant terminal. Check your terminal contract for the use of the service Notification Import Documentation and adjust this in consultation with the Sales Department of Portbase.
- Check the status of your notification. If the status is ‘rejected’ (by Portbase or terminal) or ‘failed’, then the notification has not been accepted. Resolve the error message and resend the notification.
- Check whether the correct document number, document type and container/shipment number have been entered. If this is not the case, then enter the correct information and resubmit the notification.
- Check whether you have entered the correct terminal. It sometimes happens that cargo is shifted to a different terminal last-minute. This is not automatically changed in your Notification Import Documentation.
- Check in the Portbase services Cargo Controller or Import Status whether your shipment or container has been unloaded. At some terminals, the import document only becomes available in the terminal system after the cargo has been included in the RTO (= Unloaded on the quay).
If all information is correct, there may have been a (short-term) disruption at the terminal or Portbase. Resubmit your notification.
Tip: Prior to visiting the ferry and shortsea terminals, use the service Import Status to check the presence and status of the import document before contacting the terminal or Portbase.
Before cargo can be imported or exported, an import or export declaration must be submitted to Customs. After this declaration has been submitted, the documents must be pre-notified at the ferry terminal or shortsea terminal via Portbase. If these formalities are not in order, the driver is not able to continue with the transport of his cargo.
There are two possibilities:
1. The driver contacts his own planner or client. He or she will have to ensure that all the required actions are performed.
2. Contact is sought with a company that is already affiliated with Portbase such as a forwarder or customs agent that can submit the notifications for them after all.
All types of customs documents can be pre-notified via Portbase (so export, TIR, ATA Carnets, Transit, etc.).
See the ‘Manual Notification Import Documentation Rotterdam port (NID)’ from Customs.
For a smooth export and import process after Brexit, digital pre-notification of customs documents to the terminal is mandatory. For each logistics chain, you agree which party will do this pre-notification. Who is the most suitable party to pre-notify the import document (the NID notification via the Portbase service Notification Import Documentation) and the export document (the NED notification via the service Notification Export Documentation) depends on who has the necessary data:
- For the NID notification, these data are: terminal, shipment id., document type, document number and modality.
- For the NED notification, these data are: document type, document number, booking number and dentification of means of transport.
An example:
In case of import (goods from United Kingdom to the Netherlands)
A Dutch trading company buys high-quality medical equipment from an English supplier. The Dutch trading company arranges the transport of the equipment via Everyday transport company and has the customs formalities handled by customs agent Declaration & Co. Everyday gives – after completing the booking in the booking system of the ferry operator – all booking and shipment details to Declaration & Co. After receipt of this, Declaration & Co will take care of the import declaration.
Advice: Declaration & Co chooses to pre-notify the import documents because they have all the necessary information for the NID notification: terminal, shipment ID, document type, document number and modality.
For exports (goods from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom)
The Dutch flower trader QualiFlower sells flowers to a large English supermarket chain. The flowers have to be delivered as early as possible every morning to distribution centres in the UK. QualiFlower has the transport of the flowers carried out by FerryFresh; a carrier specialised in accompanied transport with conditioned trailers. QualiFlower engages Janssen Customs forwarders to make the export declarations.
Every morning, QualiFlower receives the orders for delivery the day after. At noon, QualiFlower delivers all order details to Janssen Customs forwarders, who take care of the export declarations. FerryFresh loads all orders with QualiFlower at the end of the day. The FerryFresh planning department determines which orders are transported in which trailer. Due to last-minute orders and disruptions in the delivery process, this planning changes regularly.
Advice: the pre-notification of export documents in the NED service must include the booking number and the identification of the means of transport in addition to the export document type and document number. Because FerryFresh only knows shortly before departure which truck will transport the cargo, it has been decided that transporter FerryFresh will make the NED notification. Janssen Customs agents will forward the document number of the export declarations to FerryFresh in good time.
Access terminal
Prior to your departure, use Portbase to verify the status of your customs documents at the terminal via the service Import Status or the Track & Trace Export screen of the service Notification Export Documentation. Register for these services at www.portbase.com/en/services/import-status and www.portbase.com/en/services/notification-export-documentation/.
1) Booking is not known at the ferry or shortsea terminal:
- Check or have checked whether the booking number is correct.
- Booking number not correct? Use Portbase to have the pre-notification of the customs documents at the terminal corrected.
- Booking number correct? Contact Portbase via servicedesk@portbase.com.
2) No customs declaration has been submitted to Customs:
- Have a customs declaration filed with Customs.
- Next, have the customs documents electronically pre-notified at the terminal via Portbase.
3) The customs documents have not been (correctly) pre-notified at the terminal via Portbase:
- Have the customs documents pre-notified electronically at the terminal via Portbase.
4) You do not have a valid proof of identity:
- Contact the consulate or embassy of your own country.
Since 1 October 2021 you will need a valid passport for entrance to the UK. If you became a UK resident on or before 31 December 2020, you can continue to use your ID card to travel between the Netherlands and the UK until at least the end of 2025. Read more here.
Portbase
Portbase was established in 2009 by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Port of Amsterdam and has the broad support of the port business community. The ambition is to make the logistics chains of the Dutch ports as attractive as possible through a one-stop shop. Portbase connects all parties in the logistics chains of the Dutch ports to this end. Via the Port Community System, Portbase facilitates data sharing between companies and information exchange with government bodies in order to be able to operate faster, more efficiently and at lower costs. Together with our growing community, Portbase is continuously making the sharing of data more valuable. With the aim of making the Dutch port community, and thus the ports, the smartest in Europe. Portbase is neutral, of and for the port community and has no profit motive.
Subscription costs and a transaction fee per message apply to the use of the service Notification Import Documentation (NID). In addition, there is a one-off connection fee of € 249.50 (excl. VAT).
Connection costs are charged because a number of steps must be completed in order to make use of the ‘digital border’ of Portbase.
Portbase is a cost-effective organisation. The connection costs are € 249.50 per service.
No, when a company exports, it has to deal with the services Notification Export Documentation and Track & Trace Export. These services are free of charge because the terminals and shipping lines which are used to perform the export process bear these costs. There is a one-off connection fee of € 249.50 (excl. VAT) though.
The costs for the import process in terms of security, liability and the amount of connections that need to be made (ICT costs) with various parties are much higher than for the export process. Notification Import Documentation results in a faster and more efficient process for companies involved in imports and logistics. These costs are not fully covered by the terminals and shipping lines (due to the added value for importing companies). Because of its cost-based and non-profit basis, Portbase has no other option but to pass on these costs to the user.
Import Status is a free service that has been specifically developed for transporters. To them, this service is highly important as it allows them to see whether the customs documents have been correctly pre-notified at the terminal. If that is not the case and they still dispatch a driver to the terminal, said driver will find the barrier closed there.
This depends on the service, but normally 24 hours. Portbase performs a due diligence check. During peaks in registrations, this may take longer.
Please contact the Sales Department of Portbase at sales@portbase.com to check the status of your connection. Until you have received your login details, you can ask another party in your chain to pre-notify the customs documents for you via Portbase.
The Port Community System (PCS) of Portbase is the digital connection to the smart ports of the Netherlands. The PCS has almost national coverage and is available for all port sectors: containers, general cargo, dry bulk and liquid bulk. Through the more than 40 services in the PCS, all links in the logistics chain can easily and efficiently exchange information.
Dutch port solution
Yes, Portbase is working on a solution for Stena Line (Hook of Holland, Europoort), CldN (Rotterdam), DFDS (Vlaardingen and IJmuiden) and P&O Ferries (Europoort).
Customs performs risk-based inspections. As part of this, it also verifies whether the correct formalities have been completed (e.g. the presence of an export declaration, otherwise the shipment is prohibited from leaving).
The solution will consequently not lead to a reduction in the number of inspections. The starting point of Dutch Customs is smart supervision with minimum disruption to the logistics chain, under the assumption that all formalities have been completed. The process that has been automated in the ports via Get Ready for Brexit makes this possible.
No; you can read more about that here.
In order to make use of the chainwide solution for Brexit in the Dutch ports, companies have to complete 5 steps together with their chain partners. The ferry and shortsea terminals have decided that without pre-notified customs documents via Portbase, the driver will not be granted access, meaning the cargo cannot be transported. Only in this way will the ’digital border’ function and ensure a speedier procedure compared to labour-intensive manual inspections.