Customs declarations are filed nationally, but they run entirely on EU systems and EU rules. The legal data model comes from the Union Customs Code (UCC); the Netherlands operates the national systems that plug into the EU platforms. If you import or export through the Netherlands, Nexport Logistics files in these systems for you as part of your Customs clearance in the Nexportal platform. These are the systems you'll see named on documents and status updates.
DMS 4.0: the Dutch declaration system
DMS (Douaneaangiften Management Systeem) is Dutch Customs' platform for import, storage and export declarations. DMS 4.0 replaced the old AGS system. Since 1 July 2024 declarations in the normal procedure can only be filed via DMS 4.0; AGS 3.1 was withdrawn for it. DMS 4.1 covers the simplified procedure (entry in the declarant's records / IIAA), migrated per declarant on an agreed schedule. From 16 May 2026, supporting documents must be submitted directly via DMS rather than by email.
AES: export
AES (Automated Export System) supports the exit of goods from the EU customs territory; it replaced the old ECS. In the Netherlands the export declaration is filed in DMS, and once export is granted, the movement from the office of export to the office of exit is tracked through AES via the declaration's MRN. AES moves to its post-transition phase on 15 December 2025, changing some data fields across all Member States.
NCTS Phase 5: transit
NCTS (New Computerised Transit System) carries all transit declarations under the Common Transit procedure (T1/T2). Phase 5 (NCTS5) aligns transit with the UCC data model. The Netherlands switched over in one go on 29 October 2024 (big-bang transition), and the EU completed the move to P5 across all members in January 2025. Phase 6 is already being prepared.
ICS2: pre-arrival safety & security
ICS2 (Import Control System 2) collects safety-and-security data before goods arrive at the EU border, through the Entry Summary Declaration (ENS), so customs can run pre-arrival risk analysis. It rolled out in three releases:
- Release 1 (15 Mar 2021): pre-loading data for postal & express air consignments.
- Release 2 (1 Mar 2023): full ENS for all air.
- Release 3: maritime & inland waterway from 3 June 2024 (house-level filers by 1 April 2025), and road & rail from 1 April 2025. The transition to ICS2 was reported complete on 29 August 2025.
UCC: the legal backbone
The Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) 952/2013, fully applicable since 1 May 2016) is the legal basis that mandates electronic exchange and defines the common data requirements behind DMS, AES, NCTS and ICS2, via the EU Customs Data Model (EUCDM).
What's coming: the EU Customs Data Hub
The EU's customs reform (a proposal, not yet in force) would build the future Customs Union on a centralised EU Customs Data Hub, where traders log supply-chain data once and AI processing gives authorities a full view, plus a new EU Customs Authority. The proposed timeline: 2028 for e-commerce, 2032 voluntary for all businesses, 2038 mandatory. The Council adopted its common position in June 2025; trilogues are still pending. National customs (like the Dutch Douane) remain your point of contact for the foreseeable future.
How Nexport Logistics handles it
You don't connect to any of this yourself. Nexport Logistics is a freight forwarder under the FENEX conditions with its own customs declarants: we file your import and export declarations in DMS, your exit in AES, your transit in NCTS and your ENS in ICS2, and we feed the status back to you in the Nexportal portal.
Importing or exporting via the Netherlands? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl and our declarants will take it from there.
Official sources: Douane — DMS · EC — ICS2 · EC — NCTS · EC — EU Customs Reform · UCC on EUR-Lex. Related: Customs · Digital Logistics