Most containers clear Customs on the paperwork. Some get pulled for a control, and a control is not one event but a chain of them, often run by several customs departments at once. Miss a step and you get a stranded container, a missed slot, or the same box unloaded twice. This page walks the chain in order, from the moment a container is selected to the moment it's released, and shows where Nexport Logistics keeps it together for you in the Nexportal platform.
Step 1: who selected it (and it can be more than one)
First question: who pulled your container? Several customs teams can each select it, independently of one another:
- Pre-Arrival: selects on the manifests of shipments still on their way in, before arrival.
- VGEM team: controls for safety, health, economy and environment (non-fiscal). See Douane — VGEM.
- Landelijk Waardeteam (national value team): checks whether the value on your invoice matches the market value of the goods (customs valuation).
- Import-declaration control (invoeraangifte): a control on the declaration itself.
- NVWA: the food and product-safety authority can also select and join in.
Selections can land independently of each other, so the same box can be flagged by more than one team. Knowing everyone who selected it is the foundation of everything below; miss one and a department gets forgotten.
Step 2: which type of control (and it can escalate)
Next: what kind of control. There are three, in rising weight:
- Scan control (X-ray): a non-intrusive image of the loaded container. Fast; the box usually stays sealed and, if the image is clear, it's released.
- Sniffer-dog control (snuffelhondcontrole): usually on the terminal, where the container is put in an inspection slot (inspectievak) for the dog team.
- Physical control (fysieke controle): the container is opened and the goods examined.
These can escalate. A sniffer-dog check can be upgraded to a scan, and a scan to a full physical control, so plan for the next step up rather than assuming it stops where it started.
Step 3: if it's physical, where it happens
A physical control splits two ways, depending on whether the container may be moved (verlegd):
- If it may be moved to the customer, the inspection is done at your own premises. That brings two obligations: arrange a gas meter (gasmeter) for safe opening, and book an appointment with the Douane's regiekamer (the room that schedules the inspection).
- If it may not be moved, the container goes to the rijkscontroleloods at the Rijksinspectieterminal (RIT), where customs inspects it. (See Port of Rotterdam — Rijksinspectieterminal.)
Step 4: gas measuring (gasmeten), before anyone opens it
Before a container is opened or unloaded it usually needs gasmeten: many sea containers are fumigated or off-gas from cargo and packaging, and must be measured and ventilated first. A gas measurement is only valid for a limited window (2 hours, per the Dutch Customs manual), so it has to be timed to the inspection. This step can't sit on its own.
The Douane does not unload or gas-measure itself. Delta Cargo Container Services B.V. has been selected by Deltalinqs and approved by Customs to do the unloading and the gas measuring for customs controls, at standard tariffs depending on the scope of work.
Step 5: bundle it all into one appointment (the plato slot)
This is the step that ties the chain together, and where a forwarder earns its keep. At a physical control you get a so-called plato number (the inspection-slot reference). We then make the same appointment, at the same time, with everyone who selected the box: the Douane departments and, where it applies, the NVWA. All of them present at once.
That one appointment knots together the gasmeten, the transport, the planning and the coordination. One unload, one inspection window, everyone there, instead of repeat trips and repeat costs. You can judge a forwarder by how smoothly this part runs.
Step 6: who pays
The declarant (aangever) bears the costs. In practice the terminal, the transporter and the appointed handler invoice the forwarder (cargadoor), who charges the declarant, coordination included. Tariffs are requested from the terminal and the approved handler. See Douane — costs of an X-ray scan.
How Nexport Logistics handles it
We run the whole chain so no link is forgotten. We find out everyone who selected the box, identify the type of control and watch for escalation, arrange the move to the customer or the inspection terminal, the gasmeten via the appointed party, the regiekamer appointment, and the bundling of every department and the NVWA onto one plato slot. After that come the re-stuffing and onward transport. You follow the status in Nexportal, and the documented costs are passed on transparently.
Container held for a customs control? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl and we'll manage it from selection to release.
Official sources: Port of Rotterdam — Rijksinspectieterminal · Douane — VGEM · Douane — kosten X-ray scan. Related: Customs · Rotterdam Terminals · Dangerous Goods