A question we get a lot: an import container arrives in Rotterdam, the customer sits 120 km inland, so can't we just put the box on a T1 and clear it at his warehouse? Yes, that setup exists and it works well. But a T1 doesn't simply end wherever the truck happens to stop. It has to end at a customs office or at a location that holds an authorised consignee authorisation, and somebody has to stand guarantee for the duty and VAT the whole way. This page walks through how that works.
What a T1 is
A T1 is a declaration for external Union transit: it lets non-Union goods (goods on which EU import duty and VAT have not yet been paid) travel from one place in the EU to another without paying those charges first. The goods stay under customs supervision from departure to destination. It's a suspensive arrangement, not an exemption: the duty doesn't disappear, it waits at the end of the ride. Typical use: a container is discharged in Rotterdam and you want to move it to a bonded warehouse, to another member state, or to an inland location where the import declaration will be lodged.
The counterpart is the T2, internal Union transit, used when Union goods cross third-country territory (Switzerland, for example) on their way between two EU points. If you only need to prove that goods already have Union status rather than move them under supervision, you're looking at a T2L instead. Most import work out of the Dutch ports is plain T1.
How the movement runs in NCTS
Transit declarations are filed electronically in NCTS, the New Computerised Transit System shared by the EU and the common-transit countries. Since December 2024 everything runs on NCTS phase 5; the Dutch customs application behind it is called DVA. It sits alongside the other EU customs systems like AES and ICS2.
The flow:
- The declarant (in practice usually a forwarder or customs broker) lodges the T1 at the office of departure, which releases the movement and sets a transit time limit.
- The goods travel with their MRN to the office of destination named in the declaration, and must be presented there within that time limit.
- Presenting the goods and data at destination ends the procedure. The office of departure then compares the departure and arrival data and discharges it. Those are two distinct steps, and the declarant isn't off the hook until the second one.
The guarantee
Security for transit is mandatory. Before a T1 is released, the declarant has to cover the customs debt that would arise if the goods never reached their destination. That's done per declaration, or with a comprehensive guarantee under a separate authorisation: a bank guarantee or cash deposit against a reference amount that covers all open movements at once. Anyone who runs T1s regularly works with a comprehensive guarantee; posting cash per box gets old fast.
This is also why a forwarder won't draw up a T1 casually. The party that lodges the declaration is the holder of the procedure and remains responsible until discharge. If a movement is never properly ended, customs starts an enquiry, and when that comes up empty the duty and VAT are recovered from the holder via the guarantee. A "lost" T1 is real money on the declarant's account, not a paperwork footnote.
Ending a T1 at your customer's door
Here's the catch in the original question. A T1 normally ends by presenting the goods at a customs office or an approved temporary-storage location. A customer's warehouse is neither, unless the location is covered by an authorised consignee authorisation for transit.
With that authorisation, the truck drives straight to the premises named in the permit. On arrival the consignee sends an electronic arrival notification to customs, waits for unloading permission (usually granted within minutes if no inspection is selected), unloads, and reports the unloading results within three days. No detour past a customs office; the T1 ends at the door and the office of departure can discharge it.
Without it, delivering the container straight to the customer is not a shortcut but a breach: the goods are considered removed from customs supervision and a customs debt arises, charged to the declarant. The legal alternatives are simple enough: end the T1 at a customs office or bonded/temporary-storage location near the customer, or use a party in the neighbourhood that does hold the authorisation.
And then: the import declaration
Ending the T1 doesn't make the goods free. They're still non-Union goods, now sitting at the destination under customs control. The next step is the import declaration (or entry into a bonded warehouse) at that location, after which duty and VAT are settled and the goods are released. For the wider import picture, deferment of VAT included, see Importing Into The Netherlands.
So the answer to the opening case: yes, you can clear an import container at the customer's premises, provided the T1 ends at an authorised-consignee location, and provided someone with a guarantee and declarants on staff draws up both the T1 and the import declaration.
Where Nexport Logistics comes in
Nexport Logistics is a freight forwarder under the FENEX conditions with its own customs declarants. We draw up T1 documents under our comprehensive guarantee, plan the ending of the movement (authorised consignee, customs office or bonded location) and file the import declaration at destination, all tracked in the Nexportal platform next to the freight itself. Want a container moved inland under T1 and cleared where it lands? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl with the routing and we'll set it up.
Official sources: European Commission — Union and Common transit · European Commission — NCTS · Handboek Douane — Unie- en gemeenschappelijk douanevervoer · Handboek Douane — procedure kantoor van bestemming · Handboek Douane — toegelaten geadresseerde · Handboek Douane — zekerheidstelling douanevervoer