Customs Brokerage Made Simple

Veterinary goods must be inspected on entry into the EU. This means that an application for inspection needs to be made in addition to the import declaration. SGS Maco helps you to navigate this process by assessing your documents to prevent customs finding any shortcomings during inspection. Together with our partners at the port, we also ensure that customs declarations, inspections, gas measurements, and internal transport run smoothly, so that you have access to your goods as quickly as possible. Examples of veterinary goods include meat and fish products, dog food, cat food, horns and skulls for interior design, and food such as spices (e.g. ground chillies), or kitchen equipment from China made from melamine and polyamide plastic.

Products such as meat and fish have to be inspected by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, NVWA) at the first point of entry in the EU. Goods entering through Rotterdam are usually inspected on the Maasvlakte industrial facility or in the Waalhaven district. A veterinary declaration is made with a common entry document (CED). If applicable, the original animal health certificate is required for this declaration because this certificate must be submitted to the NVWA as standard. The NVWA cannot perform an inspection without the original animal health certificate. If the general document inspection has been approved, the papers go to the NVWA to check the correct details on the certificate. If these are also correct, the NVWA will change the status to ‘D-control’ and the inspection order will be drawn up, so that the container can be removed from the terminal to bring it to the inspection location. If the goods are approved, the container can be transported to the place of unloading. If the goods have been delivered to the inspection point on a transit declaration, a follow-up transit declaration to the place of unloading must be drawn up. If the goods have to be cleared, the container can be taken to the place of unloading and declared for import.