Dutch Customs has teamed up with the Schiphol cargo community to launch a new simplified e-commerce declaration called VENUE. The new declaration has been designed to help shippers import and export items that are being purchased via e-commerce platforms – such as fashion, personal care, and homeware – throughout the Union Customs Code transition period, which ends in January 2021.

“Together with Dutch Customs we are engaged in cooperating with stakeholders at the airport to find new ways of working which can further improve efficiencies,” said Saskia van Pelt, business development director, Schiphol Cargo.

“The air cargo market is changing and we are seeing a huge increase in e-commerce parcels. At Schiphol we are focused on ensuring we continue to provide a high quality, efficient service for our e-commerce customers and VENUE will help us to do just that.”

VENUE-authorised shippers are able to submit a pre-declaration leaving out one or more particulars, such as the Harmonised System (HS) code, and with goods valued at EUR22 or less requiring no supplementary declaration.

VENUE has significant advantages because generating HS codes can be time consuming and this innovative solution will keep cargo moving smoothly through Amsterdam, while simultaneously maintaining efficient and reliable Customs clearance processes. Particulars are provided to Customs in a supplementary declaration of a periodic nature, reducing administrative time and costs for both Customs and the authorisation holder.

“The rise in e-commerce is changing the supply chain and last year we saw an increase of 15 per cent in Customs declarations, even though the volumes at Amsterdam remained stable,” said Alex (A.J.) Drost, AEO auditor at Dutch Customs.

The VENUE declaration will be available until Q3 2019. Schiphol Airport is the third largest air cargo hub in Europe, moving 1.6 million tonnes in 2015.