What it is

EORI stands for Economic Operators Registration and Identification. It is a single number identifying your business in every customs transaction across the European Union: import declarations, export declarations, transit documents and authorisations.

One number serves the whole EU. A business registered in the Netherlands uses its Dutch EORI to clear goods in Rotterdam, Antwerp or Hamburg alike.

How Dutch businesses obtain one

For a company registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, the EORI number derives from the registration number in the format NL followed by the KVK number. It is generally activated automatically at first customs use, and it can be verified through the European Commission’s validation service.

Where activation has yet to happen, a request to Dutch Customs resolves it, typically within days.

Businesses established outside the EU

A Hong Kong or Singapore company importing in its own name applies for an EORI to the customs authority of the member state where goods first enter. Importing through Rotterdam therefore means applying to Dutch Customs, with the company extract, evidence of the business activity and details of the authorised representative.

Where a fiscal representative handles your import, they may act under their own EORI, so the import runs entirely on their registration. That arrangement is described at using a Dutch fiscal representative; an EU-established company brings its own EORI, a case set out at importing into the Netherlands as an EU company.

What it connects to

The EORI ties together several elements of an import operation:

  • Your article 23 licence, so deferred import VAT reaches the right VAT return.
  • Your VAT number, so import VAT is deductible by the party entitled to deduct it.
  • Customs authorisations such as a customs warehouse or simplified procedures.
  • Your customs agent’s declarations, filed on your behalf under your number.

Where errors arise

The recurring problem is a mismatch between the EORI on the import declaration and the entity entitled to deduct the VAT. Where a freight forwarder clears goods under their own number while your BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) is the actual importer, the import VAT lands with the wrong party and recovering it becomes an administrative exercise.

Confirming with your customs agent that declarations run under your EORI, matched to your VAT number, before the first container arrives avoids the whole category.

Related registrations

Alongside the EORI, an importing business typically arranges a Dutch VAT number, an article 23 licence and, where consumer goods are involved, the product compliance registrations covered at the EU responsible person requirement.

Last verified: 20 July 2026. Sources: Dutch Customs · Union Customs Code.