Stock in the Netherlands
If a customer is short of your parts, you can lose the design project. The BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) keeps a buffer stock in the Netherlands. You refill it by sea, and customers call off parts within days. You can then supply EU production lines even when shipping is delayed. With Article 23, you declare and deduct the VAT on high-value imports in the same VAT return.
Support and returns (RMA)
You handle returns, repairs and engineering questions faster and at lower cost inside the EU. The BV receives the returned goods, checks them and ships them back, all under one VAT registration. The factory receives the failure data through the group’s own systems.
Standards and roles
Packaging, batteries or electronics in your products? See the EU representative rules for your sector.
For devices with a CE marking, you need companies in the EU for certain roles. These are the importer and, for many product lines, an authorised representative. For consumer products, you also need a GPSR responsible person, and you need EPR registrations. One BV can take on every role that your product range needs.
Registration is the first step. After that, the company must file everything on time to stay in good standing. See EU market entry through the Netherlands for the representative roles per product. For the yearly filings, see corporate secretarial services in the Netherlands.
The entity
For the setup from Taiwan, see how Taiwanese companies set this up. For quality checks on arrival, see the import compliance article.