Importing food into the EU through the Netherlands, with the controls and the documents in order
Food from outside the EU enters through a Dutch port or airport when the importer and the consignment meet EU food law. Animal products, fresh fruit and listed foods are checked on entry before customs releases them. Your own Dutch company can be the importer. Our team sets it up with its registrations, and a customs broker with food experience handles each consignment.
Ask about your situationThe importer of food is a food business under EU law. It answers for the safety of the food it imports, and it must know its supplier and its buyers (Regulation (EC) 178/2002).
Products of animal origin, plants and fresh fruit under the plant health rules, and the foods on the EU lists are checked on entry. The importer or its customs broker announces each consignment in advance with the health entry document, the Common Health Entry Document (CHED).
Customs releases such a consignment for the EU market only when the CHED is final (Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Article 57).
The Dutch food authority is the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). A food business registers with the NVWA in its online portal, free of charge.
Tell us which food you trade, where it comes from and who your buyers are. Our team looks at it and replies with the registrations and the steps for your products.
Who does what
Your company is the importer and the food business. Our team sets up the company and applies for its registrations. A customs broker with food experience handles the notice and the declaration for each consignment.
The importer and food business
- Choose suppliers that meet EU food law and keep their documents
- Ask the exporter for the certificates from the country of origin
- Record from whom you buy and to which businesses you sell
- Check the label for each country of sale
- Withdraw a product and inform the authority when food is unsafe
The company and its registrations
- Set up your Dutch company (BV) with the notary, by power of attorney
- Apply for the VAT number, the EU customs number (EORI number) and the licence for import VAT (Article 23 licence)
- Prepare the registration of your company as a food business with the NVWA
- Prepare the Dutch business login (eHerkenning) that the NVWA portal asks for
- Keep the books and file the VAT returns, when you ask for that
Customs, inspection and storage
- A customs broker or forwarder, who files the notice with the CHED and the import declaration
- The contact with the border control post about the checks
- Cold storage and transport for chilled and fresh goods
- A food law specialist for labels, claims and new ingredients
The steps, in order
From your first question to the first consignment on the EU market.
- Your products. You tell us which food you trade, the product codes, the countries of origin and your buyers. Our team replies with the group each product belongs to and a proposal with the price.
- Your company. The notary sets up the BV by power of attorney once all documents are complete. Our team applies for the VAT number, the EORI number and the Article 23 licence.
- The food authority. Your company registers as a food business with the NVWA. An importer of plants and fresh fruit also registers as importer with the NVWA.
- The certificates. The exporter asks the authority in the country of origin for the official certificate that the product needs. You check it before the goods leave.
- The notice. Your customs broker announces the consignment with the CHED before it reaches the border control post. The NVWA checks the documents and can check the goods.
- The release. The broker files the import declaration with the number of the CHED. Customs releases the goods once the CHED is final, and your company reports the import VAT in its VAT return.
Which food is checked at the border
| Product group | What applies | Who checks |
|---|---|---|
| Products of animal origin, such as chilled meat | Entry is open to countries that the European Commission has authorised and to establishments on the EU lists. Each consignment has an official certificate and is checked at a border control post. The notice reaches the NVWA at least 1 working day before arrival. | The NVWA at the border control post |
| Plants, vegetables and fresh fruit | You usually need a plant health certificate from the country of origin (phytosanitary certificate). The consignment is declared in advance and an inspection service checks it on entry. | The NVWA and the inspection service for your product |
| Food of non-animal origin on the EU lists | A check on entry is required when the product code and the country of origin are on the EU list (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793). The EU updates the list every six months. A separate EU decision covers rice products from China. | The NVWA at the control point |
| Other food of non-animal origin | The consignment enters with the normal customs declaration. The NVWA takes samples of these products under its national control plan, at the place where the goods are. | Dutch Customs and the NVWA |
The group depends on the product code and on the country of origin. Rice, spices and nuts are food of non-animal origin. A check on entry applies when the code and the country are on the EU list, and that can change with a new version. Check each product again before a new season.
The health entry document and the customs release
The company responsible for the consignment announces it to the border control post in advance. It uses the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) for that notice (Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Article 56). In the Netherlands the document is called the GGB.
The authority at the border control post checks the documents. It can also check the identity of the goods and examine them, with samples for a laboratory. It records its decision in the CHED.
Customs releases the goods for the EU market only when the CHED is final. For food of non-animal origin, Dutch Customs compares the number, the goods code and the quantity in the import declaration with the CHED (Douane, 2026).
A consignment that fails the rules is destroyed, sent back out of the EU or given a special treatment. The company responsible for the consignment pays for that (Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Articles 66 and 67). The authorities charge fees for the controls at the border control post.
The NVWA says that specialised forwarders and customs agents can arrange everything around the import controls. It advises this for a company that imports now and then.
Your company as the importer and food business
EU food law gives the first responsibility for safe food to the food business itself. The importer is such a business, also when a forwarder or a cold store receives the goods. EU guidance looks at who buys and sells the food, and less at who transports or stores it.
- Registration. A business that produces or trades food registers with the NVWA (Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Article 6). The registration is free of charge and is done in the online portal of the NVWA. The business confirms its details every year.
- Traceability. The importer can show from which exporter it bought each product and to which businesses it sold it.
- Unsafe food. The importer withdraws food that fails the safety rules and informs the authority.
- The label. When the brand owner is outside the EU, the importer is the company responsible for the food information. The page on food and supplements in Europe explains the label.
Your own Dutch BV can be this importer. It has its own VAT number and EORI number, and with the Article 23 licence it reports the import VAT in its VAT return. The steps for those registrations are on Dutch BV, VAT number, EORI number and Article 23 licence.
Common questions
Want our team to have a look?
Tell us which food you trade, where it comes from and who your buyers are. Our team replies with the registrations your company needs and the steps in order.
Related guides
More guides about importing through the Netherlands.