Dutch Customs in 2018 - Over de Belastingdienst...around excise duty evasion at excise duty selling...

Dutch Customs in 2018

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1 Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Supervising excise duty selling points

2 Infrastructure and Water Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Supervising waste and dangerous goods shipments

3 Foreign Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Enforcing sanctions legislation and the Strategic Goods Decree

4 Justice and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Combating synthetic drugs

5 Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Supervising animal products and livestock

6 Health, Welfare and Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Combating illegal tobacco products

7 Economic Affairs and Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Informing companies on Brexit

8 Education, Culture and Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Protecting cultural heritage

Key statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Dutch Customs in 2018 2


ForewordFor Dutch Customs the year 2018 was marked by the preparations for Brexit. Our administration suffers substantial consequences of the British exit from the European Union, since a major part of all goods from the United Kingdom destined to the EU enter via our country. All in all Brexit required a lot from our organisation in the start-up phase and this will not be any different the coming months and years. A major challenge in the past year was for instance, the recruitment, selection and training of hundreds of new employees attracted especially for Brexit. Furthermore we had extensive consultations with stakeholders such as ferry companies and local administrations in order to have timely recourse to any facilities for carrying out the necessary supervision at ferry terminals. The cooperation with our co-supervisors was also marked by Brexit with the goal of realizing well organised combined inspections of goods from and to the UK. And we held intense information campaigns – for and together with the business community – in order to promote Brexit awareness.

Meanwhile business went on as usual and the regular work continued. As always our strategic targets were our guide: encouraging the payment of tax money, the protection of society and strengthening of the competitive position of European trade and industry. In 2018 tackling the import of low value textile and combating narcotics – in particular cocaine and synthetic drugs – were high on our agenda. As well as further shaping our enforcement in the area of e-commerce, a steadily growing line of business involving numerous fiscal and security risks.

Dutch Customs aims to achieve a balance between enforcement and trade facilitation: optimal supervision with a minimum interference with trade and logistics. With the continuous increase of freight volumes and the number of declarations – in 2018 as well – this has become particularly challenging. Yet we think that we can achieve the envisaged balance by working smarter all the time. For instance by joining our forces with our many public and private partners. This cooperation is highlighted in our annual review 2018.

The following eight chapters – all linked to one of the policy departments we work for – provide a view on one single specific customs task at the time. And on the way in which we fulfill them, together with another (government) organisation. This way you can get a good impression of the wide and fascinating playing field in which we operate. And you get to know a number of passionate professionals, who on a daily basis work in favour of the fiscal integrity, security and economic competitiveness of the Netherlands and Europe.

Nanette van SchelvenManaging Director of the Customs Administration of the Netherlands

Finance

In the service of the Ministry of Finance, Dutch Customs levies and collects various taxes. These include excise, consumption and sales taxes, which all benefit the national treasury. Import duties collected by the service are transferred to the EU by the Dutch state. All these fiscal operations contribute to advancing the strategic objective ‘ensuring tax revenues’. Every effort is made to make certain that payments are correct, complete and on time.

In addition, Customs checks whether travellers are in compliance with the obligation to declare as framed within the Regulation on the Controls of Cash Entering or Leaving the Community. Passengers who enter or leave the EU with cash amounts in the value of 10,000 Euros or above are required to make a declaration. Information gathered by Customs when carrying out these controls may detect important signals for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. These customs operations contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

In the implementation of its other operations, Customs may also encounter unusual transactions or situations which point to money laundering or the financing of terrorism. The service is instructed to report such information directly to the Financial Intelligence Unit Netherlands.

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Ever since the creation of the Economic Intervention Team of The Hague (HEIT) Customs is a constant value within this regional partnership. One of the current spearheads is supervising excise duty selling points and in particular neighborhood supermarkets, that are constantly violating numerous rules. In addition to cheating self-employed workers, large criminal networks turn out to be active in this world of illegal liquor and tobacco.


“The HEIT combats undermining in the largest sense of the word”, says coordinator Heidie Pols. “With more than thirty people we are active in the entire region. Every year our team conducts hundreds of comprehensive business controls in sectors such as the restaurant and hotel business and retail. Malpractices are dealt with simultaneously as much as possible: ranging from unfair competition and benefit fraud to exploitation and human trafficking. To that effect we set off together with partners such as Customs, Police, the Employee Insurance Agency and the Inspectorate for Social Affairs and Employment. The starting point is that the control should be interesting for at least three of the aforementioned parties. Moreover they themselves supply indications as well. It was Customs that focused the attention on the specific problems around excise duty evasion at excise duty selling points.”

“Every year our service controls 2,700 excise duty selling points nationwide. In more than twenty percent of the cases we find irregularities, in a few regions the rate of correction is around thirty percent”, says Gerard Klaver, Excise duty expert at Customs. “The HEIT actions in which we work together are focused primarily on non-regular neighborhood supermarkets. Like small shops specialized in the sales of products from the country of origin of their custo-mers – very often from Eastern European countries – including vodka and cigarettes. In case of tobacco products it is reasonably simple: the lack of a Dutch tax seal or the presence of a fake seal means that such products are not subjected to Dutch taxation. Liquor is a more difficult story, since bottles don’t require such a seal. However, one should be able to prove that Dutch excise duties have been paid for them. Often people buy a small amount of liquor from an importer in order to be able to present an invoice during controls – even though they are not in line with the stock. Usually the official products are merely used as window-dressing; all kinds of stuff are sold under the counter.”

“This illicit trade is worth millions of Euros, driving bona fide traders out of the market”, Pols knows. “Some owners tell me that they cannot break away because they cannot survive with the sale of legal products only. And usually there is much more wrong. It happens that we find staff claiming unemployment benefits, sometimes illegal aliens as well. Expansions have been made without a permit. Often the separate room – with a separate counter – required for the sale of liquor, is lacking.”

Klaver: “Pseudo management – where a shop is not operated by the entrepreneur in whose name the business is registered – seems to be more a rule than the exception. The neighbor-hood supermarket breaking systematically the law, often has an Arab or Asian background. Together with the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service we detected a criminal network which presumably engages in financing terrorism in the Middle East. And the problem will grow still further. In 2018 we dismantled an illegal warehouse containing seventeen million cigarettes. From there a van with one million cigarettes drove to The Hague on a daily basis – we took it off the road.“


“With comprehensive controls we, as a government authority, make it clear that we don’t tolerate such malpractices” says Pols. “We always arrive with a large team, including several police officers. And we prepare ourselves well, for instance by gathering a lot of information on the property. The shop remains closed during the control – for everybody’s safety and to give the customs officers every opportunity to carry out their search.”

Klaver: “In almost all such stores we find hidden compartments – underneath workbenches, in shelf spaces, behind ceiling plates – where for instance counterfeit cigarettes are stored. With the help of hand scans and tobacco dogs we try to detect these stocks, but it is not always easy. Recently we found a secret hiding place we already looked for in vain at another occasion. Our luck was that the store operators had left the door ajar. It was an ingenious electric system, operated by pressing the head of a screw by a pen.”“We have never seen a criminal sector that was able to adapt itself so quickly after our control operations”, Pols says. “When they understood that we were interested in the empty tobacco boxes they had left in the street, they removed the stickers from then on. Later on they no longer left any waste at all.”

Klaver: “Our approach works but at the same time it remains an ongoing race. We will therefore enforce even more effectively. However useful it may be to seize alcohol and cigarettes, at the end of the day you want to expose the network behind it. That is why in 2019 five hundred controls of the supply chain of the excise duty selling points are scheduled. Moreover: when at a later stage the Dutch Tobacco and Tobacco products Act will be modified, it will be possible to impose an additional fine for unpaid excise duties. Indeed, a European directive will be introduced stipulating that tobacco products have to be provided with an identification marking as well as a non-forgeable safety feature. This will give us more clout.”

The cooperation with HEIT is solid as a rock, Klaver stresses. “However, we are joining forces even more – with the bona fide businesses, with other government agencies. Together with the Association of Dutch Municipalities we will examine whether administrative law will offer additional possibilities to tackle ‘bad’ excise duty selling points. For instance, as we often find stolen property, can we lock a building down on the basis of fencing stolen goods? Meanwhile we have a better cooperation not just in The Hague, but also in cities like Rotterdam and Amsterdam – and in smaller provincial cities like Enschede. This is much needed, as this is a recognized problem across all of the Netherlands.”

Infrastructure and Water Management

In the service of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Dutch Customs carries out a number of activities aimed at protecting the health of citizens and the environment. For example, the service supervises the import and export of waste materials, in order to combat illegal transportation of such materials. Customs checks whether selected waste shipments should be allowed in or out of the country according to the European Waste Shipment Regulation, and whether all the formalities have been met.

Furthermore, Customs monitors the shipment of dangerous materials where there is common ground with EU cross-border transportation of goods. Such checks are carried out at the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

In addition, Customs is charged with preventing illegal import and export of a great number of other goods. This includes such things as dangerous fireworks for the consumer market, environmentally hazardous substances (e.g. mercury, chromium and cadmium), and radioactive and nuclear material.

Customs conducts all these services in close cooperation with the Human Environ- ment and Transport Inspectorate and/or the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection. These operations contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

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All sorts of strict international regulations apply to the cross-border transport of waste and dangerous goods. In our country, surveillance of compliance with these is a task for Customs and the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT). Professionals from both these organi-sations work closely within the maritime domain at the brand new State Inspectorate Terminal (RIT) on the Maasvlakte. Their objective is to uncover malpractices in container shipping in the field of the environment and safety – two topics that frequently go hand in hand. As was the case when they dealt with a large shipment of used household batteries in 2018.


“Enormous quantities of recyclable waste pass through the port of Rotterdam, both incoming and outgoing”, says customs officer René Noltus (left on the photo). “You need a so-called WSR licence to import, export and transport certain waste products in the EU and between member states. An American collector had received a licence from the Netherlands to deliver a total of twenty 40-foot containers with waste batteries to an approved German processor. In other words, everything was in order as far as obligatory documents relating to the environment were concerned. Nevertheless, Customs selected a sub-shipment of five containers for inspection, because used lithium batteries are actually classified as dangerous goods. Our service has been carrying out these inspections for more than 15 years on behalf of the ILT. It involves us checking, for example, the state the container is in, the labelling it is supposed to bear and how the cargo doors are secured. After this, we also check the labels and the integrity of packages. It’s all about safety: can the shipment be transported safely? We make a report of our findings – together with photographs of the freight – that is sent to our colleagues at the ILT. Their job is to assess the situation and, if necessary, take suitable and proportional measures. Customs retains the goods for the duration, based on its role as cargo manager.”

“In this specific case, it transpired that the discarder had not been particularly strict in complying with the rules”, explains ILT officer Henk Overeijnder (right on the photo). “The batteries had been loaded in bulk in defective barrels, resulting in enormous risks. When a large number of batteries are packed together badly, it can cause a short circuit. This generates warmth, the cores can melt and solvents can be released. It can lead to a chain reaction, and there is the chance of the whole cargo exploding. In circumstances such as these, the Inspectorate can exercise administrative coercion. We demand correction of the infringement – often poor stowage or leaks – before transport can continue. This happens with 30 to 40% of the containers that Customs selects for inspection. In this case, the shipping company and the recipient of the shipment accepted their responsibility and ensured that everything was properly taken care of and paid. Over a period of five days, a local salvage company re-packed the batteries, barrel for barrel, so that the poles were properly isolated – it was a real painstaking effort. This meant that the danger had been averted and Customs released the shipment.”

“We always pay close attention to all forms of high-risk freight”, adds Noltus. “Like in the case of LEL containers – containers with a lower explosion level – that contain highly inflammable and highly explosive gases. Enormous steel crates like these can suddenly be transformed into a gigantic fragmentation grenade.”“This is our worst nightmare: a serious accident on board a container ship”, says Overeijnder. “Nowadays there are behemoths measuring up as much as 20,000 TEU. We dread the thought of such an oceanic giant getting into serious problems out on the high seas. A safe port is probably miles away, so the crew would have to save themselves. The human suffering, the consequences for the environment and the material damage would be unforeseeable if such a vessel were to perish with all hands on board.”


“Fortunately, our actions are usually effective”, adds Overeijnder. “By taking administrative action against certain players in the logistical chain, we see that, slowly but surely, compliance with the regulations is improving. We impose an administrative fine, hitting the recipient and the shipping company in their purses, and you can be sure they will get revenge on the dispatcher. At the very least he will have to promise to do better in the future.”

“This applies not only to the battery affair, but also to the many shipments of chemicals that come here from countries like China and India”, says Noltus. “Knowledge about proper packaging and stowage is often lacking in such countries. Barrels are sometimes found rolling all over the place in containers from these places. But European companies that have to sort out this type of negligence call to account those who are responsible in Farawayistan. Improvements generally follow in two-thirds of the transports where we discover irregularities – especially in the securing of cargoes. In this way, step by step, the transport of dangerous goods is becoming safer.”

Noltus and Overeijnder are really enthusiastic about their close collaboration. “The way we work resembles how a GP and specialist work”, according to Noltus. “Customs has general knowledge and carries out the initial diagnosis, after which the ILT carries out the calibration, based on its broader, deeper expertise. ILT inspectors deal with waste and dangerous goods on a daily basis, Customs officers, such as myself, divide their time and attention over various disciplines. Examples of these are sanctions, counterfeit goods and weapons and ammunition.”

Overeijnder: “I can vouch for the fact that the preliminary work done by our Customs colleagues is always thorough and reliable. They are highly motivated professionals, who generally enjoy being involved in this field and keeping abreast of the laws and legislation. And I should know: I have my own workplace here at the RIT, and interact with them almost every day. What’s more, a quarter of the ILT colleagues on my team come from Customs – and that says a lot.”

Foreign Affairs

Dutch Customs conducts a broad range of operations in the service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These include levying and collecting anti-dumping duties, compensation duties, and supplementary duties – all taxes calculated in addition to import duties. These are levied when producers and operators bring goods on the European market for a price that is (much) too low or have government subsidies. This fiscal activity contributes to the strategic objective ‘contributing to the economic competitiveness of the EU’.

Another important task for Customs is monitoring compliance with sanctions legislation. Sanctions are legal measures for maintaining or restoring international peace and security, promoting the international legal order, and/or combating terrorism. With such trade measures it almost always comes down to a prohibition or restriction of the export from the EU of certain designated goods. The addressed or end-user and the destination of the goods often play an important role in such determinations.

Sanctions almost always cover strategic goods: military and dual-use goods (the latter have a designated civilian as well as military use). Customs makes sure that in the export from, or transit via, the EU – as well as in transfer or con-veyance between Member States – the strict conditions applicable are adhered to. The service checks to make sure any required authorisations for shipment have been obtained, and also issues such documents itself (this done by the Central Import and Export Office). These operations contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

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Dutch Customs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs monitor non-proliferation of the components, and possible components, of chemical and biological weapons. When it comes to resources that can be used for civilian as well as military purposes, export controls cannot be too rigorous: consider, for example, certain chemicals destined for a country such as Syria.


“The founding principle of our policy is that the Netherlands wants to avoid making any contribution to the production of weapons of mass destruction, anywhere in the world”, says Gerlof Kruidhof (left on the photo), senior policy officer for Export Controls and Strategic Goods at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We base our approach on the Chemical Weapons Convention, which has been signed by nearly all the countries in the world. In addition, there is the Australia Group: like-minded countries who have made agreements about countering the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. Supervision of the entire programme is conducted by Dutch Customs’ POSS team (Precursors, Strategic goods, Sanctions legislation); formal direction is in the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Utilising the list of dual-use materials – resources, software or technologies that have a military as well as a civilian purpose – we control all shipments as regards five aspects: the destination country, the exporter, the end user, the ultimate application and the nature of the goods. In fact, not all products are created equal: enriched uranium is more sensitive than an industrial pump that could also be used for military purposes.”

“A licence is obligatory for exporting dual-use materials to all destinations outside the EU”, explains Dennis Leenman (right on the photo), account manager of the POSS team. “Monitoring therefore focuses on goods, not on countries. After all, we don’t want chemical weapons to be used anywhere in the world. The application for such a licence must be submitted to Customs’ Central Import and Export Office, the CDIU. Obviously, they take a different view of countries like Iran and Syria, who are under trade sanctions, than a country like Canada.”

“International monitoring of chemical weapons stands on two pillars: notification and verification”, Leenman continues. “Producing, importing or exporting any material named in the Chemical Weapons Convention requires a declaration from the CDIU. They forward this statement to Foreign Affairs, who subsequently submit it to the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). The latter uses random inspections to control whether companies or member states are not secretly using materials for chemical weapons after all. The Dutch national authority, Foreign Affairs, issues notifications of such inspections a few days in advance. The POSS team then accompanies the OPCW delegation.”Kruidhof: “Companies never view such surprise inspections as a good thing. Employees have to be prepared to answer questions. Maybe they happen to be on holiday or at a training course that day. But the inspection can’t wait: no one gets an opportunity to conceal suspicious goods.”

International inspections are only one part of a larger whole. Leenman: “Regular monitoring is also important. We check what a company sells, and to whom. Are there any strange or unacceptable transactions? On top of that we do ad-hoc inspections based on signals from our own people and from Foreign Affairs. It also regularly happens that a customs officer


encounters a suspicious shipment during a physical inspection. That colleague then asks for specialised knowledge from an expert in our organisation. If they determine that something isn’t right – such as the lack of a licence – then they contact the CDIU who decide, sometimes in consultation with Foreign Affairs, to intercept that particular shipment. In these cases further investigations are carried out by the POSS team. Other countries are a bit envious of this approach. There’s a good reason the World Customs Organisation cites our experts as best practice.”

“When determining the list of materials for control, you always look for a balance between security and commerce”, Kruidhof says. “The raw materials for making Sarin or mustard gas are all on the dual-use list. Preferably, you would monitor everything, but some chemicals are shipped all over the world in large quantities – that’s beyond control. Naturally, using them for chemical weapons is prohibited. In addition, for some countries we think it’s important to control even the forerunners of certain substances. For example, since 2013, acetone has been on the sanctions list for Syria.”

This particular chemical played the leading role in a recent case. Leenman: “During a routine investigation a colleague found that one company had exported large quantities to a Syrian end-user. The necessary licence according to specific regulations was lacking. Also, because the export was routed through a sister company in Antwerp and not shipped directly from the Netherlands, we shared this information with our Belgian colleagues. On these grounds they initiated an investigation which resulted in a criminal legal action and fines reaching many tens of thousands of Euros. We later got a message from Belgium that the company in question kept going with their shipments, but now routed them through Russia. For that reason we started a new investigation here, which will shortly be brought before a court. It’s great that we can identify such things during our regular controls.”

It must be said that when irregularities occur, it isn’t always because of malicious intent, Leenman says. “The majority of all businesses comply with the rules and absolutely do not want to be associated with chemical weapons. It’s just that the rules are sometimes quite complicated. Business people have to do a lot studying themselves. But when they are in doubt, we are always willing to help. We don’t want people to go down the wrong path due to ignorance.”Kruidhof: “Foreign Affairs organises a seminar twice a year on export controls, in collaboration with the CDIU and the POSS team. These sessions always fill up in no time. Look, in a lot of ways, export controls are a pain in the neck for many businesses. That’s why we prefer to provide information, and we are happy to tell market players what it’s like in countries where controls are less well organised. That way, we usually promote understanding.”

Justice and Security

Dutch Customs monitors compliance with the Weapons and Ammunition Act for the Ministry of Justice and Security, with the goal of preventing the illegal possession of weapons and ammunition in the country, and controlling the legal possession as much as possible. The service assesses whether the goods imported, exported, or passing through the country fall under a legal prohibition, whether they are exempt or form an exception, or whether the required licence has been obtained. Customs itself issues the required authorisations and licences for transport (this done by the Central Import and Export Office).

An extension of this is the Customs’ monitoring of the law prohibiting private persons from bringing the precursors (materials) for explosives into Dutch territory. This is carried out by checking all travellers’ baggage, postal packages and courier shipments.

In addition, Customs has instructions to prevent drugs and drug precursors from illegally entering the EU via the Netherlands. The service has been assigned a pro-active role in combating narcotics, and conducts its work in this area in close cooperation with a number of enforcement partners.

Customs also has a share in tackling cross-border criminality involving stolen vehicles. The service identifies any outgoing vehicles that look suspicious and checks the licence plates of such vehicles in the registry of stolen goods. These monitoring efforts are concentrated on the four big seaports: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Vlissingen and Delfzijl. All the operations Customs carries out in the service of the Ministry of Justice and Security contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

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The Netherlands has been known for decades as a hub for inter-national drug trafficking. Drugs that are distributed through the Netherlands are often also produced in this country – examples include ecstasy, speed and related amphetamines. The Synthetic Drugs Cluster of the National Police Unit – deliberately operating from the province of Brabant – attempts to obstruct the produc-tion and worldwide export of these powders and pills. The know-ledge and skills of other enforcement services are welcomed by the crime fighters. No surprise, therefore, that customs officer René Hoorn (right on the photo) – a liaison officer and a permanent member of the cluster – is working overtime.


“Traditionally, the south has been a hotspot for all types of illegal activities”, Wilfred Dirckx (left on the photo), member of the Synthetic Drugs Cluster in Son, explains. “Take the once flourishing smuggling of butter, cigarettes and spirits to Belgium, for example. These alcoholic beverages were brewed in the border region illegally. At one point, leading underworld figures of the province of Limburg and certainly those in Brabant involved in these practices made the switch to what they called pep at the time. The equipment in the hidden distilleries could easily be converted into boilers and crystallisation vessels for cooking amphetamine. The crooks of the past passed the baton on to new networks, namely criminal families, core members of the travelling community, outlaw motorcycle gangs... They now control this lucrative market. In recent years, we’ve seen an expansion of production capacity to other provinces. But in practically all cases, it leads back to the Brabant underworld, as they have the experience, the know-how and the foreign contacts.”

“The large-scale manufacture of synthetic intoxicants is a thorn in the eye of politics”, Dirckx continues. “From local to national administrators, they all focus their attention on the drugs mafia. On the one hand, they want to get rid of the image of the Netherlands as a narco-state and, on the other, they are concerned about the undermining influence these shadowy practices have on society. Billions of Euros in criminal money are laundered, gangs control entire neighbourhoods and motorcycle clubs manifest themselves with a lot of intimi-dation and violence in the public space. If mayors receive anonymous text messages at night saying ‘sleep tight’, you know you have a serious social problem.”

“Our cluster has been fighting organised crime for close to twenty years now – a continuous cat-and-mouse game. As part of our efforts, we aim to get ever-closer to the leaders within. That’s tricky because the types pulling the strings in the background, operate very cautiously. Nevertheless, we’re gradually closing the net around these large fish. This is partly thanks to the crime script method for example, in which our data scientists and intelligence specialists use smart software to filter and analyse large quantities of very diverse data. Much of the useful input comes from other investigative authorities and regulators, such as Customs. This administration has had liaisons within our department from the very start of our existence and forms a fully integrated part within. René recently took up this role. Just like his predecessors, he helps criminal investigations making real progress. His information is invaluable to us.”

“As Dutch Customs, we, of course, have a unique view of almost all goods entering our territory”, Hoorn explains. “This includes so-called precursors – the chemicals that are processed in drug laboratories. Until quite recently, large batches of those active ingredients came directly from China and thanks to sophisticated risk profiles, they were flagged by our declaration systems. We informed the police about such deliveries, which were then allowed through and tracked in a controlled manner. Criminals, however, are becoming increasingly sophisticated. For example, they’re shifting their transport routes and have raw materials supplied via


countries such as Poland, Hungary and Romania. This means the substance is already in Europe and is usually brought into the Netherlands by truck. These flows are a lot harder to monitor. With that, these days, drug gangs order pre-precursors or even pre-pre-precursors – seemingly innocent precursors of the ingredients they need and which they reprocess themselves. All this is aimed at concealing the ultimate purpose of use. That makes it more difficult for us to tackle the synthetic drug problem at the source. But thanks to close cooperation with foreign customs authorities, the alertness of our own employees and excellent detective work by police officers, we’re making real progress. Together, we collect the pieces of the puzzle that, when combined, provide an increasingly complete picture of how underground networks are branched and operate. This way, numerous containers with PMK, BMK or APAAN have already been intercepted, drug labs dismantled and suspects arrested and convicted.”

“In recent years, the cluster has also been increasing its focus on what goes out of the country, namely the end-product of Dutch manufacturing,” Hoorn continues. “Exports to distant desti-nations are interesting for drug dealers because the profit margins there are many times higher than here. The US, Australia and New Zealand, for example, claim to be flooded by Dutch ecstasy and amphetamines, purchased by users on the dark web. These countries exert pressure on The Hague to tighten control of postal packages heading in their direction. This is one of the reasons why in 2018, we, as Customs and the police, carried out a number of joint supervision operations at various couriers. The results weren’t startling because many suppliers send their goods via Germany, Belgium or France, thereby reducing the risk of discovery. Moreover, these people never leave any fingerprints, DNA material or other traces. And the return addresses on the envelopes are, of course, always false – they are from bona fide companies that are the victims of identity fraud. Still, anything we do prevent from going out is a bonus.”

“We’re well aware of the fact that what we encounter in terms of chemicals and drugs, is only the tip of the iceberg”, Dirckx concludes. “And yet I’m optimistic about the future. We won’t be able to rid synthetic drugs altogether, everyone knows that. But we are making it increasingly harder for the major players in the criminal environment. As stated earlier, René plays an important part therein thanks to his special expertise. Another intermediary from Customs wouldn’t go amiss here.”

Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

Dutch Customs is charged with many operations for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. For example, the service levies and collects import duties for certain specific agricultural products from certain specific countries. This is carried out in the framework of the joint European agricultural policy, with the partial goal of ensuring reasonable prices and more stable markets. This fiscal activity contributes to the strategic objective ‘contributing to the economic competitiveness of the EU’. Furthermore, Customs has a responsibility regarding the protection of certain plants and animals living in the wild, both exotic and native species. The service prevents illegal traffic in protected flora and fauna by checking whether these animals and plants – or products made from these species – enter or leave the EU, and whether they are provided with a proper permit, if so required. These operations contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

Moreover, Customs carries out physical controls and document checks for a great number of other goods that are imported into European territory. The goal is to keep out dangerous, undesirable and prohibited products, such as protected kinds of wood without an import licence, illegally caught fish lacking registration, and unsafe animal food. This kind of monitoring also prevents animal diseases and organisms that can contaminate agricultural crops from being introduced and spreading. Customs carries out these operations in close cooperation with the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

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For years now, Dutch Customs has been working closely with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) – responsible for product and food safety, plant and animal health and animal welfare, among others. Based on the one-government principle, the two organisations are increasingly integrating and streamlining their supervisory processes. In this light, a project was launched in 2018 that should lead to more effective inspections and significant efficiency benefits for both agencies, as well as time savings for international trade and logistics. This at the same time is good news for the consumer, who finds an increasingly fresher and safer piece of meat or fish on his plate.


“In recent years we, as national regulators, have taken considerable steps towards integrated border management,” Liesbeth Kooijman (left on the photo) of the NVWA says. “The Joint Inspec-tion Centre was established at the national airport and the State Inspectorate Terminal opened its doors in the port of Rotterdam in 2018. They’re ultramodern sites, where Customs, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate and we can increasingly coordinate our inspections and, therefore, increasingly act as a single government. The business community too is involved in the discussion on how we organise our work at the border – public and private parties are, therefore, combining forces to ensure freight is handled smoothly and safely. As NVWA, we don’t perform all our checks at the one-stop-shops mentioned. Veterinary checks – on animal products and livestock, for example – are carried out at special External Border Inspection Posts, such as here at Freshport Schiphol. And especially with these types of inspections, there’s still room for improvement in our cooperation with Customs, in terms of efficiency.”

“That’s why we started comparing our work processes in the area of Entry/Import in 2018,” customs officer Ria Leferink op Reinink (right on the photo) explains. “The question was, where do they overlap and what permanent improvements can we achieve there? We mapped out a total of twelve of those overlapping areas and immediately set to work with a top 3. The optimisation of the so-called risk learning circle was given priority. As Customs, we apply a variety of risk profiles to the mass amounts of declaration data received by us – partly on the basis of risks identified by the NVWA, such as the type of product or country of origin. Our automated systems then flag incoming consignments that qualify for an inspection by the NVWA. If the results of these inspections are communicated properly and quickly, we can further tighten our risk profiles. However, the quality of the feedback turned out to be rather employee-dependent. In order to make it less person-related, we’re going to set up fixed domain groups. As such, NVWA and Customs file coordinators will discuss and record experiences and new insights from operational control. This way, we get a clearer picture of the shipments that constitute a real risk, while increasing safety and facilitating the movement of goods at the same time. It means we can reduce the number of unnecessary disruptions in logistics.”

“The automated sharing of so-called batch decisions is also high on the agenda”, Kooijman says. “When we’ve carried out our check and the goods in question are okay with us, they still need to be released by Customs. Prior to this, the administration also checks the batch decision that the NVWA has taken. So far, this is done almost entirely manually, which means that time is lost sometimes. Naturally, companies benefit if the release proceeds as quickly as possible. Otherwise, a truck full of Nile perch fillet is ready for departure for example, but the driver must wait until all customs formalities have been completed. We are now heading for a situation in which the company concerned – as soon as our inspection has completed – receives a digital code that will allow the customs declaration to be completed straight away. This is provided that Customs doesn’t want to physically check the goods, of course. We achieve this by making fairly straight- forward software modifications in our systems and those of Customs. In fact, this is how we


eliminate the time factor from this process. That’s good for commerce, as well as for the competitive strength of a party as Schiphol Airport. We know that some sectors – such as the horse trade – are sensitive to any kind of delay. You don’t want a market like that to move to other, foreign airports.”

“The third process that we’ve started makes our joint supervision more adequate,” Leferink op Reinink explains. “This specifically concerns the compulsory inspection of veterinary products from outside the European Union. These goods are associated with certain risks, for example, they may be unsafe for human or animal consumption or lead to the introduction of animal diseases. Companies must, therefore, report such shipments to the NVWA in advance – some-thing they sometimes fail to do. By comparing the administrative records of the NVWA with the declarations for temporary storage that companies submit to Customs, we can detect any missing preliminary reports earlier. And, therefore, be more effective in tackling potential illegal imports and market parties engaged in these practices. Until recently, comparing our data was a manual process as well, but now we’re automating this using a matching tool. That is, of course, much less labour-intensive. In those situations where human assessment remains necessary, we’ll continue to rely on the knowledge and experience of our employees.”

All in all, Kooijman and Leferink op Reinink are positive about the course that their organisations have taken in 2018. “Initially, the joint screening of our processes regularly led to some classic confusion”, Kooijman says. “After all, you each have your own jargon. But as you gain a deeper understanding of each other’s professions, it all starts to fall into place. You start to understand why things are done in a certain way but you also see how things could be done differently. Our joint efforts lead to better coordination of our operations at the border and we create more synergy. And we’re only at the beginning of this journey; in the near future, we want to implement more of these structural improvements. As we said before, many more parties will ultimately benefit from this, more than just Customs and NVWA alone.”

Health, Welfare and Sport

One of the areas in which Dutch Customs serves the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport concerns the Medicines Act. These services are directed at keeping illegal medicines out of the country in the interests of public health. For goods that indicate release into free circulation, Customs checks if they are medications or active ingredients. Then a further control is carried out whether the required factory permit has been submitted and whether there is any reason for exemption or special dispensation. In these activities Customs works in close cooperation with the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate.

Furthermore, Customs has been assigned the task of checking whether proper dispensation has been presented for import shipments of substances falling under the Opium Act, and if these documents are correct. By doing so, the service contributes to monitoring the production and preparation of, as well as the traffic in, drugs and psychotropic substances.

Added on to this is Customs responsibilities under the Abuse of Chemical Substances (Prevention) Act. Here the focus is on substances that are used for the production of synthetic drugs. The service checks to make sure the required permits have been submitted for the import or export of these substances, and that they are correct. In addition, Customs issues authorisations and statements of registration to market operators established in the Netherlands (this done by the Central Import and Export Office).

Customs also carries out operations in the framework of the Commodities Act with a focus on consumer health and safety. Imports of certain goods are checked by the service to make sure the required certificates for food and product safety have been obtained and are correct. Customs performs these tasks in close cooperation with the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

All the operations Customs carries out in the service of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

6


Under the terms of the European Tobacco Products Directive, as from 20 March 2019 all cigarette and hand-rolling tobacco packets must carry a safety feature stamp and a unique identifier. The new measures are intended to facilitate the fight against the smuggling of illegal tobacco products. To enforce them, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) – responsible for their implementation – wants to cooperate with Dutch Customs. A beneficial circumstance is that Customs’ current excise stamp meets the EU-requirements in full and can serve as a safety feature stamp.


“The excise legislation in itself was working well for us”, says customs officer Beppie Schoute Oud (right on the photo). “Based on the legislation we carry out checks on tobacco products, combat counterfeits and collect excise duty. We’re pleased that the European Tobacco Products Directive is providing us with extra powers of control and the option of imposing higher fines. The new measures also provide a consumer guarantee. Because although legal tobacco products are not healthy, they nevertheless meet all legal EU-requirements.”

Evelien de Boer of VWS (left on the photo): “The European Tobacco Products Directive, which dates back to 2014, consists of various regulations. Some of these, like compulsory health warnings on packaging and a ban on cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco with aromas have been in force since 2016. However, this does not apply to the articles intended to curb the illegal trade, like the European implementing regulation 2018/574 enacted at the end of 2017 and the 2018/576 implementation decision. For the time being, the new European rules will apply for all cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco as from 20 May 2019, and for all other tobacco products, including cigars and waterpipe tobacco, from 20 May 2024. In the Netherlands, starting on 20 May next, all package units must bear a unique identifier and an unforgeable safety feature stamp. The requirements that these two need to comply with and when the stamps need to be placed have been specified in detail. Individual member states are free to decide who they contract to supply the unique identifier and how the measures are enforced. No overarching European system is going to be introduced to take care of all this.”

“The precise appearance of the unique identifier, which will form part of a track and trace system, is not yet known”, says Schoute Oud. “There are different formats conceivable, like a barcode, a QR code or a hologram. Compare it to a post package that’s monitored from the sender to the recipient. In the case of a packaging unit, basic data will be recorded like the manufacturer’s name and the serial number of the machine that produces the cigarettes. Subsequently, all parties involved in marketing the tobacco, from the transporter to any storage location, will record their own steps in the logistics process using a hand scanner. The only party that will not need to register will be the end point, the street corner tobacconist’s shop, for example.”

De Boer: “Initially, the new measures were met with resistance from the tobacco industry. Who would provide the codes? What would it all cost? And where would all the data on logis-tics chains be stored? I can imagine it being rather nerve-wracking for producers who still don’t know what’s going on while the deadline set by Brussels is fast approaching. We’ve done our best to alleviate all concerns. However, the Dutch government is bound by Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization framework convention on tobacco control. This makes requirements for our communication with the tobacco industry. We only inform the industry of how we are going to implement the European Tobacco Products Directive and tell them that businesses


can tailor their own processes accordingly. In February this year, for instance, we were able to communicate that VWS had designated IT-specialist Atos as the party who producers and importers can directly apply to for the necessary identification codes. The company made a fast start and organized an information meeting for the tobacco sector, and will shortly present its own information site. A data warehouse is to be accommodated in Brussels where if so required, member states can obtain data for their supervisory activities. In addition, VWS has a separate website on this subject, set up in www.government.nl.”

Nonetheless, Schoute Oud too understands that the market would have liked to have been duly informed earlier on. “But we couldn’t have possibly informed all the players much faster. Although the Tobacco Products Directive has been around for longer, the implementing regula-tion and the implementation decision only took effect at the end of 2017. And it was only based on them that we could start thinking up concrete solutions. Furthermore, for various reasons, there was no immediate consensus in Brussels between the member states on all the ins and outs. One country produces more tobacco than the other one, for instance. But the EU has dealt with it well by organizing various webinars and meetings for the sector on the upcoming changes.”

And then there’s the excise stamp. “This stamp must have a number of visible and invisible characteristics and a semi-visible one, produced by specialists”, explains Schoute Oud. “The precise specifications are secret of course. To date, with the exception of a couple of clumsy copies, no forgeries have emerged. It’s a sound product that fully complies with the Tobacco Directive and covers 90 per cent of the market. Tax-free shops count for the other 10 per cent. The tobacco products sold there do not require an excise stamp. But in that area too, we were able to be helpful to VWS.”

De Boer: “In terms of content the safety feature stamp strongly resembles the excise stamp. Customs had the expertise required at their disposal, so the job was done quickly. When faced by a legislative trajectory with a strict deadline it’s preferable to look for existing solutions. Having said that, the safety feature stamp must be clearly distinguishable from the ordinary excise stamp, among other things in terms of colour. In addition, tobacco producers and the importers they want to use must first request our permission via a digital form. We will then ensure that an unforgeable safety feature stamp and a unique identifier are available on the 20th of May. Producers with questions can always contact VWS. All things considered we’ve got a lot done in such a short period.”

Economic Affairs and Climate

Dutch Customs carries out controls on goods that are moving into or out of EU territory for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. In addition, at the request of those who hold Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), the service checks whether such goods are in conflict with rights as stated in the EC Regulation no. 608/2013. These customs activities contribute to the strategic objective ‘contributing to the economic competitiveness of the EU’.

Customs has also received instructions to prevent electronic devices that are unsafe or not in compliance with European standards from being brought on the market. This includes such products as jammers which can be harmful for the functioning of wireless networks or other communications equipment. The service carries out this task in close cooperation with the Radiocommunications Agency Netherlands.

Lastly, Customs charges a stock levy within the context of the Act on the stockpiling of oil and oil products. This act pertains to the national strategic storage of crude oil and petroleum products. The stock levy is intended to cover the operational costs and the finance expenses of the Netherlands Petroleum Stockpiling Agency (COVA).

7


The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl), which supports companies doing business abroad, opened the Brexit desk in 2018. This knowledge portal gathers important information about the impending departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This includes the inevitable customs formalities that many market players will have to deal with – many for the first time. RVO.nl and Customs therefore have a common aim: prompting entrepreneurs to seriously prepare themselves for the things to come.


“Like many others the outcome of the Brexit referendum took us by surprise”, acknowledges Joren Schep (left in the photo), advisor on international entrepreneurship at RVO.nl. “We’d better brace ourselves for an avalanche of calls, we thought. But that didn’t happen. This was in sharp contrast to what we had seen previously, when the sanctions against Russia were imposed. But that was an acute crisis, while Brexit was surrounded by many uncertainties from the outset. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we had to devise a communica-tion strategy. Were we to push the business community to get moving, or should we stay calm and take a ‘wait and see’ approach? On the one hand you want to inform companies, while on the other you don’t want to cause unrest. It wasn’t until after the EU had received a negotia-ting mandate from the member states and the first draft agreements had been published that things got any better. This resulted in a parliamentary letter with a clear message on 29 March 2018 – when it turned out that the UK was going for a relatively hard option: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. At the same time, we made a package of instruments available, including the Brexit desk and the Brexit Impact Scan. The tone was: yes, you’re going to have a lot to deal with, but we’re there to help.”

“For us, it’s important to continue to act in line with the government-wide communication, precisely because questions from businesses concern more than customs matters alone,” says Ian Koster (right in the photo), programme manager at the Customs Brexit team. “If you spread information across too many channels, it causes even more confusion. Consistently referring to the Brexit desk gives you a much greater reach as a government. There you can obtain up-to-date information on the impact of Brexit on trading with the UK. The Customs site refers to the desk and vice versa. And if you call the Brexit desk with a specia-list question about customs matters, you’ll be transferred to the Customs Information Line.”

Schep: “Previously, we had little direct contact with Customs. The need to work together on Brexit topics has created a common basis. We’re becoming more and more attuned to each other. Because we often work together, we now know how the service is organised and which customs procedures entrepreneurs may have to deal with.”

“The Brexit desk is just one of our instruments,” continues Schep. “There’s currently a nationwide media campaign running on Brexit, complete with radio infomercials and messages on social media. Since last year we have also organised road shows and other events with the Royal Association MKB Nederland – an organisation for small and medium-sized enterprises – and the Chamber of Commerce. At these meetings you learn what’s going on among the target group – and we share these stories again via the Brexit desk. We also join in with events of trade associations, such as the entrepreneurs’ organisation for the technological industry FME. Sometimes we talk to entrepreneurs who know nothing at all about customs formalities. They come up with questions like: ‘We trade with the UK; do we have to pay import duties after Brexit? And how does that work?’ Some companies are completely blank at this stage.


But whichever way you look at it, deal or no-deal, they can’t escape customs formalities. So start making preparations as soon as possible, we tell them – and you could have done that a year ago. Recently, this message has come across a little better than before. The number of calls made via the Brexit desk is steadily increasing, and more and more companies are doing the Impact Scan. Whereas the desk at www.brexitloket.nl first settled at an average of forty visits a day, there are now several hundred. But there’s still a substantial percentage that’s still doing nothing.”

“At Customs, we’re currently looking into the reasons for this,” adds Koster. “Of course, political uncertainty doesn’t help. If you still don’t know what kind of Brexit it will be and what it means for your business, I can imagine some might take such a wait-and-see attitude. At the same time, it causes us concern. We’ve written to 73,000 companies doing business with the UK, and for which the changes could have a major impact. Of these, 35,000 will soon be dealing with Customs for the first time. They must ensure that they can register an EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification number) and file a declaration with us, and check whether they need customs permits. We expect many entrepreneurs to hire a forwarder to handle customs formalities. But we can only guess at how big this group is.”

Even if the nature of the work does not change, Customs faces a major challenge, Koster emphasises. “We’ll soon have more customers and more goods under supervision. Such an increase calls for additional staff, all of whom must be given a place to work. Buildings will be added, official cars, computers, scanning equipment, tracking dogs... you name it. We’re also carrying out stress tests on all our service channels in order to be able to cope with any peak load around 29 March.”

Schep: “The fact that Customs sent out a clear signal at an early stage by focusing on staff increases has contributed to the government’s sense of urgency. We at RVO.nl are also prepared for everything, even for a possible run on information in the event of a no-deal. That’s when we expect the phone lines to get red hot.”

Education, Culture and Science

Dutch Customs performs certain operations for the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science with regard to cultural property, that is to say, objects of great scientific or cultural-historical value. This property may fall under the Heritage Act and under the Iraq 2004 II and Syria 2012 sanctions. Customs has been commissioned to counter the illegal trade in cultural property in the EU cross-border movement of goods. In the context of the Heritage Act the service inspects whether an authorisation is required with the export or exit of cultural property from the EU through the Netherlands, and if this is the case, whether the correct authorisation has been issued. Moreover, Customs itself issues export licences for these goods (this done by the Central Import and Export Office).

Customs conducts these services in close cooperation with the Information and Heritage Inspectorate. These operations contribute to the strategic objective ‘protecting society’.

8



Items of great cultural-historic and scientific value – objects that often may not be transported and handled freely – are also subject to customs surveillance. Customs officers who encounter such goods are generally quick to call in the Information and Heritage Inspectorate. This is what happened in 2018 when Ans Ferwerda discovered special archaeological excavations in post items from Ukraine in an Amsterdam sorting centre. Soon afterwards she officially handed over the collector’s items to the Ukrainian ambassador for further examination by experts from the National Archaeological Institute in Kiev.


Ferwerda has worked in surveillance, in the Postal & Courier department, for some years. “In principle, I monitor all our non-fiscal focus areas: from counterfeits to medicines, from flora and fauna to narcotics”, she explains. “Each country of origin has its own different specific risks. The focus with goods from Ukraine is on cigarettes: non-duty-paid and counterfeit. So I was surprised when I saw scan images of a postal package from that country showing a row of sharp points. I immediately fished out the envelope concerned and examined it physically. A custom’s statement was enclosed, stating that the goods were ‘souvenirs’. They turned out to be rusty metal objects, packed carefully in paper – they looked old, but not valuable. They just looked like things that a tourist could have bought on a market. Nevertheless, I thought it was an unusual item, and I wanted one of our experts to take a look. The colleague – a walking encyclopaedia on heritage – then registered it with the Information and Heritage Inspectorate. This is what got the ball rolling. And guess what? Within the next few weeks, I came across another two postal items, almost identical, and with similar contents.”

“Every year we receive about 30 to 40 generally very valuable reports from Customs”, says Nico Schouten, who works for the Inspectorate. “Customs acts as our eyes and ears and helps us to fulfil our mission: making sure that items that are important for the cultural identity and historical consciousness of a country or a people return to where they belong. We do this based on the national Heritage Act, which is an elaboration of the UNESCO 1970 Convention. Ukraine is also party to the international convention, which means that cultural items from that country may only be imported into the Netherlands if they were lawfully exported. As no export permit was issued for the items that Ans found in the post, we contacted the Ukrainian autho-rities – the embassy in The Hague. They in turn got in touch with experts in their own country. After seeing the photographic evidence, they said that they would like to examine the various objects to confirm their authenticity. As the ambassador planned to travel to Kiev in the near future, we gave the goods to him. We made a festive moment of the process of handing them over, by Ans and our director, at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.”

“Naturally, I thought it was fun and an honour to be invited to this”, says Ferwerda. “It shows how our organisations interact: using short lines and with respect and appreciation for one another’s work. This is what makes our working partnership so great. We usually receive rapid and extensive feedback about findings that we pass on. That motivates me and my colleagues enormously: you get to hear the results of your efforts, why you do it all. In this case, I soon heard that I had intercepted a set of arrowheads and spearheads, the head of a decorative axe and two signet rings – all made of iron, dating from the early Middle Ages and originating from central to south Ukraine. It felt good knowing that they have been returned to their rightful owner.”

“It seems that the Dutch addressees were collectors”, according to Schouten. “They declared having purchased the various items on auction sites. We see that here too internet is making


international trade easier. People search for treasure all over the world, and the items that are found have an enormous attraction to many people. Sometimes they may just be well-meaning amateurs, but there are also cases of wilful plundering. These purchasers were completely unaware; they did not know about the regulations and had no idea that they were contravening them. They were immediately prepared to relinquish their purchases, because they did not want to cooperate in dubious trade.”

Schouten and his colleagues are pleased with the alertness of Ferwerda and other customs officers. “Such discoveries show that they are well-informed about matters relating to heritage. And that their intuition is well-developed; they sense when goods are suspect. In particular the factual knowledge of the experts is at a high level. For this group we organise frequent refresher days about current trends and phenomena – about art theft from conflict zones, for example. At such courses, these people always demonstrate an exceptional willingness to learn.”

Heritage is a permanent aspect of regular surveillance of the cross-border flow of goods. Customs also regularly carries out specific inspection activities – lasting several days – named Pandora, at postal and courier companies, where they are joined by the Inspectorate and sometimes the police. The most recent one was in the autumn of 2018. Schouten: “It is eminently commendable that Customs finds time and capacity for such a specific campaign about heritage items. Particularly when you think about the trade volumes and the many risks the organisation faces. We see this as a sign that Customs takes its role as gatekeeper very seriously.”


Key statisticsSubject 2016 2017 2018

Mass processes, projects and ICTNumber of processed declarations (x 1,000)

Import duty and excise duty declarations 26,285 25,165 22,525

Supervision and investigationInternational mutual assistance

Requests from Dutch Customs to foreign

customs administrations 550 625 554

Requests from foreign customs administrations

to Dutch Customs 2,448 3,312 2,377

Number of inspections performed (x 1,000)

Hours for supervision external border (excl. passengers) 445 399 385

Scan checks, freight 89 83 83

Physical inspections, freight 124 110 126

Physical inspections, couriers and postal consignments 154 124 130

Passenger checks (on specific flights) 11.6 14 174

Travellers’ baggage 564 603 391

Ambulatory physical inspections, external border 19 12 11

Ambulatory physical inspections, domestic 13 9 6

Inspections of import duty and excise duty declarations 494 361 374

Administrative checks 3.1 3.1 2.4

Tax audits 2.8 2 2.6

Other inspections 103 120 136

Number of corrections (tax/non-tax) and official reports (x 1,000)

Corrections, physical inspections, freight 5.6 6.1 6.9

Corrections, couriers and postal consignments 10.8 9.5 13.6

Corrections, passengers 15 10.5 15.1

Corrections, ambulatory, domestic/external border 1.2 0.6 1.4

Corrections, administrative checks 0.7 0.3 0.2

Official reports 15 14 12.8


Subject 2016 2017 2018

Samples from import and export declarations examined by the Customs Laboratory

Agricultural policy measures 1,667 831 646

Excise duty legislation 3,863 4,625 5,096

Allocation to rate class 11,630 10,692 13,691

Sundry non-tax legislation 4,108 4,158 3,920

Goods seized (in kilograms unless stated otherwise)

Cigarettes (numbers x 1,000) 87,198 62,102 159,286

Tobacco 1,233 34,353 63,998

Waterpipe tobacco 969 1,259 42,253

Cocaine 15,581 10,219 21,188

XTC 144 830 472

Amphetamine 22 108 1

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) 24 287 40

Methamphetamine 29 9 6

Precursors 6,216 7,196 6,529

Heroin 437 830 296

Marijuana 1,299 2,852 322

Hashish 250 716 3,910

Qat 3,738 6,371 3,331

Weapons (in numbers, including imitation weapons) 11,549 4,743 24,727

Ammunition (rounds for firearms) 4,840 294 120

Number of drug busts

Cocaine 962 1,146 1,251

XTC 183 164 344

Amphetamine 16 4 5

Heroin 40 66 110

Marijuana 110 90 125

Hashish 58 68 93

Qat 233 383 177

Texts Harald Meijer Paul van Vliet Photography Eric Fecken Marcel Israel

This is a publication of The Customs Administration of the Netherlands© 2019

Dutch Customs in 2018 - Over de Belastingdienst...around excise duty evasion at excise duty selling...

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