Customs regions

Customs territory is divided into 9 regions with a national office in Rotterdam:

• National office (Rotterdam)
• Amsterdam region
• Eindhoven region
• Groningen region
• Nijmegen region
• Roosendaal region
• Rotterdam Rijnmond region
• Schiphol Cargo region
• Schiphol Passengers region

Customs has over 5,000 staff members who work at these offices. They inspect the external borders: borders shared with non-EU-countries. In the Netherlands, this is the coastline. Additionally, there are so-called 'distribution points' throughout the Netherlands. This is where goods are stored under Customs supervision in bonded and excise warehouses. Goods which are stored at these locations are exempt from taxes.