BONDED WAREHOUSE

Store your goods in Europe. Pay duty only on release.

Built for higher-value goods that move in smaller volumes. In a bonded customs warehouse, duty and import VAT are paid only when a unit is released. No cash sits in stock that has not sold yet, and stock that leaves Europe again never pays EU duty at all.

HOW THE DEFERRAL WORKS

One entry, one hold, two ways out. Only one of them costs you EU duty.

  1. ENTRY

    Goods enter, once

    The shipment physically enters the EU customs union one time and is placed under the customs warehousing procedure. Duty and import VAT are suspended rather than settled.

  2. HELD UNDER BOND

    Duty and import VAT suspended

    While stock rests here, neither is charged. Unsold inventory carries no border tax for as long as it stays under bond.

  3. TWO WAYS OUT

    Into the EU: duty and VAT fall due at release

    When goods are released for free circulation, that release triggers the tax, on the released goods only.

    Re-export: no EU import duty

    Goods that leave for a non-EU market never entered free circulation, so no EU import duty or VAT is charged on them.

Two ways in

Release on arrival, or hold under bond?

Either way the stock sits inside the EU. What changes is when duty and import VAT fall due, and how freely the stock can be picked and shipped.

A shipment arriving at a customs gate and taking one of two routes: released on arrival into an open warehouse and shipped onward, or held in a fenced customs warehouse and released later, or sent out of the EU.
Release on arrival

The usual route

  • The whole shipment is released for free circulation as it arrives.
  • Duty and import VAT are dealt with at that one release.
  • From then on the stock is picked, packed and sold across the EU like any Union goods.
Held under bond

Duty and import VAT wait for each release

  • Suited to higher-value goods that move in smaller volumes.
  • Each release into the EU is its own declaration, and tax falls due only on what is released.
  • Goods can also leave for a market outside the EU without paying EU duty.

Which route fits depends on the product. Goods that sell quickly in volume usually go through release on arrival. Higher-value goods that move a few at a time usually sit better under bond. No cash is tied up in stock that has not sold yet.

WHO THIS SERVES

Built for stock that should not pay tax before it sells.

  • Higher-value goods that move in smaller volumes

    Each unit waits under customs control, and its duty and import VAT fall due when it is released, not when the shipment lands.

  • Slow-moving and seasonal ranges

    Stock that sells across months rather than days, where paying tax on the whole shipment up front would tie up cash for a long time.

  • High-duty lines

    Where the duty on a shipment is large, deferring it to each release makes the largest difference to working capital.

Inside the bonded operation.

The bonded operation: goods land once and rest inside a sealed bonded warehouse, then release onto the dispatch line as it is needed.
  1. 01Enters once at the doorStock arrives through a single controlled threshold, not parcel by parcel, and goes under bond rather than into free circulation.
  2. 02Held under bondIt rests inside the EU, ready to ship, carrying no border tax while it waits.
  3. 03Released as it is neededStock is released for free circulation when it is needed. Each release is its own declaration, and duty and import VAT fall due on what is released.

THE BACKBONE

Run with Warelog, our partner in Portugal.

We run the bonded operation with Warelog, a Portuguese customs and logistics operator since 2005. One base, one account, one point of contact.

4 Portuguese sites
~12,000 pallets under bond
21 years operating

Vila do Conde (Touguinho)

16,000 m2 bonded

Export and import areas, a Customs Tax Warehouse, and a DRAP/DGAV free area for goods that need inspection. Plus 13,000 m2 outdoor for large and non-standard goods, with lashing and certificate.

Lisbon (Alverca)

4,800 m2 bonded

Export and import areas and a DRAP/DGAV free area. Plus 9,000 m2 outdoor for large and non-standard goods, with lashing and certificate.

Oporto (Leixoes)

3,000 m2 bonded

Export and import areas and a DRAP/DGAV free area. Plus 3,000 m2 outdoor for large and non-standard goods, with lashing and certificate.

Arrifana

+4,500 m2

A Portuguese site added by Warelog. It is not a bonded site, and it adds about 4,500 m2 of warehouse capacity inside the customs union.

The customs regimes the warehouse runs under.

Each is an activity carried out under customs supervision at the warehouse, alongside the authorised consignee status that ends incoming transit movements on site.

  • Fiscal and excise warehouse

    A suspended-tax regime: duty and excise are not charged while the goods sit in the warehouse, only when a unit is released. It suits stock that waits inside the union before it enters the market.

  • Temporary deposit

    The lawful holding place for goods that have arrived but are not yet placed under a customs procedure. They sit under customs supervision for a limited period, rather than waiting at the border.

  • Authorised consignee

    Incoming goods under customs transit are cleared at the warehouse itself, not only at the border. A transit movement ends on site, so stock reaches the shelf without waiting in a queue at a separate customs office.

  • Specialist staff for all types of cargo handling and consolidation.
  • Logistics Warehouse and Customs Tax Warehouse, both with pallet racking.
  • Controlled-condition storage, temperature-controlled, where the product requires it.
  • Warehouse platform: track incoming and outgoing movements and stock, and issue customs documents.
  • Project-cargo handling for large and non-standard work, with lashing and an issued certificate.
  • A DRAP/DGAV free area for goods that need veterinary or agricultural inspection.
THE OPERATION
LOGISTICS PARTNER Warelog

Questions

Common questions about bonded warehousing.

How long can stock stay under bond?

There is no fixed expiry on customs warehousing. Goods can remain under bond for an extended period while duty and import VAT stay suspended, and the tax is settled at each release. This suits seasonal ranges, slow-moving lines, and stock held ahead of a launch. The deferral runs for as long as the goods stay in the warehouse.

Who is the importer of record for bonded stock?

Where the import setup needs it, EFC provides the importer of record through its operation in Portugal. That is the same operation that holds the bonded stock and ships the orders. On the other route, the brand imports under its own EU VAT and EORI numbers. On neither route does the brand need a European company. The Importer of Record, fiscal representation, and OSS VAT are covered in full on the market-access pages.

Is EFC a customs broker?

EFC runs customs clearance and import handling inside its operation. EFC is not a licensed customs broker. Clearance and import handling are activities carried out within the operation, alongside authorised consignee status for streamlined movement.

EFC

Stop paying the border up front. Pay as the stock is released.

Tell us what you ship and where it goes. We will map the bonded intake, the deferral, and the dispatch as one operation.

Get a quote