BONDED WAREHOUSE

Store your goods in Europe. Pay duty only when they sell.

In a bonded customs warehouse, duty and import VAT wait until an order actually ships. Stock that stays under bond carries no border tax, 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 clear in, once

    The shipment enters the bonded warehouse in a single customs event, inside the EU customs union.

  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, then

    The moment a unit ships to an EU customer, that release triggers the tax, on that unit alone.

    Re-export: no EU duty, ever

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

WHO THIS SERVES

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

  • Seasonal and slow-moving ranges

    Stock that will sell across months, not days, so the tax point should follow the sale.

  • Brands testing the EU market

    Land a range inside the union without paying duty on units that might come straight back out.

  • High-duty or high-value goods

    Where the deferred amount is the largest, holding cash until release matters the most.

  • Multi-market distribution

    One bonded base feeds re-export lanes and EU release lanes from the same shelf.

Bonded landing · goods land once, rest inside, release on demand · beside

Inside the bonded operation.

The bonded operation: goods land once and rest inside a sealed bonded warehouse, then release onto the dispatch line one order at a time, on demand.
  1. 01Cleared once at the doorStock enters through a single controlled threshold, not parcel by parcel.
  2. 02Held under bondIt rests inside the EU, ready to ship, carrying no border tax while it waits.
  3. 03Released as orders comeEach order draws from the shelf and leaves on the line, immediately.

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
20 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 bonded

A Portuguese site added by Warelog, expanding capacity by about 4,500 m2 alongside the bonded sites 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 clears incoming goods 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 in that window, rather than against a clock 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.
  • LOGCOM 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.

When exactly does duty and import VAT fall due?

Duty and import VAT fall due only when a unit leaves the bonded warehouse for free circulation, which is the moment an order ships. While stock rests under bond inside the customs warehouse, both are suspended, so the tax point follows the sale rather than the arrival. That is what lets unsold inventory sit inside the EU carrying no border tax.

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 as each unit is released to ship. 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.

What happens if goods are re-exported and never sold in the EU?

If goods leave the bonded warehouse for export rather than for EU sale, no EU import duty or import VAT is charged on them, because they never enter free circulation in the single market. This is the practical advantage of bond for stock that may be redirected to a non-EU market. The tax is only ever triggered by release into the EU, not by storage.

Who is the importer of record for bonded stock?

EFC carries the Importer of Record function inside the operation, so a non-EU brand does not need its own European entity to be the declared importer. The import responsibility sits with the same operation that holds the bonded stock and ships the orders. 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; it makes no customs-broker licence claim. Clearance and import handling are activities carried out within the operation, alongside authorised consignee status for streamlined movement.

What is authorised consignee status, and why does it matter?

Authorised consignee status lets incoming goods under customs transit be received and cleared at the operation’s own premises rather than at a separate customs office. It shortens the customs movement of goods arriving into the bonded warehouse, so stock reaches the shelf faster.

Can dangerous goods or temperature-sensitive stock be held bonded?

Yes. The warehouse is ANPC-licensed to store and handle ADR and IMO dangerous goods, and stock is held to the conditions a product requires, including temperature-controlled storage where required. The bonded treatment applies to the goods as goods, separately from the handling conditions they need.

How does a brand see its bonded stock?

Stock is visible through the LOGCOM platform: incoming and outgoing movements, live stock levels, and the customs documents such as deposit titles are all consultable, so the brand always knows what is held under bond and what has shipped.

EFC

Stop paying the border up front. Pay as the stock sells.

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