A European operating base,
run as one operation.

The European operating base is one operation that holds, clears, and dispatches a non-EU brand’s stock from inside the EU. It combines a physical logistics backbone in Portugal with a market-access layer that handles import, fiscal representation, and VAT. The brand gets a working European operation without forming its own European entity.

It is one operation. The two strengths, the physical backbone and the market-access layer, are run under one roof, and the brand deals with a single base and a single point of contact. They are not two vendors at a handover; they are the same operation seen from two sides.

The logistics backbone is our partner Warelog, a Portuguese operator running continuously since 2005, certified to ISO 9001:2015, recognised as a PME Líder 2025, and awarded the Equal Pay Seal 2024, with bonded customs warehousing at three Portuguese sites and Arrifana alongside them, and an ANPC licence for ADR and IMO dangerous goods. EFC runs the commercial front end, the fulfilment execution, and the market-access layer, and presents the whole as one operation. The full picture is on the partnership page.

EFC adds the market-access layer: the Importer of Record function, fiscal representation for non-resident businesses, authorised consignee status, customs clearance and import handling, OSS VAT across the 27 member states, and the GPSR Responsible Person credential for consumer products. A logistics provider stores and moves goods; this base also lets a non-EU brand operate legally and sell across the single market as one operation.

The base serves B2B, D2C, and marketplace channels from the same inventory, with one bonded pool serving a consumer parcel, a marketplace order, and a wholesale pallet. It supports all twelve sectors EFC works with, with the storage and handling conditions each sector requires, including temperature-controlled storage where a product requires it.

The operation runs from five locations in Portugal, run as one operation: the warehouse sites at Vila do Conde, Leixoes, Alverca, and Arrifana, plus the EFC seat in Amadora. Portugal is inside the EU customs union, so goods cleared there move as domestic freight to all 27 member states. The bonded zones run to about 16,000 m2 at Vila do Conde, 4,800 m2 at Alverca, and 3,000 m2 at Porto and Leixoes, with about 12,000 pallets of capacity across the network.

A brand runs the base remotely through EFC’s integration layer, which connects the brand’s store, marketplace, and ERP to the operation and reads stock and movements from the backbone’s warehouse-management system. Inventory, incoming and outgoing movements, and order status are visible without the brand being on site. The base is operated as if it were the brand’s own, from the brand’s own systems.

No. The base runs the import, the warehousing, the dispatch, and the returns, but it does not take ownership of your customer. You retain the client and the margin is entirely yours. This is what separates the operating base from a distributor model.

For goods that need controlled conditions, the base provides storage and handling under the right conditions, including temperature-controlled storage where a product requires it. It does not perform regulatory filings, device certification, or act as a regulatory authorised representative. The GPSR Responsible Person credential it does hold is a separate, consumer-products-only role.