Release
Also known as: customs release
Release is the moment customs has processed the declaration and lets the goods go. Without release they stay under supervision, even if the declaration has already been accepted.
What does release mean on an import declaration?
Release is the decision by customs that the goods may leave customs supervision. On an import declaration that means: the IMA has been accepted, the risk profile has no open check left, and the goods enter free circulation. From that moment you may sell, process or move them on without a T1. Acceptance and release are not the same. Acceptance means the declaration has been taken in and has an MRN. Release means customs lets the goods go. Between those two steps sits the automated check. That produces release, a document check or a physical inspection. In DMS, the Dutch declaration system for import and export, the response usually arrives within a minute. That is the system reaction, not the physical availability of the container. For that last step you still need the terminal and Portbase.
How does release run in DMS?
After filing, the declaration runs along the DTV, the authorisations and the risk profile. The profile looks at goods code, origin, value, importer, declarant and the history of earlier shipments. The outcome is one of three: release without a check, a document check, or a physical inspection. On release without a check the message follows at once. The declarant gets the confirmation, the MRN is the key, and the goods may leave the place where they stood under supervision. On a document check customs asks for the invoice, the transport document and any certificates. The goods then stay under supervision until those papers have been assessed. A physical inspection holds release longer. The container must stay available, an inspector comes on site or the consignment goes through a scanner. Only after that inspection does release or a further question follow. Anyone who treats filing as release books the truck too early.
Why is customs release not the same as terminal release?
In a Dutch seaport customs lets the goods go, but the terminal only lets the container leave once the MRN is linked to the container number in Portbase. Portbase is the port community system of the Dutch ports. Without that link the barrier stays down, even if DMS has already released the declaration. That is one of the most common reasons a container is ready and still may not leave. The declaration is in order, the MRN exists, but nobody has reported the number to the terminal. The driver stands at the gate with a file that is green internally and red externally. The same applies the other way around. A terminal notice without a released declaration does not produce an outgoing container either. The two systems look at the same shipment through the MRN, but they do not talk by themselves. Release is only complete when both sides give green.
What is the difference between release and conditional release?
On ordinary release the declaration is finished. Customs has accepted the data, the charge is fixed, and no open check remains on that declaration. The goods are in free circulation. What can still happen later is a check after the event, not an open process on the declaration itself. On conditional release customs already lets the goods go while processing is still running. That happens for example if a document check is not yet finished, or if a data element is still being looked at. You may then move the goods, but the declaration is not yet final. An additional assessment or a correction remains possible. Do not treat a conditional release as a green tick. Tell the client that the goods may move, and that the declaration is still open. A later correction on value or classification otherwise lands as a surprise, while the container is already empty.
Which messages should you see back?
After filing in DMS you first see acceptance with the MRN. Then the control result follows: release, document check or physical inspection. Release comes with a message that the goods may be carried away. Without that message the declaration is known, but not yet let go. On transit the pattern is different. There the relevant release is permission to proceed at departure and permission to unload on arrival. That last one is the lossingsvergunning in DVA. Only then can the follow-up declaration discharge the T1. Release, unloading and discharge are three different messages. Keep the messages with the file, not only the status on the screen. In a dispute about demurrage or a missed truck, the time of the release message is the evidence, not the memory that the declaration was sent that morning.
What goes wrong around release?
The first mistake is filing and assuming release will follow. A risk profile, a missing document or an inspection code 2 from CLIENT PD holds the goods. The declaration has then not been rejected. It is waiting. Anyone who has already booked the truck pays waiting time. The second mistake is not passing the MRN on to Portbase or to the party that collects the container. Customs release without a terminal notice is green internally and red at the gate. That is not a customs error. That is a chain error between declarant and terminal. The third mistake is a release on the wrong declaration. A shipment with a T1 and a separate IMA has two MRNs. Reporting the wrong number produces a refusal without a clear cause. Check which MRN carries the release before you send the number down the chain.