Process progress

1. The Status of the ATO should be set to sea-in/sea-out (code 27). For ATA vessel, the REN document will be sent to the terminal via the Portbase service NID.
2. The terminal makes the NED prenotification (ENL) and the NID prenotification (TNL).
   • If the terminal has the request to cancel the NID prenotification from step 1 for the REN document type, you must perform the cancellation in the service NID. Only the agent responsible for the ATO can do this. ECT terminal is currently the only terminal that automatically facilitates the withdrawal of an NID message.
     Note: do not perform the withdrawal by changing the sea-in/sea-out status or cancelling directly in the Cargo Declaration Import service.
3. The REN MRN number will be automatically linked on the export manifest.

There are two possible causes:

• The terminal has not requested Portbase to forward the pre-notification. Contact the shipper or you contact person to solve this.
• The pre-notification was entered incorrectly. Here you can find out how to edit your data/submitted pre-notifications.

Send an e-mail to Douane.drh.maasvlakte.kwaliteit@belastingdienst.nl with the reason why the deadline is not going to be met. Customs should preferably receive this e-mail before the deadline has passed.

Customs might not give a fine if the cause is outside your organization. It helps if your organization shows Customs it is doing everything possible to resolve it.

All changes to the pre-notification after the shipment has been successfully received at a terminal are made by the terminal. Portbase's Customer Service department cannot adjust or delete data. Would you like to know whether the shipment has been successfully received at the terminal? click here

Depending on the terminal, contact can be made directly or changes can be made via the shipping company. Click here for the terminal's contact details.

All changes to the pre-notification until the shipment has been successfully received at a terminal are made by the company that made the pre-notification. Would you like to know whether the shipment has been successfully received at the terminal? click here

Before a shipment has been successfully received at the terminal, the booking number can be changed by the company that made the pre-notification. In the main screen you can see the various pre-notifications. Select 'Document number' of the pre-notification you want to change. A new screen opens.

A booking number can be modified by deleting the line with the incorrect booking number. The new equipment number must be registered together with the booking at 'Add transport equipment'. Note: only select 'Save' after all adjustments. You can also delete the entire pre-notification at the bottom left by selecting 'Delete shipment'.

All changes to the pre-notification until the shipment has been successfully received at a terminal are made by the company that made the pre-notification. Would you like to know whether the shipment has been successfully received at the terminal? Click here

Before a shipment has been successfully received at the terminal, the equipment number can be changed by the company that made the pre-notification. In the main screen you can see the various pre-notifications. Select 'Document number' of the pre-notification you want to change. A new screen opens. An equipment number can be modified by deleting the line with the incorrect equipment number. The new equipment number must be registered together with the booking at 'Add transport equipment'.

Note: only select 'Save' after all adjustments. You can also delete the entire pre-notification at the bottom left by selecting 'Delete shipment'.

All changes to the pre-notification after the shipment has been successfully received at a terminal are made by the terminal. Portbase's Customer Service department cannot adjust or delete data. Would you like to know whether the shipment has been successfully received at the terminal? Click here

Depending on the terminal, contact can be made directly or changes can be made via the shipping company. Click here for the terminal's contact details.

In the service you can recognize that a shipment has arrived by hovering over the bullet in the main screen under 'Status' at a specific line/pre-notification. The status 'released by PCS' and 'Inspection by Customs' indicate that your shipment has been successfully received at the terminal.

After the equipment has been successfully received at the terminal, only the terminal can make adjustments. Provided the shipment is not on a manifest; the shipping company/shipbroker and terminal has this information.

If you have questions about a declaration, for example if a document/MRN has been refused on arrival at the terminal, you should contact Customs in the country where the declaration was made. If the declaration was made in the Netherlands, you can contact the National Customs Helpdesk.

See below for the contact details of Customs in the Netherlands and in the main countries of origin:

In some situations, the discharge terminal can be changed. In the past you needed to monitor your tracked B/L's manually on these changes, there is now a e-mail notification in place to alert you immediately:

Set notification
You can set up email notifications for major status changes. This way you stay simple or informed if the status of your tracked load changes.

1. Open the user preferences (the round button with your initials at the top right of the main screen).
2. Choose 'Notification settings'
3. Via the slider you can switch one (or both) e-mail notification on or off. Email notifications are sent to the email address of your PCS account.

In some situations, B/Ls are removed from a manifest. If your tracked B/L is deleted, all updates in Cargo Controller will be deleted, via API you will also see a 'Deleted' status update. To be sure of the status of your B/L, you can activate an e-mail notification so that you will immediately receive an e-mail if your B/L has been deleted. In this e-mail you can see which actions can be taken.

Set notification
You can set up email notifications for major status changes. This way you stay simple or informed if the status of your tracked load changes.

1. Open the user preferences (the round button with your initials at the top right of the main screen).
2. Choose 'Notification settings'
3. Via the slider you can switch an e-mail notification on or off. Email notifications are sent to the email address of your PCS account.

B/L available again
If your deleted B/L becomes available again on another manifest, we will automatically link it again for you. However, if an MID or Domproc was submitted on this B/L, it will have to be re-entered manually.

Was there already a domproc notification on this B/L?
If a B/L is removed from a manifest, the domproc notification is automatically removed by Customs. You will receive a default error code 6236_2738. If the B/L becomes available again, you must submit a domestic process report yourself.

Was a document pre-notified at the terminal on this B/L?
Check whether the documents for the correct terminal have been pre-notified. Has the unloading terminal been changed? Then make sure that you pre-register the documents for the correct terminal.

All changes to the pre-notification until the shipment has been successfully received at a terminal are made by the company that made the pre-notification. Would you like to know whether the shipment has been successfully received at the terminal? click here

Before a shipment has been successfully received at the terminal, the document number can be changed by the company that made the pre-notification. In the main screen you can see the various pre-notifications. Select 'Document number' of the pre-notification you want to change. A new screen opens. A document number can be edited in the top left. Note: only select 'Save' after all adjustments. You can also delete the entire pre-notification at the bottom left by selecting 'Delete shipment'.

*Note: If the equipment has arrived at the terminal and an arrival notification has been sent followed by a rejection from Customs, the submitter must always delete the pre-notification and then submit a new pre-notification. Portbase will then only send a new arrival notification to Customs.

Yes, the manifest can be send without loading confirmations for equipments. Information about the loading confirmation is not transferred to Customs. The document(s) corresponding to the equipment, will be present on the manifest when the loading confirmation is missing.

Customs should receive the manifest, the next working day after the vessel’s departure. Also updates should be received the next working day. Vessel which depart on Friday, Saturday or Sunday can add 1 extra working days. The time of vessel's departure is not considered. You can find the Dutch public holidays here.

If the deadline will be missed, we recommend sending the incomplete manifest and contact Customs the same day with an explanation: Douane.drh.maasvlakte.kwaliteit@belastingdienst.nl.

Example 1
Ship departure is Tuesday – Customs should receive the manifest Wednesday latest

Example 2
Ship departure is Friday, Saturday or Sunday - Customs should receive the manifest Tuesday latest

An overview of the deadline during holidays can be found under 'Downloads' at the top of this page.

This issue can arise when you use the function that automatically generates a loading list based on the loading confirmations (applies to ferries only). The loading confirmation received could not be processed properly. There are several possible reasons why a loading confirmation cannot be processed properly:

• If the ‘Call Reference Number’ on the loading confirmation received is incorrect and the details of the vessel voyage cannot be found in the system.
• If the ferry code in the booking number on the loading confirmation is incorrect.

In many cases, the missing loading confirmation can be found via 'Extra equipments loaded'. You can add the found equipments manually, see Quick Start Guide for more explanation.

'The loading confirmation received could not be processed properly.’ There are several possible reasons why a loading confirmation cannot be processed properly:

• If the Call Reference Number or terminal on the loading confirmation is different, it cannot be linked to the equipment on the manifest.
• If the booking number on the loading confirmation differs from the manifest, it cannot be linked.

In many cases, the missing loading confirmation can be found via 'Extra equipments loaded' in the screen with the 'Cargo details'. You can add the equipments found manually – see Quick Start Guide (QSG) for more explanation. The QSG is at the top of the web page.

If the booking number is the same, by selecting one line all the documents will be added to the manifest. This is not visible but does take place in the systems in the background.

There are two possible reasons why a document is not linked to an equipment:

• The system searches for a match based on the combination of equipment and booking number, no match can be found.
• Documents placed in the Portbase system more than 150 days ago will not be available for linking.

Via 'Link document’, you can link a document based on Equipment.

The order should be changed in PCS. When additional services are ordered the order period will be reapplied. If the order needs to be amended within the initial period you will have to call the HCC/HOC to explore the options.

The order is received by PA and the nautical service providers Scheduling the order is in progress.

The order is confirmed by PA and the nautical service providers.

The order is confirmed by PA and the nautical services providers. However, the ETD has been changed by PA and nautical service providers.

• Pilot and/or tugs required: as soon as possible but at the latest between 2 and 1,5 hours before ETD
• Boatmen required: as soon as possible but at the latest between 30 and 15 minutes before ETD
• No services required: as soon as possible but at the latest 15 and 0 minutes before ETD

• Port of Rotterdam:
  Alblasserdam, Gorinchem, ’s Gravendeel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Middelharnis, Nijmegen, Ridderkerk, Sliedrecht and Stellendam.
• Groningen Seaports:
  Lauwersoog
• Port of Harlingen:
  Leeuwarden and West-Terschelling
• Provincie Groningen:
  Foxhol, Groningen-stad, Scheemda, Veendam and Waterhuizen
• Local authority (gemeente):
  Bergen op Zoom, Kampen, Maasbracht, Maastricht, Roermond, Urk, Venlo, Werkendam

You have to select this port as port of call.

You have to create a visit for Rotterdam and choose a berth for one of the ports above. This is the current way of working.

If you add a B/L with an equipment (and reference), after adding it you can see in the screen whether the cargo is being tracked successfully.  If there are no anomalies, you will be able to find the B/L in the B/L cargo overview.

It is also possible that the B/L will be placed in the 'Not yet known’ overview. This is usually because the shipping company has not yet submitted the B/L to Portbase. Registration by the shipping company often takes place one week before arrival but it can be as late as 72 hours before arrival.

If your cargo is still listed as 'Not yet known’ after that point, first check that the data have been entered correctly. If the data are correct, please contact the shipping company. It is possible that the B/L number has been changed, or that the shipping company has not yet submitted the B/L to Portbase.

The speed with which status requests and prenotifications are answered depends on several factors. The sending and processing of status requests and prenotifications involve a series of actions by different parties. Things can sometimes go wrong at various points in that chain. The aim is to keep problems to a minimum.

Port Community System (PCS)

Most prenotifications and status requests from carriers/operators are processed via the Portbase platform and sent to the terminal within seconds.

Nevertheless, sometimes malfunctions do occur, or there may be maintenance to the services. In that case, Portbase will get to work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. At status.portbase.com you can see the status of the various Portbase services. On that page, you can also subscribe to notifications so that you are always kept up to date. It is reassuring to know that the Portbase (PCS) system has an uptime of 99.8%.

Terminal Operating Systems (TOS)

Most terminals use an EDI connection. After EDI messages are received from Portbase, they must be read out and processed in the terminal system, and finally, a response message needs to be returned to Portbase. Delays may occur in all these steps – especially when demands on processing capacity are at their highest, for example on Friday afternoons. At peak times like this, large volumes of EDI messages are sent and delays can occur.

API links are the future and may represent an improvement in this regard. The first terminals are now working with API links.

Terminals can also unexpectedly run into malfunctions or require maintenance of their systems. In such cases, terminals will work to solve the issue as quickly as possible and will inform their customers and users themselves.

Transport Management Systems (TMS)

Hauliers can make use of a system link between their planning system (TMS) and the Portbase (PCS) system; delays or malfunctions can also occur in these systems.

Ask your software vendor about the options for working with API.

As we have seen, delays can occur at different times and in different steps in the process. Please contact the Portbase Service Desk if you have reason to believe you are experiencing an unusually long delay during prenotification. You can do so by calling +31 (0)88 625 25 25 or by emailing our Customer Service.

No. The export declaration is only used to indicate that the goods are leaving the United Kingdom.

When entering The Netherlands, a new declaration must be submitted to Dutch customs (e.g. an import declaration or transit declaration). The document number of this declaration must then be prenotified to the terminal via Notification Import Documentation.

Shipments for export (Customs regulations for export) are reported to Customs by the terminal upon arrival at the terminal. Based on a risk analysis, Customs may decide to subject a shipment to an inspection.

If a container is subjected to an inspection, a red stop sign will appear in the ‘Inspection/Release Notification’ field. If Customs mandates an inspection, this is usually communicated within 5 minutes after the 'arrival at exit' (in exceptional cases, this can also take place at a later time). During an inspection, the export shipment is blocked at the terminal until Customs has performed the inspection and sends a message of release.

The shipping line is responsible for submitting the shipment to Customs for inspection. They will also be informed by us of the inspection notification.

Once the shipment has been released, a green check mark will appear in the ‘Inspection/Release Notification’ field.

If the inspection has been performed but there is no green tick, you can contact the National Customs helpdesk via telephone number +31 (0)88-1566655. They can look up the status and send a release notification to Portbase.

If a shipment is not subjected to an inspection, the ‘Inspection/Release Notification’ field will always feature a grey dot.

For other documents, no arrival notification will be sent to Customs. Here too, the ‘Inspection/Release Notification’ field will always feature a grey dot.

Tip: you can also receive e-mail notifications if the status of documents you have pre-notified changes. Read the FAQ about e-mail notifications.

The Confirmation of Exit is normally sent by Customs provided that:

• An arrival notification has been sent for the document and
• An export manifest from the shipping line has been sent and
• The vessel's ATD has been sent and accepted.

Should you have not received a Confirmation of Exit for some reason, then you will be notified by Customs after 30 and 125 days respectively that no Confirmation of Exit has yet been generated for the document in question. If you receive such a message, a screen print of our Track & Trace ECS module will suffice to still obtain the Confirmation of Exit from Customs. Mail: Douane.drh.Maasvlakte.Nabewerking@belastingdienst.nl

If you do not respond within 150 days, the document will be deactivated and Customs will assume that the cargo listed in said document has never been exported. As a possible next step, the information may be used by the tax authorities to inquire what happened to the cargo during a VAT inspection. If you cannot provide a satisfactory answer, there is a change that the VAT is still recovered.

Open ‘Track & Trace export’ and locate the shipment through one of these options:

Search based on
• transport equipment + booking number
• document number

Does your search query not yield any results? Then the document has not yet been pre-notified. Pre-notify the document yourself, or make agreements within your chain as to who will perform the pre-notification.

Is your search yielding results? Then make sure to check the booking number.

Is there a green tick next to it? Excellent, this means the pre-notification is also known at the terminal.
Does it have an orange exclamation mark? This booking number is not (yet) known at the terminal and the terminal has not yet received the pre-notification. Read here what you can do.

The timeline of the notification shows the progress of your notification, with the most recent status at the top of the timeline.

• Status ‘New’: your notification has been created
• Status ‘Sent’: your notification has been sent to the terminal
• Status ‘Accepted’*: Your notification has been accepted by the terminal
• Status ‘Rejected’ *: Your notification has been rejected by the terminal.

A terminal may reject a notification if it cannot be processed by the terminal, for example because the document number does not match the selected document type. If this is the case, please check your notification. If necessary, contact our service desk.

Not all terminals dispatch an acceptance message. Check this overview to see which terminals send an acceptance message (also known as ‘MID return message’).

Unfortunately it is no longer possible to add containers when the barge is under the crane / status in operation.

Are you receiving an error message that the B/L is already in use by [.] and does the error message end in a period (instead of the name of an organisation)?

If this is the case, the B/L has already been submitted to Notification Local Clearance (status new) by your own organisation.

In most cases, a manifest is 'Rejected' because it was submitted too late. Customs only allows manifests to be submitted electronically no later than 9 days after departure. If this is the case, you can request Customs to still register the rejected notification. Sending the manifest again is not needed. When Customs registers the manifest, the status in the service will change to 'Accepted'.

In other cases, you can contact the service desk.

You can inquire with Customs whether there is a malfunction or an error in the aforementioned document: +31 (0)88-1566655. If this is not the case, then please contact the Customer Service.

There are several reasons why a manifest is rejected by Customs. You can set notification e-mails for this; this notification will contain the error message that Customs sends along with the rejection. You can fix the error message yourself and submit the message again.

If you have linked a B/L in Cargo Information 2.0 but this is not displayed in Notification Local Clearance under ‘new notifications’, this can be due to the following reasons:

• Someone has already submitted a Notification Local Clearance for this B/L. As a result, it is listed under the sent notifications.
• The shipping line has not yet sent the import manifest (ATO) to Customs. You can contact the shipping line in question for this. When the shipping line has sent the ATO, it will be visible on the screen.

The transport company receives a notification from the terminal that the document is not known. In this situation, the transport company can check with the freight forwarder whether the selected terminal corresponds with the terminal selected by the transport company. Also be sure to check other information such as container number and booking number. If these details are correct, please contact the Portbase Customer Service.

If you couple a B/L with a container (and reference), you can see at the top of the screen whether the pairing has been successfully completed. You can see the result of the pairing at the bottom of the screen under the heading 'status'. If no anomalies occur, you will find the B/L in the B/L container overview.
It is possible that the B/L is placed in the queue. You can find out the reason for this by clicking on the ‘I’ next to the pairing result. There are several reasons why this may occur:

Cause 1:
“Pairing request for B/L ... has been queued because it is not (yet) known. You will be notified as soon as the B/L is available”.
Action to be taken
Please contact the shipping line. The container or B/L number may not be correct or the shipping line has not yet submitted the B/L to the PCS.

Cause 2
“Pairing request for B/L… has been queued because organisation… has already been linked to this B/L. You will be notified as soon as the B/L is available.
Action to be taken
Another organisation has already paired the B/L. Contact the organisation in question and request them to unpair the relevant B/L.

Some terminals will dispatch an acceptance message in reply to the sent notification and others will not. This means an acceptance message will only show up in your screen for terminals that dispatch said message. An overview of terminals which do and do not send an acceptance message is available here.

In this overview, you can determine for each terminal whether it supports an acceptance message (also known as a return message). You can find this information in the line ‘MID return message possible?’ Yes/no

Check whether the terminal is connected to Notification Local Clearance. Via this document you can check which terminals allow document prenotifications under the local clearance procedure and whether they require prior approval. Please refer to the Local Clearance document types (local clearance bonded warehouse/import).

If the terminal is not connected, it is correct that no message will be sent to the terminal. You must pick up the goods from the terminal under a different procedure.

If the terminal is connected, you have probably not yet had approval from the terminal to apply the local clearance procedure at the terminal. You can read about  how to get this approval here.

You can do this by requesting the relevant B/L on the start screen of the service and deselecting all previously selected lines of goods items with the ‘-‘ option. Next, click on ‘send’. After this, the system will ask whether the notification needs to be deleted. If deletion is selected here, Customs will be sent a notification that the Notification Local Clearance will be withdrawn. You can remove one goods item or the entire B/L in this way.

For document types other than EX, CO or EU (for example T1/ICT/REX), a 'Gate-in' is only issued if the container is being loaded or has already departed.

Please note! This is only applicable to the ECT Terminals.

From the 1st of June 2020, you can easily apply for the service Cargo Tracker online at https://www.portbase.com/services/cargo-tracker/. Once your online application has been completed and you have paid the one-off costs online and have authorised the monthly payment, you will receive a login no later than 48 hours after your application so that you can get started.

It is possible that the container is not known to Portbase (for example due to an error in the request or a logistics exception). The request will be retained for a maximum period of 60 days and will then automatically expire. You will be notified of this.

Unfortunately, if you have uploaded a wrong list in the service Notification Ship’s Stores this cannot be changed. This is because the Customs system does not allow notifications related to changes or cancellations. To solve this problem, please email the correct list to the Customs Clearance department at the following address:
Douane.Drh.InenUitklaringen@belastingdienst.nl

An order from the nautical service providers, for example, is processed per berth at the Port Authority. For each berth, you specify the items that need to be ordered and next you click on ‘Order movement’. The order will then be placed with the Port Authority. The Port Authority will have to approve or reject the order. Until that time, the order will continue to display the airplane icon in Portbase.
Note: do make sure to use the 2-hour period for ordering. When an order remains stuck, the agent will have to contact the Port Authority to have the order fixed.

Not being able to report cargo in the service Cargo Declaration Import means that the manifest is not available. This may have several causes:

• The agent wishing to report cargo has not been registered as a cargo handling agent. This is mandatory if cargo needs to be reported. Ensure that the ship operator lists the agent as the cargo handling agent.
• Something went wrong regarding the synchronisation of the ship's report. This may be attributable to a problem at Portbase. Please contact the Portbase service desk for assistance in this matter.

The ATA needs to be sent by the Port Authority. If this has not been done, it is possible to have the ATA specified. For this you need permission from the Port Authority.
If you send over the the permission from the Port Authority per email, our Customer Service can help you add the specified ATA for a trip.

Note: There is an exception for the port of Vlissingen. No ATA (or ATD) is specified for this port.

For more information, please contact the Port Authority:

• Port of Rotterdam: hcc@portofrotterdam.com
• Port of Amsterdam: vtsadmin@portofamsterdam.com

Are you planning on making use of the follow-up services (such as Cargo Declaration Import)? Then it is mandatory for certain ports such as Hansweert, Vlissingen and Terneuzen, Den Helder, Ankerplaats Zeeland and Breskens to manually enter the registered CRN in the screen. For the other ports, you can search for the ship using the IMO number or vessel name. After you have done this, it is also possible to copy a previously entered trip.

It is possible for the status of a visit to change to “in operation” well after the loading/discharging activities of that visit have begun or ended. The underlying signal for the status change in HCN Barge is the first gate-in/gate-out notification the terminal sends to Portbase for the barge visit in question. When the gate-in/gate-out confirmation is sent or processed at a later time, it gives a skewed impression of the actual operation's progress.

The terminal confirms each visit as “completed” once handling has been finished. The terminal operator must do this. If the terminal has not (yet) confirmed completion, the visit will continue to display the status “in operation”. For the time being, this does not present a problem. When we begin supporting integral planning by Nextlogic, however, this issue will become important.

MCA Barge sends a cancellation of the prenotification to the terminal. A status request is then sent to the terminal. It can be found as a separate status request in the web screen under the Handlings -> "Detached handlings" tab.

If you link the prenotification to another visit, MCA Barge will send a cancellation of the prenotification to the terminal. A new prenotification will then be sent to the terminal of the new visit. It will be available under "Handlings" of the new visit.

You will continue to receive updates on the handling status if the terminal supports them. Click here to visit the functionality overview.

Up to 30 days after the container is discharged. After that, no more discharge confirmations are sent (after two months, the customer receives the closure message).

When a CRN is entered, it is checked to ensure that the format is correct (e.g. the correct length, existing port code). If an incorrect CRN is entered based on the format criteria, the customer receives a message to this effect and no fee is charged. As yet, the software does not check whether the CRN actually exists, so if an invalid number is entered by mistake and no discharge confirmation is received in response to the request, after 2 months the customer will receive a notification that the request cannot be fulfilled.

• The customer will receive a fault report within 15 minutes and Portbase will ensure that the service becomes available again as soon as possible.
• There is no backup procedure.

As soon as the terminal sends a notification that the container has been discharged, Portbase sends this discharge confirmation to the requester in real time.

If no discharge confirmation can be supplied after two months, the client receives a closure message (a transaction charge is nevertheless levied).

A message is always sent, even if a container is not discharged. In that case, 2 months after the request, a so-called closure message is sent. For every request, regardless of whether a discharge confirmation has been sent, a transaction charge of 0.18 euros is levied. This is because infrastructure costs are incurred by Portbase in order to process and link the request. Of course in this case the customer is not charged a kickback fee for the data owner.

Then the discharge confirmation is sent immediately. This is currently possible up to 30 days after the actual discharge of the container.

From the moment the B/L + Container Number or CRN + Container Number are known to the customer

If the container/shipment cannot be found, this means no documents have been notified and you should contact the person who was in charge of submitting the documents. In most cases, this is the forwarder or importer. If the status is incorrect, you should contact the terminal to check whether the container/shipment is ready to be picked up.

A blue dot means that the important documents have been notified to the terminal. The terminal has not yet accepted the documents. As a result, the shipment has not yet been released. If you attempt to pick up the shipment now, there is a good chance your trip to the terminal will be in vain.

• Check the status of your notification: If the status is ‘refused’ (by PCS or terminal) or ‘failed’, then the notification has not been accepted. Fix the error message and resend the message.
• Check that the correct document number, document type and container/shipment number have been entered. If this is not the case, enter the correct information and resend the notification.
• Check that you have entered the correct terminal. It sometimes happens that cargo is diverted to another terminal at the last minute; this is not automatically changed in your Notification Import Documentation.
• Check in ‘Cargo information 2.0’, in ‘Cargo Tracker’ or in ‘Import Status’ whether your shipment or container has been unloaded. At some terminals, the import document is only processed in the terminal system after the cargo has been unloaded.
• If all information is correct, the terminal or PCS may have experienced a (brief) disruption. Resend your notification.

There can be various reaso­­ns for a message that the booking number is not recognised by the relevant terminal (shown with an orange exclamation mark):

1. You have not entered the correct booking number;
2. The shipping company (or ferry operator) has not sent the booking number to the terminal yet.

In both cases, we advise you to contact the shipping company or ferry operator. You can ask them whether you have the correct booking number/whether they have sent the number to the terminal.

When you search by container number, the status will be displayed for any notification(s) of import documents for this container that have been submitted in the past two weeks. If more than one notification has been submitted in the past two weeks, these will all be displayed.  The date and time of each notification will be shown as well. You can take your own decision as to whether the most recent displayed notification fits with your assigned pick-up. 

If you see the message “Import document accepted by terminal”, the import documents are on file with the terminal. This is one of the requirements for being able to pick up a container. You can safely assume that, if the vessel arrived and was unloaded on schedule, it is now possible to pick up your container. If you see the message “Import document sent to terminal”, the import documents have not yet been accepted by the terminal. This means the container has not yet been released for pick-up by the terminal.

Please note: Notifying the import documents is one of the requirements for being able to pick up a container. Before a shipment can be picked up:

• The container must first be unloaded (discharged);
• Must be released by the shipping company; 
• And must not be subject to a Customs blockade.

At the moment, the information above is not yet displayed in the service Import Status.  In the near future, however, Import Status will be expanded to include the discharge status and the inspection status. When that happens, this service will offer greater insight regarding the status.

A green dot means that the important documents are on file with the terminal. This is one of the requirements for being able to pick up a shipment. You can safely assume that, if the ferry arrived on schedule, it is now possible to pick up your shipment.

In the future, we plan to add information that will provide you with insight into whether the shipment is on file with Customs, and whether the shipment or corresponding transport unit has been unloaded/discharged. 

When a shipment/container cannot be found, there are a number of possible explanations:

• No information on the shipment/container is available within the service Import Status. The details will be known to us at least a few hours before arrival. Please try again at a later time.
• A typo has been made when entering the shipment number or container number. Double-check the number and correct it if necessary.
• The shipment or container is not due to arrive at the selected terminal. Select the correct terminal and try again.

  Shipment numbers of ferry-operators have the following format (SCAC + bookingnumber + sequence number):

  CLDN: CLVW0012345678001

  DFDS/KVSA: DFDS123456780001

  P&O: PONFHU12345678001

  Stena Line: STNL0012345678001

• Check the status of your notification: if the status is 'rejected' (by PCS or terminal) or 'failed', the notification has not been accepted. Resolve the error message and resend the notification
• Check that the correct document number, document type and container/shipment number have been entered. If this is not the case, enter the correct information and resend the notification
• Check that you have entered the correct terminal. Sometimes the cargo is switched to another terminal at the last minute; this information is not automatically updated in your Notification Import Documentation
• Check in 'Cargo information 2.0' or 'Import status' to see whether your shipment or container has been unloaded. At some terminals, the import document is only recognised by the terminal system once the cargo has been added to the RTO (= Unloaded on the quayside).
• If all the information is correct, there may have been some (short-term) disruption at the terminal or to the PCS. Resend your notification

• Check the status of your notification: if the status is 'rejected' (by PCS or terminal) or 'failed', the notification has not been accepted. Resolve the error message and resend the notification
• Check that the correct document number, document type and container/shipment number have been entered. If this is not the case, enter the correct information and resend the notification
• Check that you have entered the correct terminal. Sometimes the cargo is switched to another terminal at the last minute; this information is not automatically updated in your Notification Import Documentation
• Check in 'Cargo information 2.0' or 'Import status' to see whether your shipment or container has been unloaded. At some terminals, the import document is only recognised by the terminal system once the cargo has been added to the RTO (= Unloaded on the quayside).
• If all the information is correct, there may have been some (short-term) disruption at the terminal or to the PCS. Resend your notification

If your cargo is unloaded at a different terminal than anticipated, you need to submit a new document pre-notification for this new terminal.

You need to inform the terminal at which the incorrect notification has been made. If the change of terminal takes place within the ECT terminals (Hutchison Ports ECT Delta / Euromax) then no action is required on your part. In the ECT system, the notification is only linked to a terminal after the container has been unloaded.

According to Customs legislation, the notification of ship's stores (the STO message) must be submitted no later than the time of arrival: the deadline is thus the ATA.

It is likely that a pre-notification has been submitted for the visit via Vessel Notification, and that a notification of Ship’s Stores (STO) is now being made. The ship has not yet arrived for its visit and has dropped anchor instead. The ship’s stores are therefore being used – which means the quantities will be lower than predicted at the moment when the ship actually arrives. As a shipping agent and the person submitting the ship's stores, you must then contact Customs via douane.drh.inenuitklaringen@belastingdienst.nl. They can help you adjust the listed quantity to the actual quantity upon arrival.

If the ship fails to arrive, you will need to cancel the visit via Vessel Notification. Cancelling the vessel visit is sufficient. There is no need to also adjust the quantities listed in the STO message.

A discharge confirmation is issued by the container terminal. Not all container terminals support this scenario. Discharge confirmation will only be displayed in the event the container terminal you are using supports this scenario.

In the event you submitted a pre-notification more than (roughly) 30 minutes ago, and you have not yet received a response, the best thing for you to do is check MyPortbase or status.portbase.com to see if a disruption or delay is in effect. Another option is to contact the Portbase Service Desk.

Whether or not you are assigned a suitable truck time slot depends on how busy the terminal is at that time. It’s best to reserve a time slot as far in advance as possible. Because the entire capacity is continuously available, we expect that time slots will be easily obtained. During peak periods, however, it is possible for there to be several hour’s difference between the desired time slot and the time slot assigned to you.

If the handling status is grey and question marks are displayed, this means that the prenotification/status request has been processed and the terminal will update the handling status, unless you have cancelled the prenotification. In the handling status, you will see the code QQQ.

If your notification is shown as provisionally accepted (QQQ), this may have 2 causes:

• The terminal itself still has too little information to accept or reject the prenotification. The terminal will automatically send status updates as soon as more information is known in their system (for example, once the container has arrived). No action is required on your part.
• It is also possible that you mistakenly sent the prenotification to the wrong terminal. In this case, no further status update will follow. We recommend that you check this and, if necessary, change the terminal.

If you have questions about a declaration, for example if a document/MRN has been refused on arrival at the terminal, you should contact Customs in the country where the declaration was made. If the declaration was made in the Netherlands, you can contact the National Customs Helpdesk.

See below for the contact details of Customs in the Netherlands and in the main countries of origin:

No. The export declaration is only used to indicate that the goods are leaving the United Kingdom.

When entering The Netherlands, a new declaration must be submitted to Dutch customs (e.g. an import declaration or transit declaration). The document number of this declaration must then be prenotified to the terminal via Notification Import Documentation.

No. The export declaration is only used to indicate that the goods are leaving the United Kingdom.

When entering The Netherlands, a new declaration must be submitted to Dutch customs (e.g. an import declaration or transit declaration). The document number of this declaration must then be prenotified to the terminal via Notification Import Documentation.

Check whether the terminal is connected to Notification Local Clearance. Via this document you can check which terminals allow document prenotifications under the local clearance procedure and whether they require prior approval. Please refer to the Local Clearance document types (local clearance bonded warehouse/import).

If the terminal is not connected, it is correct that no message will be sent to the terminal. You must pick up the goods from the terminal under a different procedure.

If the terminal is connected, you have probably not yet had approval from the terminal to apply the local clearance procedure at the terminal. You can read about  how to get this approval here.

MCA Barge sends a cancellation of the prenotification to the terminal. A status request is then sent to the terminal. It can be found as a separate status request in the web screen under the Handlings -> "Detached handlings" tab.

If you link the prenotification to another visit, MCA Barge will send a cancellation of the prenotification to the terminal. A new prenotification will then be sent to the terminal of the new visit. It will be available under "Handlings" of the new visit.

You will continue to receive updates on the handling status if the terminal supports them. Click here to visit the functionality overview.