European Customs Clearance

What European Customs Clearance does

European Customs Clearance (ECC) is a privately held, independent customs consultancy headquartered in Oud Gastel, Netherlands, with a secondary office in Kallo, Belgium. Founded in 1998 and operating for over 26 years, the firm serves companies engaged in import and export trade across the Netherlands and Belgium, offering customs documentation services (import, export, and transit declarations, plus Certificates of Origin, EUR.1, and ATR certificates), specialized e-commerce customs handling, and the detachment (staffing) of experienced customs declarants and consultants to client sites on a temporary or permanent basis.

The company has no proprietary technology platform and operates as a service-based consultancy reliant on human expertise in EU customs law, tariff classification, Article 23 VAT deferment, and trade compliance documentation. Its core technology posture is essentially none — value delivery is performed by licensed customs declarants rather than software. Ancillary offerings include the Ik Word Declarant training platform (ikworddeclarant.eu) for declarant professional development and a Knowledge Base (Kennisbank) covering EORI, TARIC codes, Incoterms, and related customs topics.

ECC's revenue model is professional services across three streams: customs documentation (transactional preparation and filing), detachment/staffing (placement of declarants and consultants), and training. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-based, primarily through direct website and phone/email inquiries, supported by content marketing via the knowledge base and news updates. The firm is founder-led, with Madelon serving as Managing Director and Simone Antonissen in HR; no external funding, parent company, or institutional ownership is evidenced.

Name

European Customs Clearance

Legal name

European Customs Clearance

Website

https://customsclearance.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

European Customs Clearance is an independent Dutch-Belgian customs consultancy that prepares import, export, and transit declarations, issues origin certificates, and detaches experienced customs declarants to client sites for trade-compliance clients across the Netherlands and Belgium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Customs Brokerage and Trade Compliance Services

akta.pro primary industry

Customs Consulting & Brokerage Outsourcing (Managed Brokerage, Brokerage Operations) (TLACAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Certificates of Origin & Trade Certificates (COO, Chamber/Legalization) (TLACAHAC), Customs Brokerage & Trade Compliance (EDAOANAH)

Keywords

• Customs clearance services
• Customs consultancy
• Customs declarations
• Customs staffing
• Import export compliance

Headquarters

HQ city

Oud-gastel

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Customs Documentation Services: Preparation and submission of customs documents including import declarations, export declarations, transit declarations, and certificates (Certificate of Origin, EUR.1, ATR). This forms the core clearance department services.
2. Detachment of Customs Declarants and Consultants: Deploying experienced customs declarants and consultants to client locations on temporary or permanent basis to support customs operations and complex customs matters.
3. Training Services: Training programs for customs declarants offered through their partner website ikworddeclarant.eu.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

European Customs Clearance (ECC) is an independent customs consultancy that prepares and submits customs documents on behalf of trading companies, including import, export, and transit declarations as well as Certificates of Origin, EUR.1, and ATR certificates. In parallel, ECC deploys (detachments) experienced customs declarants and consultants to client sites to handle complex customs questions and ongoing customs operations. The firm also offers specialized customs handling for e-commerce businesses and a training program (ikworddeclarant.eu) to prepare new customs declarants.

Product overview

European Customs Clearance (ECC) is an independent customs consultancy firm operating across the Netherlands and Belgium, offering a comprehensive suite of customs-related services. The core offering centers on the Customs Documents service, encompassing import, export, and transit declarations, alongside three certificate types: Certificate of Origin, EUR.1, and ATR. These are supported by specialized E-commerce customs services for online traders and a Detachment service that places experienced customs declarants and consultants at client sites. The company also operates a training platform (Ik Word Declarant) for professional development and maintains a free Knowledge Base covering topics such as EORI numbers, TARIC/GN/HS codes, import duties, Article 23 VAT deferment permits, Incoterms, transport documents, ADR dangerous goods transport, and multimodal transport. The portfolio is delivered through offices in Oud Gastel, Netherlands and Kallo, Belgium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Customs Documents (Douane Documenten)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• C.H. Robinson (Customs Services): Major global 3PL providing customs brokerage and trade compliance services across N. America and Europe; competes with ECC for mid-market shipper and e-commerce customs work.
• DHL Global Forwarding (Customs Services): Global freight forwarder with a customs services division handling import/export clearance globally; competes with ECC on compliance and brokerage work, especially for shippers that bundle logistics and customs.
• DSV (Customs Services): Global transport and logistics group with customs clearance and declaration services across Europe; targets the same Benelux/EU shipper base as ECC but as part of a much wider service portfolio.
• Expeditors (Customs Services): Global logistics provider with customs brokerage capabilities across major EU trade lanes; competes with ECC on compliance work tied to international freight flows.
• UPS Supply Chain Solutions (Customs Brokerage): Integrated parcel and supply-chain operator offering customs brokerage and clearance alongside transportation; comparable to ECC on the import/export declaration side, especially for cross-border e-commerce.
• Kuehne+Nagel (Customs Services): One of the world's largest freight forwarders offering customs clearance, compliance consulting and broker services globally; comparable to ECC on customs advisory, but embedded in a much larger logistics platform.

Regional players

• Fiege Logistics (Customs Services): European contract logistics and forwarding group with Benelux/German footprint offering customs clearance and representation services; overlapping service mix with ECC in Western Europe.

Direct peers

• Gerlach & Co: Long-established Benelux customs broker and fiscal representative offering import/export clearance and consultancy — directly comparable to ECC on geography, services and customer profile.
• Customs Knowledge (DouaneKennis): Dutch customs training and consultancy firm offering declarant courses and trade compliance advice; overlaps with ECC on the ikworddeclarant.eu training pillar and on specialist consultancy services.
• Customs Support Group (Maersk Customs Services): Largest independent European customs services platform (acquired by Maersk in 2023), offering import/export clearance, fiscal representation and consultancy across multiple EU countries — directly competes with ECC in the same specialist clearance + consulting niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/european-customs-clearance-ecc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about European Customs Clearance