Storage in a space for temporary storage (STS)

The storage of goods in an STS often coincides with a brief interruption in the transport of goods from the sender to the addressee.

Example: goods are transported to Bonaire, Saba, or Saint Eustatius. After unloading the goods from the ship or aircraft, it is not immediately clear what the customs-approved treatment of the goods will be or not all details for submitting a customs-approved treatment form are available yet. In this case, the goods can be kept in an STS. The manager of an STS is usually a shipping or aviation agent.

The following conditions govern the management of an STS

there must be an adequate economic need;
the B/CN inspector must have approved the warehouse space or the site and granted a management permit;
the manager must have provided an ongoing deposit for the stored goods.

Import clearance declaration

Cleared imported goods (link to import clearance process) can be stored temporarily in an STS with the deed issued with the import clearance declaration. Goods can also be kept in a different STS based on a lighter manifest.

The following conditions govern the storage of cleared imported goods in an STS:

the liability for any import taxes due has been acquired by the manager of the STS;
the import clearance and export clearance of goods is subject to monitoring by Customs (permission);
the goods are assigned a customs-approved treatment within a period of 21 days after the submission of the import clearance declaration. The customs-approved treatments have been set out in Article 2.15-1 BES CEDA and are explained on this website. The inspector can extent the storage period up to 30 days in extraordinary situations.

Processing of goods kept in an STS

Goods in an STS may only be undergo processing activities necessary to keep these goods in an unaltered condition. This means that the processing activities may not change their performance or technical characteristics. The processing activities may only take place after permission of and under the supervision of the inspector. The inspector will determine the permitted processing activities.

Storing other goods in an STS

Goods can be kept in an STS pending the loading of the departing means of transport. These are goods designated to be exported or transited. The conditions imposed by the inspector must be met in this respect. The export/transit document serves as the storage document.