The elimination of the ‘TNK – Tank-container with IMO Residue’ document, which Customs announced would go into effect from 1 June 2017, has now been postponed by Customs until further notice. This means that, contrary to our previous communications, this document will still be available to you in our service Notification Export Documentation after 1 June. For the time being, you can continue to use the document to notify the export of your containers with residue as usual.
Customs’ earlier announcement of their intent to stop accepting the TNK document as of 1 June led to questions among many logistical service providers and tank hauliers. The matter was discussed extensively during a consultation between Customs at the Port of Rotterdam and representatives from the VRC, FENEX, VRTO and Portbase on 2 May. The result of this meeting is that Customs at the Port of Rotterdam will coordinate with officials at the European level, and then elaborate a new proposal on how to proceed. This proposal will be submitted to the relevant umbrella organisations and their members for the purpose of feedback. Consequently, it has been decided that use of the TNK document (as it currently exists) will continue to be permitted until further notice.
