The Customs Code, the Customs Code Ordinance of the EU and the Foreign Trade Ordinance of the Federal Republic of Germany precisely regulate export procedures.
Declaration and presentation to customs must take place at the customs office (where the exporter is domiciled). The export is monitored at the customs office on its point of departure.
For exports via Hamburg, a case number (B-Nummer or Z-Nummer) will be required, and for exports via Bremen and Wilhelmshaven, a BHT or WHT reference number (BHT-/WHT-Referenznummer).
These numbers are essential for customs to clear certain goods for export.
At the seaport, the processes are as follows:
The shipping agent creates a customs presentation notification, specifying the Movement Reference Number (MRN), which is sent both to the ZAPP/BHT/WHT system and the warehouse. As soon as the export shipment arrives at the warehouse and 'gate-in' is reported, the previously generated notification is forwarded to ATLAS.
'Qualification' of the notification is then carried out in ATLAS. In most cases, those involved in the transportation process will then receive the go-ahead for release. The shipment can be loaded as soon as the warehouse is notified of the release. Once loading has been completed successfully, the warehouse will assign the 'Lade-Ist' (loading successful) status and send this back to ATLAS. As a final step, ATLAS will send a 'confirmation of release' message to the exporter or their representative.