Shipping companies and forwarders will safely and reliably collect all containers imported into the port of Rotterdam from Latin America without a PIN, but instead via the 'Vertrouwensketen’ (’Secure Chain’) network.
The changeover will take place on 31 March 2024.
A participant in the logistics chain who does not prepare for this date will not receive a container from the terminal.
Earlier, in autumn 2023, container operators and freight forwarders started connecting their customers to the 'Vertrouwensketen’ network, which would become mandatory for cargo from Latin America on 31 March 2024. From that date, all cargo from Latin America will be released safely and reliably exclusively via the chain of trust, regardless of whether the containers are received at the Rotterdam deep-sea terminals by road, inland waterway or rail.
In 'Vertrouwensketen’, each participant digitally transfers the authority to collect (or order the collection of) a container to the next link in the chain. Only an inland operator who has been authorised via the 'vertrouwensketen’ can announce his arrival at the terminal in advance, so that he can then safely collect the container. The terminal staff always know who to expect. The new working method creates a closed logistics chain in which only known, authorised operators are involved. „Vertrouwensketen” operates within Portbase, the community system of Dutch ports.
“The days of exchanging PIN codes via email are over. At 'Vertrouwensketen’, all the information needed to receive a container safely and reliably is sent digitally from one member of the supply chain to the next,” says a spokesperson for 'Vertrouwensketen’.
More detailed information on the new authorisation procedure in the port of Rotterdam can be found on the website of the ’Vertrouwensketen’ (Permits).