The European Union (EU) Commission and Member States agreed that the grace period for compliance to EU Regulation 1875/2006 will be effective until June 30, 2011, and there has not been any indication regarding the possibility of an extension to this date.

It is expected that this EU regulation will be strictly enforced starting from July 1, 2011, and anyone who fails to comply will face cargo delays and potential penalties which will incur costs to businesses. 

Hence it is very important that customers provide complete and accurate shipping instructions before the documentation cutoff times as published on our OOCL website.  OOCL will not accept incomplete or incorrect shipping instructions for customs submissions. 

Please visit the EU website at http://ec.europa.eu/ecip/security_amendment/procedures/index_en.htm and the FAQ posted on OOCL.COM for more information about this EU requirement.

If you would like to get more information about the EU customs regulation, please feel free to contact our local customer service representative.