Profile of Hamburg's Multi-Purpose Terminals

Hamburg Freeport & Customs Procedures
MULTI-PURPOSE TERMINALS
Operator Terminal Quay Terminal Number Warehouse Total Depth
Length Area Quayside Cranes Capacity Alongside
BUSS HANSA Buss Hansa 840 m 30 ha 2 gantries 37,000 m 2 80,000 TEU 12.5 m
TERMINAL GMBH Terminal 8 x 25-45 to cranes
2 mobile cranes
HHLA Fruit Centre 530 m 17 ha 1 gantry 60,000 m 2 1,000,000 t 11 m
FRUCHT- UND 3 mobile crans
KÜHLZENTRUM 4 carton elevators
UNIKAI LAGEREI Multi-purpose 800 m 30 ha 1 container crane 1,000,000 m 2 20,000 TEU 11.5 m
UND SPEDITIONS- Terminal and mobile cranes
TERMINAL MBH O`Swaldkai available
RO-RO-TERMINAL
RHENUS MIDGARD Rhenus Midgard 500 m 135,000 m 2 2 gantry cranes (16 t) 12,500 m 2 2,5 mio. t 10.8 m
RHENUS AG & Co. KG Terminal Harburg (open storage) 1 slewing crane (45 t)
RHENUS MIDGARD Rhenus Midgard 400 m 155,000 m 2 2 gantry cranes (30 t) 50,000 m 2 1 ro-ro ramp 11.5 m
Terminal Dradenau 1 mobile crane (100 t) 2 moorings
C. STEINWEG Süd-West 1,300 m 24 ha 1 crane (40 t) 70,000 m 2 30,000 TEU up to 13 m
(SÜD-WEST Terminal 1 crane (45 t)
TERMINAL) 2 cranes (8 t)
GMBH & CO. KG 1 mobile crane (140 t)
1 hopper for bulk shipment
WALLMANN & CO Wallmann 640 m 13 ha 5 cranes 70,000 m 2 250,000 TEU 13.1 m
Terminal 1x140 to mobile crane
Hamburg’s Freeport Area offers manufacturers
and distributors one of the most liberal tax en -
vironments in Europe. The Freeport is part of the
German Federal Republic, and it belongs to the
Customs territory of the European Union. But,
under the European Community Customs Code,
third party goods entering the Freeport are treated
as not yet having entered the Customs territory of
the Community.
Goods entering the Freeport do not therefore need
Customs clearance, and they can be stored in the
Freeport without attracting excise duty or other
taxes. Taxes are only levied if the goods leave the
Freeport area for import into Germany/EU – Goods
in transit to countries other than Germany are only
liable for import duties when they enter their country
of destination. Goods can be held in the Freeport
for an unlimited period of time. Another advantage
of the Freeport is that no VAT is levied on processing
operations or transactions within the Freeport
area. This has led many companies to set up processing
operations, particularly for high-value commodities
such as coffee, tea, paper, cocoa, nuts and
spices, within the Freeport.
To avoid customs clearance problems in the relevant
accession state, forwarders can use a socalled
fiscal representative commissioned by the
consignee (importer) to carry out EU customs clearance
quickly and smoothly at Hamburg as the port
of entry.
Once goods arriving by sea have been cleared for
the EU in Hamburg, e.g. by a clearing agent, they
are then transported to the destination country
from Hamburg as an intra-community delivery. The
benefit is that customs clearance is no longer neces
sary at the final destination. Only VAT appli cable
in the respective country has to be paid and, in addition
to saving time, this procedure also saves costs
in that no T 1 dispatch document is required from
the port of entry to the destination country.
Goods imported into Germany from non-EU countries
are in general liable to import duties (Customs
duty, import turnover tax and excise duties), which
are levied at a rate set by the Customs tariff or
excise duty laws. Certain imports (for example, agricultural
products) are exempt from duties in some
circumstances, as are some goods imported from
developing countries.
All cargo entering or leaving Hamburg may be subject
to inspection by German Customs, not only to
keep a check on false Customs declarations, but
also to control the import and export of illegal items
such as drugs and armaments. To speed up inspection
of containerised cargoes, the German Federal
Customs Administration has installed a HI-CO
SCAN system at the main Customs office near the
Freeport at Waltershof, which uses X-ray technology
to examine the contents of containers entering
and leaving the port. Average inspection time takes
just 20 minutes, and containers are only subjected
to manual searching if the X-ray examination shows
suspicious items not readily identifiable on the mani
fest.
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