A Border That Moves Faster Than Paperwork Used To
For years, companies trading with Norway have enjoyed a fair amount of breathing room. Under the so-called direct transport arrangement, goods could travel to the recipient first, with the customs declaration following up to ten days later. That flexibility is disappearing.
Digitoll flips the sequence. Carriers, exporters, importers and customs representatives now need to have transport and cargo information available digitally before or at the very latest at the moment goods cross the Norwegian border. There is no more catching up after the fact.
A second, even bigger change lands on 1 March 2027. From that date, the customs declaration itself must be filed by the time goods reach the border. Combined with the end of the direct transport arrangement, this means the entire chain of information, from booking to delivery, needs to move in near real time.
Carriers Carry More Weight
One detail worth flagging: under Digitoll, the operator of the means of transport is responsible for digitally reporting the transport information. The customs declaration itself remains the responsibility of the importer or the owner of the goods. In practice, that means carriers and forwarders suddenly hold a more prominent role in the compliance chain than before, and any weak link between shipper, forwarder and customs representative becomes visible immediately.
For companies used to sorting out documentation after the truck has already left the yard, that is a meaningful shift in mindset, not just in software.
How to reduce the effect for your business? Please contact team Trasegro.
Why This Matters for Dutch Exporters Specifically
Norway is not a marginal trading partner. According to Statistics Norway, the country imported roughly 4.2 billion euros worth of goods from the Netherlands in 2025 alone. That makes Norway a genuinely important outlet for Dutch exporters across sectors, from food and agriculture to machinery and industrial equipment.
Yet the readiness numbers tell a different story. Customs Support Group estimates that only 25 to 30 percent of daily road transport to Norway currently runs through Digitoll. For sea, air and rail transport, adoption is even lower. In other words, the majority of shipments today would not meet the standard that becomes mandatory in just a few weeks.
Companies that have not adjusted their systems and workflows in time face a real risk of delays at the border once the new obligations take effect. And once March 2027 arrives and the declaration itself must be filed before goods arrive, those delays could compound quickly for anyone still catching up.
What Exporters Should Be Doing Now
The introduction of Digitoll is really a call to review how you work with logistics partners and customs representatives. Data needs to flow accurately and on time between everyone involved in the shipment, from the moment goods leave the warehouse to the moment they cross into Norway. That is no longer a nice-to-have, it is the baseline requirement.
This is not only a customs formality. It touches transport planning, order processing, warehouse handovers and every partner in between. Businesses that treat it purely as an IT update risk missing the operational side of the change.
How to reduce the effect for your business? Please contact team Trasegro.
With two major deadlines approaching, and the majority of shipments still not compliant, there is a narrow window to get ahead of the curve rather than react to it once delays start piling up at the border.
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