Albion Laboratories, Inc.

Nathan Neslon, General Counsel Albion Laboratories, Inc.: "Our company launched a “sale-direct-to-Europe” campaign for one of its divisions. The project envisioned selling products that were manufactured in the States directly to European users of those products. We didn’t know where to set up our operations; we didn’t know which jurisdiction had the best VAT regime and Customs offices; and we didn’t know which third party logistics providers could help us reach our warehousing and delivery goals. Worse, it seemed that there was an endless number of “solutions” for us to consider with different configurations ranging all over Europe. We were happy that there were so many “good ideas” for us to evaluate, but we were buried in information and there was no way to sort through them all in time to launch our project. Somehow, we were fortunate enough to make contact with the NDL/HIDC (Holland International Distribution Council) and the NFIA. I believe an international lawyer recommended that we talk to them. They helped us evaluate the various VAT regimes across Europe. We liked the “VAT deferral” program in The Netherlands as well as the inexpensive warehousing and transportation costs. The HIDC/NFIA folks met with us in The Netherlands and drove us around to different warehousing and logistics providers to introduce us to them and help us find the right fit. We quickly found the right fit. Now we have a platform that allows us to ship our products directly from the US manufacturing facility to our warehouse in Rotterdam where it is customs cleared, VAT deferred, and then sold directly to European users throughout the European Community. Our logistics provider can ship products to our EU customers in less than a couple of days after their order is made. We are very happy with The Netherlands, but more specifically, with the great assistance and advice we received from NDL/HIDC and the NFIA."