Conditions for attending trade missions with or without government officials

Last checked on:
29 September 2025

Would you like to attend a physical or virtual trade mission headed by a government official (economic mission) or a physical or virtual trade mission without a government official? Then you have to meet the below conditions.

  1.  The company or organisation must be registered with the trade registry of the authorised Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands, in accordance with the Business Register Act (Handelsregisterwet 1996).
  2. The applicant must complete the application form in full. The application is accepted after the registered party receives a confirmation from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency's (RVO) project manager
  3.  The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (hereinafter referred to as ‘we’) reserves the right to set a maximum number of participants.
  4. We reserve the right to reject applications submitted after the stated closing date.
  5. We process the applications in the order in which they are received. We may reject applications if we find legitimate grounds in our assessment or that of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This assessment considers, among other things, the company or institution's objectives, its relationship with the government, the mission's nature, and the participating groups' balanced composition.
  6. We reserve the right to cancel a registration if the applicant fails to provide the information required to ensure the smooth running of the organisation in time. This includes a fully completed Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) self-assessment scan, a fully completed matchmaking intake form, and a company profile for the mission booklet.
  7. We add the applicant's provided personal details to a customer database. By accepting the terms and conditions for participants, the applicant permits us to use these personal details to send the applicant information regarding their participation and about our future trade missions. The applicant may, at any time and free of charge, indicate in writing or via email that they wish not to receive information regarding our future trade missions. We will then refrain from sending this information.
  8. By accepting the terms and conditions for participation, the applicant permits us to publish their name, photo, contact information, and company profile in our mission-related media, such as the mission booklet and the mission app. The applicant also permits us to record personal details for registration, matchmaking, and evaluation. In the case of company names, these are public without permission.
  9. We reserve the right to exclude an applicant from participating in matchmaking events if the applicant has previously visited the same city or cities with the same enquiry, and when the applicant represents other companies and/or organisations as an intermediary.
  10. The applicant agrees to the participant fee for the given mission as stated on our website. The expenses for travel and accommodation, transport, additional interpreters, etc., are at the applicant's expense. 
  11. The applicant may cancel their application free of charge up to 30 days before the mission's departure date. After this date, we will charge the participant fee per company.
  12. If, in consultation with the applicant, we conclude that the matchmaking component in the destination country is unlikely to succeed, the applicant may cancel free of charge.
  13. The applicant must pay the participation fees within 30 days of receiving the invoice.
  14. We reserve the right to cancel a mission if, in our opinion, there are valid reasons for doing so. These may include not reaching the threshold number of participants, the political or security situation in the destination country, or other unforeseen circumstances.
  15. The applicant must declare that they are familiar with and handle in accordance with the OECD guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. Upon registration, the applicant must complete an RBC self-assessment scan. Based on the scan, the government of the Netherlands determines whether your organisation meets these requirements. Not completing this scan will result in exclusion from participation. The assessment of the RBC self-assessment may involve a review of the completed self-assessment.
  16. The applicant must cooperate with the mission's evaluation by completing the evaluation form that we send them after the mission.
  17. The applicant is aware that, regarding sharing and/or publicly disclosing data, we are subject to compliance with the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet bestuursrecht), the Open Government Act (Wet open overheid) and the General Data Protection Regulation (Algemene verordening gegevensbescherming). See also requirement 8.
  18. If the safety situation changes before the start of a mission and affects the mission’s preparations, our organisers may postpone or cancel the mission. We will inform the participants immediately. It goes without saying that we will not charge any participant fees in this case. However, the cancellation of travel and accommodation costs is at the participant’s expense and risk.

Any questions about trade missions?

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