Upvote:5
Dutch Customs has a web portal in English with a description of what is and isn't allowed to be brought in by travelers arriving from outside of the EU here with the short recommendation:
What cannot be imported?
Not all products can simply be brought in. Counterfeit articles, for example, or €10,000 or more, food, and animals and plants.
Followed by some more specific regulations and exemptions.
Cheese is clear cut and falls under the section of "Animal products and foodstuff" and is only allowed with a health certificate (which is probably not worth the effort to obtain) :
Do not import any animal products into the Netherlands from outside the EU. And also do not order them, for example, through the internet. In the EU strict requirements apply to the import of animal products and food. Examples: cheese, milk and milk products, eggs, meat, fresh or processed fishing products, skins, game trophies. Do you nevertheless still want to import animal products and food into the EU? Then you almost always need a health certificate.
The fruit and vegetable category which provides and exemption for "small amounts" for personal use by the traveler.
Sometimes you do not need a phytosanitary certificate and you may import your product without a problem. This is the case if the product:
- does not pose a serious risk for spreading harmful organisms
- when it is taken by travellers themselves as luggage for personal use
...
Have these conditions been observed? If this is the case, you do not need a permit for:
- at most 5 kilos of vegetables or fruit
...
When the individual animal / fruit / vegetable component in food is sufficiently processed and not recognisable as such anymore (for instance the milk in a chocolate bar) food is sometimes allowed. Typical examples of allowed foods are: pastries and cookies, sweets and chocolate.
Spices are allowed when they are
I don't know of any requirements (other than for infants milk) for original and unopened packaging.
Please note that something such as oyster sauce and a chutney, if allowed, is considered a liquid and not allowed in your carry-on luggage when in a container larger than 100 ml.
Also consider that The Netherlands, like many affluent countries import food and spices from all over the world and although specific brands may not be available, or hard to source, most if not all supermarkets will sell some variety of fish, oyster and soy sauce and certainly sugar...