The invention relates to the holding structure and a transportation/packaging container. The holding structure comprises a carrier having a plurality of holes which can be introduced by a container or the carrier of the containing seat and a holder maintaining the container in the hole or in the container seat. According to the invention, the holder means comprise at least two holder tabs (140) which are provided on the edge of a given opening or receiving portion and project away from an upper side of the carrier (134) so as to hold the container in question in place, said holder tabs (140) being designed such that they are elastically pivoted or folded back as the container is introduced into the openings or receiving portions, and being adapted to the containers such that these are held in place by means of said holder tabs with radial play and a low degree of tension. The radial play allows production-related tolerances to be compensated for, but also different types of container with different outer dimensions to be held using the same holder structure. Since base support of the containers in the holder structure is not required, the containers may be accessed easily. In particular, they can be transferred in batches to further processing stations where they are processed further, while being held in the holder structure. The containers can be lifted or moved, for example, rotated, in the openings or receiving portions with very little expenditure of force.