Importing
What an importer pays, proves and signs for at EU customs, from the EORI number and import VAT to anti-dumping duty and working with a broker.
What this category answers
What a company that imports goods into the EU has to arrange, pay and keep on file, whether a customs broker files for it or its own team does. It covers the EORI number every importer needs [1], import VAT, anti-dumping duty, the documents a broker asks for when goods come from China, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States or Switzerland, what customs clearance costs, and how direct and indirect representation decide who owes the duty. Written for importers and for the people in their logistics and finance teams who answer the broker's questions.
Sources
- 1Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code, Articles 5, 9, 18 and 77, Official Journal of the European Union, 2013-10-10. Read 2026-10-24.
Importing guides
- AEO authorisation: requirements and where to applyAEO status makes a business a trusted trader for customs across the EU. The criteria, AEOC and AEOS, where to apply and how long the decision takes.
- Anti-dumping duty: what it is and who paysAnti-dumping duty is an extra import duty on goods sold to the EU below their home price. How to check TARIC, and current rates on goods from China.
- Choosing a customs broker: what to askHow an importer chooses a customs broker in the EU: the form of representation, its status, the price list, who pays the duty and what comes back.
- Preparing for a customs audit: what customs checksAfter release, customs may check declarations, documents and accounts and recover duty for three years. What an audit covers and how to prepare for one.
- What customs clearance costs: published price listsWhat a customs broker charges to clear one import, from the price lists German and Dutch providers publish, plus the fees for paying your duty.
- Direct or indirect representation: who owes the dutyDirect representation: your broker declares in your name and you owe the duty. Indirect: it declares in its own name and you both owe it.
- EORI number: how to apply and check oneAn EORI number identifies your business in EU customs declarations. How to apply in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland, and where to check one.
- Import VAT: how it is charged and deductedHow import VAT is charged on customs value plus duty, who deducts it, Ireland's postponed accounting and the Dutch article 23 licence.
- Importing from China: duty, VAT and documentsWhat a business pays and proves on goods from China: the duty rate, import VAT, anti-dumping duty and the documents the customs broker asks for.
- Importing from Switzerland: free trade and origin proofSwiss goods enter the EU at zero duty with a EUR.1 or an origin declaration under the 1972 free trade agreement. Which proof, how long it is valid, and import VAT.
- Importing from the UK: the statement on originUK goods enter the EU at zero duty only when they originate in the UK and the importer claims it: the statement on origin, the documents, the usual errors.
- Importing from the US: duty since July 2026Since 1 July 2026 most US industrial goods enter the EU at zero duty under Regulation (EU) 2026/1455. Which goods, which origin counts, and import VAT.
- Importing from Turkey: customs union and A.TRIndustrial goods from Turkey enter the EU duty free with an A.TR certificate; farm goods need a EUR.1 or origin declaration. Documents and usual errors.
- Outsource customs or keep it in-houseWhat an importer needs to lodge its own customs declarations, what changes when a broker does it, and the middle way between the two.
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The documents your broker received and the declaration that was filed. We send back what Athren would have prepared.
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