Importing from Turkey: customs union and A.TR

Industrial goods from Turkey enter the EU without customs duty when they travel with an A.TR movement certificate, because the EU and Turkey form a customs union for them [3]. Agricultural products and coal and steel products are outside that customs union: they get a preferential rate only with proof that they originate in Turkey, a EUR.1 movement certificate or an origin declaration [3] [6]. Import VAT is due either way, at the rate of the EU country where the goods are released [8] [9].

How the customs union works

Under Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council, goods move between the two parts of the customs union without duties when they were either wholly produced there or imported from a third country and put into free circulation in Turkey or the EU [3]. The A.TR certificate proves that customs status, free circulation. It is not a certificate of origin [3].

The scope is limited: agricultural products as defined in Annex I of the Treaty and coal and steel products are outside the customs union and fall under separate preferential agreements that depend on origin [3]. The agricultural agreement is Decision No 1/98 of the Association Council [3].

Duty with and without the right document

Three common goods from Turkey, with the CN 2026 duty that applies without a preference [1] and what TARIC showed for Turkish goods on 24 October 2026 [2]:

The difference adds up quickly. T-shirts with a customs value of EUR 10,000 pay EUR 1,200 duty without a valid A.TR. Because import VAT is charged on the customs value plus the duty [8], the missing certificate also raises the VAT: in Germany, at 19 % [9], from EUR 1,900 to EUR 2,128. The free import duty calculator shows the same for any code.

What is an A.TR certificate?

The A.TR is endorsed by Turkish customs when the goods are exported, on the exporter's request [4]. An approved exporter can issue it under a simplified procedure [6]. The rules that matter to the importer [4] [6]:

• It has to reach EU customs within four months of its date of issue. A late certificate is accepted if the goods themselves were presented to customs before that date, and may be accepted in exceptional circumstances.
• The goods have to be transported directly between Turkey and the EU. A single consignment may pass through a third country only under customs control there, shown by a single transport document or a certificate from that country's customs.
• Customs can ask for a translation and for a statement from the importer that the goods meet the conditions for free circulation.
• Slight discrepancies with the invoice do not void it, and neither do obvious typing errors, as long as it clearly matches the goods. Erasures and overwritten corrections are not allowed; a change must be crossed out, initialled and endorsed by customs.

Under Decision No 1/2025 of the EU-Türkiye Customs Cooperation Committee of 24 April 2025, A.TR certificates issued electronically by Turkish customs can be accepted at import; they carry a QR code that leads to the issuing authority's check [6].

Farm goods: EUR.1 or origin declaration

For agricultural products the proof is of origin, not of free circulation. Under the pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules it is either a EUR.1 movement certificate or an origin declaration on the invoice [5] [6]. Any exporter may make out an origin declaration for a consignment whose originating products are worth up to EUR 6,000; an approved exporter may do so for any value [5]. The proof is valid for ten months from its date [5].

What the customs broker asks for

The declarant needs the supporting documents in hand when the declaration is lodged, and the preferential rate applies only when the declarant asks for it [7]. From Turkey that means the commercial invoice, the packing list, the transport document, your EORI number [7], and the A.TR or, for farm goods, the EUR.1 or invoice declaration. How the value is built from the invoice is in Customs value basics: CIF and FOB.

Mistakes that lead to corrections

1. An A.TR for apricots, hazelnuts or steel. Agricultural and coal and steel products need proof of origin; an A.TR does not cover them [3].
2. A certificate past four months, with goods presented after that date [4].
3. Goods routed through a third country without the documents that show they stayed under customs control there [4].
4. No document at the time of import. A preference can be applied for retrospectively within the time limits of the measure and the Code [7], but the duty has to be reclaimed.

Athren works next to the broker or customs team you already have, from the documents you already send them, and holds what it would have prepared next to the declaration that was filed, so you see where the code, the origin proof or the value differs. For goods from further east, see Importing from China.