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Importation, Customs and Tarrifs
Exporting to the European Union All countries intending to export fish or fishery products to the EU have to be on one of two lists which are part of that decision Commission Decision 97/296/EC List 1. are countries which have Competent Authorities enforcing systems equivalent to those in the EU with respect to sanitary conditions within a country and fish processing establishments. List 2 . countries can until 31.12.03 export to EU member states that will accept them. These are countries awaiting inspection or are not in full compliance. In order for a company to export to the EU it has to be based in a country that appears under List I or II under Commission Decision 97/296/EC (See Other Countries - Basic Info from Non EU Countries on main menu on left.) Importation and Import Duties When fish or fish products are declared to customs in the community they have to be classified according to the "Combined Nomenclature" (CN). Imported and exported goods have to be declared stating under which subheading of the nomenclature they fall. This determines which rate of customs duty applies and how the goods are treated for statistical purposes. The CN is also used in intra-Community trade statistics. The basic regulation is Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff. An updated version of the Annex I to the Combined Nomenclature Regulation is published as a Commission Regulation every year. The chapters relating to Fish and Fishery products of the current annex 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (Council regulation No. 1832/2002) are available here in PDF format. These give both the CN code and the rates of duty applicable for fish and fish products. There are duties payable on the import of fish and fishery products from outside the EU. The rates of duty vary from fish species to fish species. At importation, the use of the TARIC Code for the customs declaration for release for free circulation and for statistical purposes is obligatory. The structure of the TARIC is based on the 8 digit code of the CN and two additional digits. In particular cases one or two additional 4 digit codes are added (e.g. Antidumping duties). The TARIC includes all applicable customs duties and all customs trade policy measures for all the goods applicable at any time set out in various legal measures and it changes constantly. The TARIC database is available online at, http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/tarchap?Lang=EN This database is useful as it also gives information on any restrictions that might be in place and applicable duty rates. |