How to export to the European Union? EU Export Helpdesk European Commission, DG Trade What is the Export Helpdesk? A website to inform you on how to export to the EU www.exporthelp.europa.eu A source of information on the compulsory information a business needs to reach the EU market A database on trade in goods Free access: no charge and no password In 6 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian How can it help a business? How my product should be? It provides you with the full list of requirements your product needs to fulfill to enter the EU market How much will it cost me? It calculates the import tariff applying to your product and informs you if a preferential tariff applies in your specific case How to obtain a preferential tariff? It explains the preferential trade agreements applying to your product and country, along with informing you how to implement them It also explains how to prove the origin of your product With whom can I do business? It provides you with a list of EU trade contacts Who is importing/exporting? It assists your market research by providing detailed statistics on product-byproduct EU trade flows Who is using it worldwide? Who is using it in Africa? Who is using it in Asia? Who is using it in Latin America? Who is using it in the Caribbean region? Who is using it in the neighbouring countries? Who is using it in Europe? How can it help your business? step-by-step 1. Go to the Export Helpdesk at www.exporthelp.europa.eu 2. Click on "My export" 3. Tell us what you want to export by filling in the input form In the input form, we ask you to: Enter your product code That is the 10-digits code that describes your product in the International Classification of Goods. If you do not know this code, click on "Search" and search by keyword Select a country of origin Your country Select a destination country The EU country where you want to sell your product Select a simulation date The date when you foresee your product to reach the EU borders (customs) How can it help your business? step-by-step 4. Click on "Search" A screen similar to the one below will appear: 5. In the Requirements tab, you will find the list of compulsory EU import requirements applying to your product 6. Clicking on each requirement, you will access to its explanation, legislation, documents needed, the contact address of the competent authority in the EU and further information such as examples, guidelines,… 7. Below you will find the VAT/excises applying to your product in the EU destination country you selected. How can it help your business? step-by-step 8. In the tariffs tab, you will find the import tariff applying to your product/country. The first row (Erga Omnes) indicates the tariff to pay by any exporter outside the EU. The second row indicates if you can benefit from a preferential trade arrangement that will give you a tariff preference. The "discount" tariff appears on the tariff's column. When you see "0%" it means that you do not have anything to pay to enter the EU market. 9. If quotas or antidumping measures apply to your product/country, they will appear on the third row. Click on them to see the balance of the quota How can it help your business? step-by-step 10. If you benefit from a preferential tariff, there will be one tab per preferential arrangement. In this tab you will find the Rule of Origin that applies to your product under this arrangement. Click on the links above for further information on the arrangement or the rules of origin characteristics (such as cumulation, tolerance, derogations, etc) How can it help your business? step-by-step In 10 steps you can find:  how your product should be to enter the EU market  how much you should pay  how much you do not pay because your product/country benefits from a preferential arrangement  how to prove the origin of your product to benefit from this preferential tariff How to get further information? •By contacting the EU Delegation •in your country www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations •By directly contacting the •Export Helpdesk team Thank you! EU requirements When exporting to the EU, you can benefit from the huge market: 27 countries with around 500 million consumers. To understand how the EU trade system is organised, the procedures to follow and the documents to fill in, in this section you will find: •EU product classification system •EU import procedures •Documents for customs clearance •EU Customs Union •Value Added Tax (VAT) •Excise duties But, before reaching Europe, your goods must meet the EU requirements to protect human and animal health, the environment and consumers rights. In the Requirements section you will find and overview of the main requirements classified by sectors. You can also check the requirements applying to your product at My Export. EU tariffs One significant aspect of international trade policy is the levying or lifting of tariffs. A trade tariff is a tax or duty which is placed on goods crossing political borders (or customs unions). Import tariffs are the most common, and involve a tax being assessed on products coming in from another country. To understand the EU import tariffs and related issues, in this section you may find in the basic concepts of: • • • Binding Tariff Information, duty relief and suspensions, quotas or antidumping duties. EU preferential arrangements The European Commission negotiates at the World Trade Organisation on behalf of the EU. So, the Commission has signed a number of preferential trade agreements with developing countries that may affect your export to the EU. Under these agreements, the parties exchange tariff concessions or other preferential treatment. Once a preferential arrangement is in force between the EU and your country or region, this substantially improves market access for your exports to EU as it eliminates or reduces tariffs and facilitates procedures. In this section you can find an introduction to all preferential trade arrangements the EU has with developing countries EU rules of origin We have listed each EU preferential arrangement that a developing country can benefit. Just click on the one applying to your case and you will find: •A brief description of this agreement •Its specific rules of origin •Its specific proofs of origin (and templates) Preferential trade arrangements can substantially improve market access for your exports to the EU as it will eliminate or reduce tariffs in many goods. But, to benefit from this, you will have proof that your product "originates" in your country. In this section you will find the key issues to understand the EU rules of origin for any agreement. EU trade statistics Filling in the input form you will find the trade flows between any country and the EU since 2002. You can transfer this data to an Excel file About us & contact form In the section "About us" you will learn who we are and why we are doing this. Besides, you will find a contact form where you can ask us your questions on how to export to the EU. About us & contact form We aim to assist business in searching, understanding and promoting the exports to the EU. For that, we put at your disposal multilingual communication tools. They are regularly updated and include general presentations as well as country and sector-specific information. Select your country on the menu and you will access to all tools applying to your case. To keep continuously updated, follow our news on EU export related issues. On the “Features” section you will find examples of other users who found the Export Helpdesk helpful –and why-. You will also find success stories and interviews to exporters worldwide. Do you want to be next? How to get further information? •By contacting the EU Delegation •in your country www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations •By directly contacting the •Export Helpdesk team Thank you!