Germany Customs Management Regulations and Systems

[Customs Tariff]

Germany applies the EU Community Customs Tariff System. The tariff table includes agreement tariffs, which apply to WTO members or countries that have signed a most-favored-nation agreement with the Community. Some products (mainly food) use autonomous tariffs in the tariff table and are not subject to most-favored-nation treatment and WTO obligations.

[Tariff Preferential Policy]

EU members grant unilateral tariff preferential policies to developing countries, including agreement tariffs and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as reciprocal arrangements under the framework of free trade area agreements (such as EFTA countries, Mexico, Chile, and South Africa).

[Customs Code]

The German customs law system consists of directly applicable EU laws and the country's Customs Law and its supporting regulations. The Community Customs Code is the basic law in the field of EU customs law, and the laws of various countries supplement and refine the Community Code.

Goods entering the German customs area are under customs supervision. Except for special circumstances, imported goods must be declared at a customs department, or other places permitted or designated by the customs department, and goods that need to go through customs procedures must be declared.

On August 31, 2007, the first phase of the EU Export Control System (ECS) was launched. The ECS system allows the customs declarant/exporter to make an electronic declaration at the customs department at the place of export or at the customs department at the final exit. The export customs sends an electronic confirmation to the customs declarant, which replaces the SAD3 card and confirms that the goods have been exported according to the VAT regulations. The ECS system ensures that the administrative authorities can effectively perform customs supervision, and exporters can handle export documents more quickly and apply for zero export tax rate. The second phase of the ECS system started on July 1, 2009, and the ECS system electronic export customs declaration form was uniformly adopted throughout the EU, and paper documents were only allowed in emergency situations.