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Supporting document of the Community goods statute by electronic means. T2L/T2LF (existing situation until 1-03-2024)

Means by which the Community status of the goods is justified

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Justification of the community character of the goods: the T2L and T2LF

As established by RECAU, the community character of the goods is justified, among others, by the following means: (article 199, RECAU)

  • T2L document endorsed by customs. The Community status of goods destined for or originating in a part of the customs territory of the Community in which the provisions of Directive 2006/112/EC do not apply shall be accredited by presentation of a T2LF document. (article 205, RECAU)
  • Commercial documents: invoice or transport document (article 211 RECAU) and manifest of the shipping company endorsed by customs (article 206 RECAU). In the event that the invoice or transport document is used to justify the Community character of the goods, it is not necessary to present them to customs for approval when the total value of the Community goods included in them is less than 15,000 euros.

Furthermore, Article 128 of the RDCAU - amended by the RDTCAU - regulates the figure of the authorised consignor to facilitate the accreditation of the customs status of Union goods by means of an invoice or transport document corresponding to goods with the customs status of the Union whose value exceeds 15,000 euros, or by means of a T2L or T2LF document or a manifest of the shipping company, without having to present them for endorsement at the competent customs office.

The electronic submission of the T2L document aims to replace the paper submission of this document to the competent customs office with its telematic submission, avoiding the operator having to go to the customs office in order to obtain the visa of the latter on the T2L document, with the validation of the same being carried out automatically.

The new procedure is advantageous for those who currently require a customs visa to prove the Community status of the goods and for those who use it to the extent that paperless release procedures are implemented by avoiding having to go to customs to be allowed to board. This procedure contributes to the development of electronic customs and to greater speed in the exchange of Community goods between two Member States of the European Union, by avoiding the physical presentation of a paper document to the competent customs offices for its endorsement in order to prove the Community character of the goods.

The system described below applies to the T2L document, but not to the other documents that are also used to justify the Community nature of the goods (commercial documents, manifest), the processing of which does not vary from that currently in force.