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Import and Export Manual for low value shipments

Release for free circulation of commercial samples

Commercial samples may be declared:

  1. in a customs declaration with data set H7: as consignments of no estimable value, subject to relief from import duties, pursuant to Article 23(1) or Article 25(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 and subject to payment of theVAT corresponding accrued. According to Article 23, duty-free treatment applies to all types of goods provided that all the relevant conditions are met (namely, that they have been dispatched directly and their intrinsic value does not exceed EUR 150 ), in particular the conditions provided for in Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009; or
  2. in a customs declaration with data set H1: as commercial samples of no estimable value, subject to duty-free and VAT exemption, in accordance with Article 86 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 and Article 63 of Directive 2009/132/EC. To be imported free of VAT and import duties, samples must also meet several cumulative conditions:
    • They must be samples "of no appreciable value";
    • They may only be used in response to requests for them;
    • Orders requesting them must be made with a view to importing into the European Union the type of goods represented by these samples.

As regards the term “of no estimable value”, it is only defined in the context of Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 (“goods of no estimable value”), but not in Article 86 of the same Regulation, so that customs must determine, on a case-by-case basis and depending on the type of goods in question, whether goods imported as samples for the promotion of trade may be considered as “of no estimable value”.