EU restricts non-EU exporters

The Netherlands has become the latest EU member state to block non-EU Customs Union companies acting as the exporter of record. This follows the EU changing the definition of an exporter for customs from July 2018.

This change made it a requirement that any exporter must be established in an EU Customs Union country, and is party to the contract under which the goods are exported. The intention of the definition change was to allow exporters to appoint export agents such as a freight forwarder instead of themselves.

Germany, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have already imposed the restriction.

This will restriction will affect UK businesses in the case of a Brexit without a transition deal out of the Customs Union.