Your unique customs solution on doorstep of EU

With 11 own customs offices in Croatia including border-crossings with non-EU countries Serbia and Bosnia&Hercegovina, we are at the very doorstep of the European Union. There are many advantages to using our specialists in connection with customs, Intrastat and exports services. We have the necessary competencies and are always up-to-date on current European Customs regulations. You can therefore rely on us to ensure that all documentation is in order. We perform all the thinking and work assciated with customs-related activities instead of you, freeing up valuable resources that you can devote to your core business instead.

When importing goods from non EU countries, it is required to pay customs and VAT duties in your EU member state if you perform classic import customs procedure in your own country, different from Croatia. Yet, European customs and VAT laws has allowed to perform import customs procedure in Croatia, to  pay only customs fees and then to regulate VAT in your own country without any payment of VAT at all. That kind of import is called customs procedure 42.

Customs procedure 42 is import releasing of the goods for free circulation in the Republic of Croatia without charging the VAT, but with obligation to transport those goods immediately to another EU Member State (Article 143./d of Council Directive 2006/112 /EC). The customs duty rate is calculated on the basis of the Common Customs Tariff of the EU and is charged to the importer.

The application of the procedure can be required by a taxpayer from another EU country, which in Croatia appears as the importer/consignee of goods in the process of import customs clearance of goods.

Taxpayers based in the other countries in EU can claim for their own VAT ID number in Croatia, but can also appoint a tax representative in Croatia.

The tax representative must be authorized for the receipt of papers, submitting a VAT return application and performing all operations in connection with the assessment and payment of VAT, and possess the authorization or contract for tax representation.

For customs clearance the importer must give his EORI number and a written authorization to the customs forwarder Primacošped d.o.o., Zagreb for representation in front of the customs authorities.

The import customs declaration must be accompanied by:

  • authorization for customs representation
  • authorization for tax representation
  • invoice with indicated consignee in another member state
  • transport document, in which as the place of destination is indicated another Member State
  • statement that the goods after customs clearance will be shipped to another Member State.

After customs clearance goods are shipped to the recipient without further customs control and are unloaded at the appointed place. The recipient confirms the receipt of goods by verifying the transport document a copy of which he sends to the tax representative in Croatia. The recipient in another Member State is obligated to calculate VAT on subject in VIES System according to the tax laws of that country and to put receiveng of the goods in Intrastat System if he is Reporting Intrastat unit.

With over 50 countries using the procedure, the TIR system is the international customs transit system with the widest geographical coverage. As other customs transit procedures, the TIR procedure enables goods to move under customs control across international borders without the payment of the duties and taxes that would normally be due at importation (or exportation). A condition of the TIR procedure is that the movement of the goods must include transport by road.

Goods move from a customs office of departure in one country to a customs office of destination in another country under cover of an internationally accepted customs transit document, the TIR carnet, which also provides a financial guarantee for the payment of the suspended duties and taxes. The guarantee system is managed by an international organisation, which is currently the International Road Transport Union (IRU).

Although each EU Member State is a Contracting Party to the TIR Convention, the European Union is considered to be a single territory for the purposes of the TIR procedure. This means TIR can only be used in the Union for international movements, i. e. where the movement either starts or ends in a third country, or where the goods move between two or more EU Member States via the territory of a third country.

EXPORT PROCEDURE

The export procedure allows exit of Community goods from the EC customs territory. From a customs point of view, exported Community goods change their status to non-Community goods. For non-Community goods, the operation is called ‘re-exportation’.

The export procedure entails the application of all exit formalities, including, where applicable, the payment of export refunds and the presentation of export licences.

Outward processing means that Union goods may be temporarily exported from the customs territory of the Union in order to undergo processing operations. The processed products resulting from these goods can be re-imported and released for free circulation with total or partial relief from import duty. A total relief from import duties must be granted when the goods have been exported merely to be repaired free of charge because of a contractual obligation or because of a manufacturing or material defect. In other cases of outward processing, the import duties on the re-imported products are calculated only on the basis of the value resulting from the processing operation undertaken outside the customs territory of the Union.

Outward processing procedure is designed to give businesses the possibility to take advantage of benefits such as lower labour costs or specific technical expertise in non-EU countries.

An authorisation from the customs authorities is required for the use of the outward processing procedure. The competent customs authorities must specify the period within which the outward processing procedure is to be discharged.

The main requirements to obtain such authorisation are:

To be established in the customs territory of the Union, and

To provide necessary assurance of the proper conduct of the operations.

Tel: +385 1 3440 404
Fax: +385 1 3440 477
E-mail: customs@primaco.eu