Machinery & equipment

On this page we would like to tell you about what trade compliance obligations you should be taking into account being a producer in the Machinery & Equipment industry regarding Export documents, Environmental obligations, Customs obligations, VAT declarations & Intrastat declarations.

For Machinery & Equipment, HS classification is mainly important for composed products. Finished goods can be differently classified than loose components. This affects import duties. Therefore, it is of importance to determine the correct classification per product. Our specialists help you optimize your classification process by giving advice on possible cost savings and prevention of risks (in case of incorrect classification).

Monitoring the correct use of HS codes by your ‘brokers’ is important as well. This is often a time-consuming job. Pincvision can help you to secure/improve the quality of your broker(s).

When talking about the determination of origin for Machinery & Equipment, a distinction is also made between spare parts and finished goods. Our origin specialists can help you setup a solid origin process, from determination to the management hereof. They will tell you everything about the possibilities regarding preferential origin in relation to trade agreements and thus applying the preferential tariff to save costs.

Next to this, Pincvision is also specialized in the classification of goods and the determination of the origin of these goods.

The Waste Electronic and Electric Equipment (WEEE) Directive for Machinery & Equipment applies only to finished products, not to components. The implementation of this directive may vary from country to country. As a manufacturer of machines and tools you must take into account that all end products with a plug fall under the scope of the WEEE directive.

The battery directive is applicable to built-in batteries and subsequently delivered batteries. When you exceed the applicable threshold in a country, you are obliged to submit battery declarations on a periodic basis. For example, an electric drill.

With regard to the packaging directive, you must state the materials in which your products are packaged. Please note that this obligation does not apply in the same way in all EU countries. Our Compliance Specialists can tell you everything about this topic. For example, if you export boxes of small screws, you must consider the following 3 types of packaging:

  • Primary packaging contains the first product packaging of the item. For instance the box in which several separate screws are packed.
  • Secondary packaging includes the packaging that is used to group various pre-packaged (primary) products together. For example a large cardboard box containing several small boxes of screws.
  • Tertiary packaging contains the transport packaging that protects the goods during the transportation. You can think of cardboax boxes that are moved all together on one pallet. The plastic wrapping around the boxes and the pallet are considered tertiary packaging.

Furthermore, when exporting tires or oil you should also take into account corresponding legislation. In order to make your environmental compliance process quickly and error-free, it is very important that your source data is in order. This data is used to extract the required information for the declaration in the country of destination. Our team of Compliance Analysts can assist you to enhance and enrich your data and then submit your periodic declarations with the authorities. This optimizes the speed and quality of your processes and makes sure you timely meet your declaration deadlines.

Depending on the country of destination it may be required to prove the origin of your goods in the form of a:

  • Certificate of Origin (CO), possibly complemented by a legalized invoice. Both documents need to be digitally attested by the Chamber of Commerce. An additional requirement may be that the documents need legalization by an Embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • EUR.1 certificate/EURMED or an invoice declaration may be possible where the country of destination has a free trade agreement with the European Union. You will pay less or no import duties.
  • Certificate of Conformity (CoC). When exporting to countries in the Middle-East and/or Africa please keep in mind the applicable conformity programs, such as PSI and PCA. For this you will need a CoC which is used to prove that your products are pre-registered and tested to (for example) country specific technical specifications and consumer safety standards.

With Pincvision's solution "Export Documents in Control" you can be sure that you will avoid unpleasant surprises such as delays at the border, additional costs and customer dissatisfaction by leaving your export documentation process to the specialist, Pincvision.

Should you deliver goods within the European Union (EU) you will often also face Intrastat obligations. With the advent of free trade within the EU, Intrastat is being introduced. A statistical requirement by which organization's declare to the local statistical bureaus how much they are 'exporting & importing' within the EU. Every country knows its own thresholds and deadlines.

Please ensure your Intrastat declarations are well managed as errors in this process may cause authorities to perform an audit. Not just covering Intrastat but often combined with your VAT processes.

From the flow of goods, agreements on transportation, import & export duties may arise VAT obligations in other countries. This usually leads to:

With respect to import, you should carefully consider the deductibility of the import VAT that is due for the application of different national rules for VAT and postponement.

More specifically for the Machinery & Equipment industry, it must be taken into account that installation rules may apply. This means that you are liable for VAT in the EU country of installation / assembly. Possibly also a transfer may apply.

Our team of specialists will assist you in meeting your obligations and ensure that the laws and rules are no barrier to your global trade. Compliance in Control!