Transportation & automotive

In the last few years there have been many developments in this industry with the rise of e-vehicles, such as e-bikes and electric cars. This also affects trade compliance obligations. Being a producer it is important to be aware of these legal requirements, since it often involves expensive products, which brings significant (financial) risks.

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 Transportation and automotive industry regarding Export documents, Environmental obligations, Customs obligations, VAT & Intrastat declarations.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly more important for organizations, especially when being a producer. But, do you know that this also impacts on your import duties? Think about:

Product classification. More and more transport vehicles are electrically driven, which leads to changes in sections/categories of HS classification. It requires a detailed description of your products and components and broadened knowledge of HS classification in order to classify your products correctly. Let our specialists support you and avoid risks on fines and audits because of using incorrect import duty rates.

In your industry, generally, significant amounts of import duties and other taxes are levied. Therefore, a worldwide overview of costs per country would be of great value to your organization. Pincvision's specialists provide an insightful dashboard with management information per country that you are exporting to. This allows you to better manage your business processes.

From an Environmental perspective, you should take the packaging directive into account. You must indicate the materials in which your products are packaged. The packaging directive applies to 3 types of packaging: primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.

In the Transportation & automotive industry, you can think of a bicycle as an example. Find a description of the different types of packaging below.

  • Primary packaging: first product packaging containing the sold item such as a large cardboard box containing the bicycle.
  • Secondary packaging: packaging that is used to group various pre-packaged (primary) products together by means of plastic foil. This is categorized as secondary packaging.
  • Tertiary packaging: when the boxes are transported, you have to deal with transport packaging such as large cardboard boxes that are used for transport and for example pallets where the boxes are placed on during the movement.

Every country of destination has its own directives for this environmental compliance declaration. If you exceed the threshold you are required to submit your packaging declaration periodically (monthly, quarterly) to the relevant environmental authority. The thresholds differ per country and are subjected to change.

Next to the packaging directive, you should think about specific legislation regarding tires and about battery declarations. 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. Think for example of accumulators and batteries in e-vehicles.

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.

Vehicles are registered in the Netherlands on the basis of a Certificate of Conformity. This is sometimes confused with the Certificate of Origin. The Certificate of Conformity can be obtained via the RDW.

Furthermore, it may sometimes be the case in the Transportation & Automotive industry that the proof of origin is unclear. If you experience any problems or the proof of origin is unclear, our specialists are ready to tell you all about this.

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:

For import, you need to look carefully at the deductibility of the import VAT and if a reverse charge mechanism or VAT deferment scheme is applicable in the relevant countries of importation. Our VAT specialists are happy to help you with this! Do not hesitate to contact us.

Are you looking for a partner that arranges all compliance processes for you? Be assured that compliance won't be a barrier to your international trade. Let Pincvision handle your compliance obligations!