TRADE     Export & Import Procedures     Slovakia

Export & Import Procedures in Slovakia

Introduction

Export and import procedures are fully in line with European Union laws and regulations. When importing goods into Slovakia, the exporter fills in the "Declaration of Exchange of Goods or Intrastat declaration" form. If the country sending the goods to Slovakia is not a member of the EU, then customs and excise are calculated "ad valorem" according to the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of the goods, in line with the instructions in the European Union Common Customs Tariff (CCT).

As part of the "SAFE" standard set by the World Customs Organization (WCO), the EU has implemented a new import control system "Import Control System (ICC)" which aims to secure the flow of goods when they first enter the EU customs area. This system, as part of the e-Customs Community Program, became effective on January 1, 2011.

Since then, operators have been asked to submit an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) to the customs authorities when the goods are sold, before the goods enter the EU Customs Area. The new system, the Union Customs Code (UCC), came into effect in October 2013, as part of the modernization of customs services.

Imports of samples within a period not exceeding 24 months are free of customs fees.

Document Requirements

The documents required for the import of goods to Slovak territories are quite complicated. Luckily, most documents are normally completed by the Slovakia importer or by the customs agent.

In order to be eligible to enter Slovak territories, goods should comply a number of standards applied by the Slovak customs authorities before they are imported to Slovakia. The standards may include Product Certificate which is issued by Slovak State Testing Laboratory after all goods are tested.

The Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic has issued a regulation regarding list of products that need import license before they are imported to Slovakia in which all the documents must be fulfilled by the local importers in Slovakia. Those products that are not put on the list are free to be imported without any import licenses.

Tariffs and Taxes

  • Tariff
    • Please visit http://tariffdata.wto.org/default.aspx for more information about tariffs.
  • Taxes
    • Products that are imported to Slovakia are mainly subject to the following import duties:
    • Customs duties
      • This refers to the tariff and duties set by the WTO as well as Brussels Tariff nomenclature.
    • Value-added tax
      • The VAT for goods imported to Slovak territories is around 20%.
    • Excise tax
      • Excise tax is applied on the import of wine, beer, spirits, tobacco products and mineral oils.

Free Trade Agreements

No import duty is applied for goods from the EU member states. Import taxes are reduced for goods from the member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or the Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA).

Special Requirements

There are standards that every product needs to meet before being imported to Slovakia. These standards are:

  • Labeling
    • Instructions for use, product descriptions (especially food) and warranties must be printed and written in Slovak.
    • The price barcode must be printed on the package.
  • Packaging
    • Products shipped must be packaged in a safe condition, taking into account the nature of the goods in question, the mode of transportation used, the weather conditions that occur during the delivery of the goods.
    • The sales contract number and country of origin must be printed on the container used.