Exporting goods to the EU

If you're exporting goods to Europe, you need to do the following:

Appoint an authorised EU representative - Manufacturers in non-EU countries who wish to sell their products in the EU must appoint an authorised representative established in the EU to act on their behalf. Find out how to appoint an EU-recognised notified body on the GOV.UK website.
Label your goods correctly - Most goods that are exported to the EU need specific labelling in the right language. Find out more about the EU labelling and packaging requirements on the European Commission website.
Meet EU product safety requirements (if you need a Certificate of Conformity) - As an exporter, you are responsible for designing and manufacturing products that meet all applicable safety requirements, including carrying out the required conformity assessment procedure. Any testing required by EU legislation must use EU notified bodies. UK test houses no longer meet these requirements. Certificates will also need to be in the language of the member state where they will be placed on the market. Find out more about conformity assessments on the European Commission website.
Register for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number. You need an EORI number that starts with GB to export goods.
Decide how you want to make customs declarations and whether you need to get someone to deal with customs for you.

If you don't follow the new rules

your goods may be refused entry
you will be responsible for paying the costs of examination
you will need to pay for storage
you will need to pay to rectify the problems
and if the issues cannot be rectified, you will need to pay for the goods to be destroyed.

For more information about how the new rules affect how certain goods are exported to the EU, read our guidance documents below:

If you need more personalised advice for your business, get in touch with Trading Standards.

For more advice relating to the new rules visit one of the following websites: