Germany is the largest consumer market in the EU and one of the few destinations where a private buyer can import directly from a Chinese supplier without paying duty on small parcels. But the moment your single shipment crosses €150 — or your rolling annual volume crosses €10,000 — the customs system, the EU VAT regime, and German product-safety law all activate at once. This guide walks you through every step of an EU-compliant import, in the order you'll actually hit them.
If you've imported into the US or UK before, the German import looks "simple" — and then your first shipment lands a €2,300 invoice from your broker. Three line items catch first-time importers every single time:
Unlike a domestic sale where you collect VAT and remit it quarterly, an import into Germany makes you (the importer) liable for VAT the moment goods clear customs. You pay it to German customs at clearance, then reclaim it on your next VAT return if you're VAT-registered. If you're not registered, you eat it as a cost.
Customs uses Cost + Insurance + Freight as the duty base. If your factory quotes FOB Shenzhen $10,000 and you pay $1,800 ocean freight + $120 insurance, your duty base is $11,920 — not $10,000. Freight forwarders who quote "duty on FOB" are using an outdated rule.
If your product falls under any of the 30+ EU directives with CE marking (electronics, toys, machinery, PPE, medical devices, radio equipment, cosmetics), you must have a Declaration of Conformity, a Technical File, and (for some categories) a third-party Notified Body certificate. Customs can hold a non-compliant shipment indefinitely, and German market surveillance (Marktüberwachung) can fine you up to €100,000.
An EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is your unique ID for every EU customs transaction. You can't file a customs declaration without one, you can't be the importer of record without one, and most freight forwarders won't even open an account for you without one.
USt-IdNr. (VAT ID) if you have one, and your local Finanzamt.DE + 9 digits number by email in 1–2 business days.Non-EU residents can still apply for an EU EORI but you need a customs representative (indirect representation) — usually a German freight forwarder or customs broker — who files on your behalf using their own EORI plus your declared EORI. Section 06 below covers this in detail.
DE123456789012345 — country code "DE" + 15 digits. If your EORI starts with anything else, you're registered in the wrong member state. Germany-specific obligations (like Verpackungsgesetz registration) only apply to DE-EORI holders.
Germany has two VAT rates: 19% standard (most goods) and 7% reduced (food, books, medical, cultural items). The rate is determined by the HS code, not by your resale price.
You charge yourself 19% on the CIF value at customs, pay it to Zoll, then deduct it as input VAT on your next Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung (monthly or quarterly VAT return). Net cash effect: zero, assuming your output VAT from sales exceeds your import VAT. This is the cleanest scenario.
Same mechanics, but you pay German import VAT at 19% to German customs, then reclaim it via the EU VIES VAT refund procedure (electronic form, 6-month deadline, country-specific portal). Dutch, French, and Polish importers do this regularly. Refund timeline: 4–8 months.
You pay 19% German import VAT at customs and you cannot reclaim it, because you have no German VAT return to claim input VAT against. You can recover it only by:
DE-VAT-ID acting as importer. This sounds convenient, but it means Amazon — not you — owns the customs record. If a customer returns a defective item and you want a refund or replacement shipped from China, the customs declaration is locked to Amazon's records. Many sellers discover this after the third shipment.
The letters CE on a product are not decoration. They are a legal declaration by you (the manufacturer or authorised representative) that the product complies with every applicable EU directive. There is no central CE license; you self-certify, but you must keep evidence.
Ask three questions in order:
Germany uses the EU-wide ATLAS (Automatisiertes Tarif- und Lokales Zollabwicklungssystem) for customs declarations. You won't interact with ATLAS directly — your broker will. What you need to know:
For first-time importers, indirect representation is standard. Your broker will charge €35–€80 per declaration plus a 2–3% Zollabfertigungsgebühr on duty for non-registered businesses (registered importers avoid this).
Common German entry ports: Hamburg (largest container port), Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Frankfurt (air cargo). Most sea freight is unstuffed at Hamburg, then trucked or railed to inland destinations.
Since 1 July 2021, the EU removed the €22 VAT exemption for low-value parcels. The new rule has two layers:
The seller (or marketplace) can register for Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) and charge EU VAT at point of sale. The parcel then enters the EU without any customs declaration at all — Deutsche Post / DHL just scans the IOSS number on the label and lets it through.
This is the path most successful Chinese marketplaces use (AliExpress, Temu, Shein, Amazon Global). IOSS registration is free via the German Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) portal.
The moment a single parcel exceeds €150 in declared value, it goes through full customs. Even a €151 gift triggers this.
If you order two €100 parcels on the same day from the same Chinese supplier, German customs can — and routinely does — treat them as a single shipment exceeding €150, and apply full duty + 19% VAT on the combined €200. The legal basis is Article 75 (3) of the Union Customs Code.
Most online "duty calculators" give you the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) rate from the EU's Common External Tariff. That's the starting point, but three modifiers change the answer:
The EU has active anti-dumping duties on hundreds of Chinese product categories. Steel, aluminium, ceramics, solar panels, e-bikes, footwear, glass fibre, organic chemicals — if your product is in any of these, the headline duty rate is doubled, tripled, or replaced entirely. Check the EU Access2Markets trade defence database before you quote a customer.
The same product can legally carry different HS codes depending on material, function, or even packaging. A "leather wallet" and a "leather phone case" can be classified differently (4202 vs 4202.31 vs 8517.71) with duty rates from 3% to 8%. This is the single biggest source of customs disputes in Germany. Get a Binding Tariff Information (BTI) ruling from the Hauptzollamt before your first big shipment — €0 cost, 3-month turnaround.
If your goods contain non-Chinese components or are processed in a third country, the origin certificate may move them from CN to another country. This affects both duty rate and trade defence measures. The supplier's invoice line-item breakdown matters here.
| Product type | Typical HS chapter | MFN duty (CN) | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic household goods | 3924 | 6.5% | REACH SVHC |
| Apparel (knitted) | 61xx | 12% | Labeling requirements |
| Footwear | 64xx | 8–17% | Anti-dumping on certain types |
| Consumer electronics | 8518 / 8528 | 0–14% | CE + EMC + RoHS + RED |
| Steel fasteners | 7318 | 3.7% | Steel safeguard measures |
| Children's toys | 9503 | 0% | EN 71 + CE + GPSR |
| Furniture | 9403 | 0–5.6% | Formaldehyde / REACH |
German customs uses reference prices for many categories and routinely rejects invoices where the unit price is below 70% of comparable market data. The penalty is 4× the duty difference, plus the importer goes on the Zoll's risk register. We've seen €40,000 adjustments on €8,000 invoices.
Your supplier wants to declare FOB $5,000 for their margin protection. You want to declare CIF $6,800 so customs gets the right value. The two are reconciled by an amended commercial invoice you prepare and attach. Your broker files the amended version; the supplier never sees it.
Since 2022, the EU has active sanctions on Chinese entities. If your supplier is on the EU sanctions list (different from the US OFAC list — there is no overlap), the shipment can be seized and you face criminal exposure. Check both before each PO. Free at sanctionsmap.eu.
German market surveillance will pull your listing. Origin must be consistent across invoice, packaging, DoC, and customs declaration.
Already mentioned in Section 03. If you scale to FBA, you'll outgrow the IOSS / Amazon-importer setup within 6–12 months and need your own DE VAT ID + EORI. Budget €3,000–€8,000 in first-year compliance costs (fiscal rep + LUCID + stiftung ear + EU-AR + accountant).
If you're non-EU, technically yes — but a German-based indirect customs representative will act as IoR for you. They file the declaration under their EORI with your EORI referenced. Cost: included in the broker's declaration fee.
For correctly documented FCL/LCL: 1–3 business days from vessel arrival. For air freight: same day if documents are pre-filed. For misdeclared or sampled shipments: 5–15 business days.
Yes, under a CPC (Customs Procedure Code) for samples with no commercial value — but the supplier must zero-value the invoice, and the sample must be marked "Muster" (sample) and be unmarketable (e.g. cut, holes punched). Otherwise full duty applies.
DHL Express / FedEx with DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) terms. They handle ATLAS, pay the duty, and bill you. Expect €160–€280 total landed cost for an €800 prototype from Shenzhen. This is far cheaper than the cost of your time figuring out ATLAS yourself for a one-off.
No. Pan-EU FBA lets Amazon move your inventory across EU countries once it's in their network, but the import itself still happens at one entry port (often Poland or Czechia, where Amazon's logistics hubs are). The VAT and duty are handled by Amazon's entities. You still need your own VAT registrations to sell on Amazon.de.
Not technically — your VAT refund can go to any SEPA IBAN. But German tax authorities are slow to refund to non-German accounts. Most importers open a German business account (N26 Business, FYRST, Kontist) within the first 6 months.
Late fees start at 10% of the due VAT, capped at €25,000 per return. After 6 months late, the Finanzamt will issue a Schätzungsbescheid (estimated assessment) using your previous returns, often to your detriment.
Yes — but you'll pay 19% VAT at customs and cannot reclaim it. For repeated personal imports above €1,000/year, the customs office will start asking why you aren't VAT-registered.