What Is an EUR.1 Certificate and When Do You Need One?

An EUR.1 certificate is a document that helps customs officials determine if a shipment of goods qualifies for a reduced or waived import duty. 

The European Union (EU) is the world’s third-largest economy, valued at about $21 trillion in 2026, and offering businesses outside the region many opportunities for expansion. When a business ships products into or out of the EU, the destination country typically charges an import duty, or a tax on the value of the goods. The EUR.1 is a unique document that can save businesses money on those duties.

Learn more about EUR.1 certificates, how they work, how to obtain one, and when they might apply to your business.

What is an EUR.1 certificate?

An EUR.1 certificate, also called a movement certificate, is a shipping document issued by a customs authority or an authorized chamber of commerce. It certifies that a shipment’s goods meet a specific trade agreement’s rules of origin, which is the criteria used to determine which country a product counts as officially originating from. This determines whether it qualifies for a reduced import/export duty. 

The EU has a number of free trade agreements in place with certain countries and trade blocs around the world. An EUR.1 certificate is the document customs officers look at to verify that a shipment meets one of those agreements’ terms.

An EUR.1 certificate specifically certifies:

Country of origin

Which country the goods are officially considered to be from, based on where they were produced or sufficiently processed. For example, even though cacao beans are not native to Switzerland, chocolate bars made from Colombian cacao at a factory in Switzerland would likely be deemed to have been sufficiently processed in Switzerland, thereby making it the country of origin over Colombia.

Compliance with a specific trade agreement’s rules of origin

That the goods meet the origin criteria set out in the relevant agreement between the EU and the partner country. Here, Swiss chocolate might not be deemed to have originated in Switzerland if the processing that took place in Switzerland did not meet rules-of-origin criteria in a Switzerland-EU trade agreement. Rules of origin vary by agreement and product category, so the same item may qualify under one partner country’s agreement but not another’s.

Eligibility for a reduced or waived import duty

Because the goods meet those origin criteria, the shipment qualifies for the preferential tariff rate specified in the trade agreement, instead of the standard rate.

Without an EUR.1 certificate, a shipment doesn’t qualify for the reduced tariff, and customs charges the standard import duty. The standard import duty typically is set by the destination country’s tariff schedule and varies by product type. That can mean an unexpected bill for the importer, delays while the paperwork gets sorted out, or, in the case of an audit, a demand to pay duties that were mistakenly waived.

When do you need an EUR.1 certificate?

An EUR.1 certificate typically becomes necessary when a business ships goods worth more than £6,000 (around $7,000) between the EU and a partner country under one of the EU’s preferential trade agreements. This isn’t a threshold set separately by each trade agreement, it’s the EU’s own default floor under its internal customs regulations, which applies automatically unless a specific agreement overrides it.

The certificate is issued once per shipment, by the customs authority or authorized chamber of commerce in the country the goods are exported from, regardless of whether they’re leaving the EU or entering it. For example, a Swiss candy manufacturer shipping chocolate to the EU gets an EUR.1 from Swiss customs, just as a Greek exporter shipping olive oil to Switzerland gets one from the Greek customs authority. 

Goods moving between EU member states don’t require an EUR.1 certificate because there are no national customs borders among them.

Many non-EU countries have signed one or more trade agreements with the union. Some of these partner countries include the following: 

• Switzerland and Norway operate under the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) agreement.

• North Macedonia and Serbia trade with the EU under individual Stablisation and Association Process agreements.

• Morocco and Tunisia are signatories to individual Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements. 

The EU also has non-reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements with African, Caribbean, and South Pacific countries such as Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and Fiji. The agreements give exporters in those regions preferential access to EU markets without requiring their home countries to offer the same terms to EU exporters in return.

Not every EU trade agreement utilizes the EUR.1 certificate. Trade between the EU and South Korea, for example, is governed by a free trade agreement but instead relies in both directions on an invoice declaration. A statement of origin is included on the commercial invoice, but a formal EUR.1 certificate isn’t needed or accepted as proof of origin under this agreement. For this reason, make sure to confirm which document applies to the partner country before assuming an EUR.1 certificate is required.

For shipments of preferential-origin goods valued below the £6,000 threshold, an exporter can typically self-certify origin with an invoice declaration. 

Businesses that ship regularly to or from the EU and want to avoid the need for a new certificate for each shipment can apply for approved exporter status, or Registered Exporter (REX) status. This lets customs pre-approve a business to self-certify product origin for shipments worth more than the £6,000 threshold.

Can a US business use an EUR.1 certificate?

No. An EUR.1 certificate applies only to goods subject to free trade agreements with the EU. There is no formal free trade agreement between the US and EU. Therefore, a US-based business shipping goods made in the US generally can’t use one to get a reduced rate on customs duty in the EU. 

However, a US-based company with manufacturing or fulfillment operations abroad (say in Mexico or in EU member-based countries) may qualify. That’s provided those goods meet the relevant trade agreement’s rules of origin for where operations are based. 

Note that shipping from that country usually isn’t enough on its own. For example, a US company with a factory in Mexico would need the goods made there to satisfy the EU-Mexico trade agreement’s rules of origin to count as originating from Mexico rather than the US. This usually means the product was processed substantially in Mexico.

How does an EUR.1 certificate work?

The EUR.1 certificate connects several parties: 

• The importer/exporter
• The customs administration (the government body overseeing imports and exports)
• The customs office in the destination country that applies the preferential rate

The certification process starts with determining eligibility. Before applying, the exporting company confirms the goods comply with the relevant trade agreement’s rules of origin.

Once eligibility is confirmed, the exporter submits an application with the invoice/bill of sale and supporting documents (such as a supplier’s declaration of origin, or production records) to the competent authorities. This is generally the customs authorities or an authorized chamber of commerce in the exporting country. If approved, the certificate is then stamped and issued.

Once issued, an EUR.1 certificate is typically valid for several months or a year, depending on the destination country’s rules. It travels with the shipment and gets presented to customs in the receiving country, alongside the commercial invoice and any other required supporting documents, as proof the products qualify for preferential origin.

The certificate has traditionally been a physical, paper document, stamped and signed by the issuing authority. Many countries still require it in that form, such as the UK and Egypt. A growing number, however, have begun offering electronic versions that customs can verify online. Switzerland, for example, is piloting an electronic EUR.1 certificate program, with certification verifiable via QR code for EU trade in March 2026.

Customs administrations can audit shipments after the fact, so it’s advisable to keep any supplier’s declarations and relevant production records on file even after the certificate is issued.

How to apply for an EUR.1 certificate

1. Confirm the Harmonized System (HS) code and rules of origin
2. Gather supporting documents
3. Submit application
4. Pay issuance fee
5. Wait for verification

Although the issuing bodies and fees can vary, the application process follows a similar sequence across most EU countries, as follows:

1. Confirm the Harmonized System (HS) code and rules of origin

Look up the product’s HS code, a standardized classification number issued by the World Customs Organization (WCO), using a tariff database like the EU’s TARIC. Then check which rules of origin apply to that code under the destination country’s trade agreement, using a tool like the EU’s Rules of Origin Self-Assessment tool (ROSA).

2. Gather supporting documents

These typically include a commercial invoice, an export declaration, a supplier’s declaration if the exporter isn’t the manufacturer, and any production or sourcing records needed to prove the goods are of preferential origin.

3. Submit application 

Applications go to the customs authorities in the exporting country. Many issuing bodies let exporters apply online, though some destination countries do not accept electronic signatures and require an original signature on a paper document instead (such as Iceland or Egypt).

4. Pay issuance fee

Fees vary by issuing country and are generally a fixed cost per certificate. In the UK, for example, the London Chamber of Commerce (an authorized chamber of commerce under the UK’s free trade agreement with the EU) charges about 30 pounds ($41) for members and £61 for non-members per certificate, plus an additional fee for expedited processing.

5. Wait for verification

The issuing authority reviews the application and confirms the products comply with the rules of origin, then stamps and issues the certificate. Processing time depends on the issuing body, so it’s worth starting the process well before an anticipated shipment date.

You can request an EUR.1 certificate after the goods have shipped. This is called a retrospective certificate, and the application typically needs to note that no certificate was issued previously for the shipment. If a certificate is lost, an exporter can request a duplicate that must match the original exactly and note that it’s not the original form.

International shipping tools that complement an EUR.1 certificate

An EUR.1 is only one piece of a larger customs compliance process, and a few Shopify tools can help manage the rest.

Shopify Managed Markets

Shopify Managed Markets automates customs documentation, HS code identification, and delivered-duty-paid (DDP) shipping labels for cross-border orders. Having a DDP label means duties and taxes are collected upfront so the customer isn’t billed again at delivery. 

“Having Managed Markets take care of the customs portion ensures that is done correctly and makes our lives easier,” says Jake Pereira, chief operating officer of Impact Dog Crates.

Duties and import taxes applied at checkout

Shopify can calculate and collect duties and import taxes at checkout automatically, based on each product’s HS code and country of origin. That lets a business either build the cost into product prices or show it transparently at checkout (required in the EU). This avoids leaving customers with a surprise bill at delivery, says David Kong, founder of the New York–based wine glassware brand Glasvin.

Shopify App Store apps

For catalogs that change often, apps like Tariff Code Compliance in the Shopify App Store can generate HS code suggestions as products are added or updated, and sync approved codes back to each product’s customs fields.