Customs in Europe reads a small set of documents and checks that they agree with each other. The product description, the quantity, the value, the weight and the origin have to be the same everywhere they appear. A discrepancy that looks trivial to the person who typed it is, to the officer reading it, the reason to open the container.
Who is responsible for what
The import declaration is not yours. It is made by the importer of record — the party established in the European Union that takes legal responsibility for the goods entering. What is yours is everything that declaration is built from. If your documents are wrong, their declaration is wrong, and the consequence lands on both of you.
The set, and what each one is for
| Document | What it is read for |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | The value on which duty and VAT are calculated, the parties, the Incoterm and the currency |
| Packing list | What is physically in each carton, and the weights — the document an inspection is checked against |
| Transport document | Bill of lading or air waybill: who may collect the goods, and on what terms |
| Proof of origin | Whether a preferential duty rate applies — only relevant where an agreement provides one |
| Conformity file | For regulated products: the declaration of conformity and the technical file behind the marking |
The four fields that cause most of the trouble
- The product description. A marketing name is not a description. Customs needs what the thing is and what it is made of.
- The customs code. It decides the duty rate. It is a decision with a cost, and it should not be made alone by the supplier.
- The declared value. Understating it is fraud, and the importer carries it. Overstating it costs them duty they need not pay.
- The weights. Gross and net, consistent between the packing list and the transport document.
Send the document set to the importer for review before the goods leave, not with the shipment. A correction made in your office costs an email; the same correction made at the port costs storage.
Where to read it yourself
Official pages, opened and checked on 15 October 2026. Where a rule changes, these are the addresses that change with it — this article does not.