An updated list of tariff suspensions and autonomous tariff quotas, a new regulation to protect the steel market, and a further package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus: these are the EU customs updates from this summer.
With effect from July this year, the Council of the EU updated the list of tariff suspensions for selected industrial and agricultural products that are currently in short supply in the EU. New products have been added to the list, and some existing suspensions have been extended.
A tariff suspension – reducing import duty to zero or at least to a rate below the standard tariff – may be applied when goods are imported from third countries into the Czech Republic (and the EU as a whole) provided that the imported product qualifies for the relevant suspension. In other words, it must correspond to the applicable tariff code and product description or technical specification. This can be checked using the TARIC web application (Taric CZ | Celní správa ČR) and subsequently verified against Council Regulation (EU) 2026/1463. The suspension is claimed in the import customs declaration. However, if an importer fails to claim it when the goods are released for free circulation, the customs relief may also be claimed retrospectively.
The list of autonomous tariff quotas was also updated in July. These likewise allow importers to benefit from a reduced (zero) customs duty rate. Unlike tariff suspensions, however, tariff quota relief is available only up to the specified quantity imported into the EU, and quota usage must therefore be monitored.
Tariff quotas are also relevant to the EU’s new measure to protect the steel market, Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, which introduced tariff quotas in July for specified categories of steel products totalling approximately 18 million tonnes annually. In this case, however, the tariff quota operates differently from the quotas referred to in the preceding paragraph, as an additional duty equal to 50% of the customs value of the goods applies once the quota has been exhausted.
We also draw attention to the EU’s 21st package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, aimed primarily at combating circumvention of the sanctions already in force. Further entities have become subject to stricter restrictions on exports of dual-use goods and technologies, and the ban on imports of goods that generate significant revenue for Russia and Belarus has also been extended to include certain metal ores, glass products and other goods.