My French company imports from an Israeli supplier. What paperwork do we need for duty-free entry into the EU?

Duty-free treatment for Israeli goods entering France is not automatic and it is not a function of where the seller is registered. It is a documentary regime set out in Protocol 4 to the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and it turns on a EUR.1 movement certificate endorsed by Israeli Customs or, below EUR 6,000 per consignment, an invoice declaration in the prescribed wording. Get the paperwork wrong and the goods still clear, but at the full third-country tariff.

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Detailed Answer

Two proofs of origin exist and the threshold is what separates them. A EUR.1 movement certificate is issued by the Israeli customs authority on the exporter's application, and it is the standard instrument for any consignment of substance. An invoice declaration, printed or stamped on the invoice, delivery note or other commercial document, can be made out by any exporter where the total value of the originating products in the consignment does not exceed EUR 6,000, and by an approved exporter for any value at all, using the authorisation number granted by Israeli Customs. Either way the exporter must be able to produce, on demand from Israeli Customs, the evidence that the goods actually qualify: manufacture in Israel, or sufficient working under the Protocol's list rules, not simply a change of packaging. There is one requirement peculiar to this agreement. Because the EU does not extend preference to goods originating in territories administered since 1967, Israeli proofs of origin must state the name of the city, village or industrial zone and the postal code where production conferring origin took place, and since 16 May 2023 EU import declarations claiming the preference carry the specific document code that reflects this arrangement. An Israeli EUR.1 that names no locality will be rejected by French customs however genuine the goods are.

A French buyer feels the consequences before the Israeli seller does, because the customs debt in France is the importer's. The practical protections are contractual and belong in the purchase order. Require the supplier to provide a valid proof of origin as a condition of payment, require the origin documents to identify the production locality, and take an indemnity covering duty, interest and penalties if the origin claim is later disallowed. Verification is the real risk: French customs can ask Israeli Customs to check a EUR.1 years after the goods were consumed, the Israeli exporter must keep the supporting records, and if the answer is unsatisfactory or slow the preference is withdrawn retrospectively and assessed against you. Where the supplier is also new to you, the origin file and the payment file should be built at the same time, and our answer on securing payment terms with an Israeli supplier as a foreign buyer covers the commercial half of the same negotiation.

In Practice: Protocol 4 to the EU-Israel Association Agreement allows an invoice declaration by any exporter where the consignment does not exceed EUR 6,000, and by an approved exporter holding an authorisation number from Israeli Customs for any value; above that threshold a EUR.1 certificate endorsed by Israeli Customs is required. Under the EU-Israel technical arrangement the proof must name the city, village or industrial zone and postal code of production, and the EU introduced the corresponding declaration code on 16 May 2023. A EUR.1 is normally issued within 2 to 5 working days, and a retrospective verification request typically takes 6 to 10 months to answer, during which French customs may secure the duty. To size the exposure: a year of shipments worth EUR 250,000 losing the preference at a common industrial tariff of 6.5% is about EUR 16,250, roughly NIS 65,000, assessed against the importer rather than the Israeli seller.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The supplier assembles in Israel from imported components. Origin then depends on the Protocol's list rule for that tariff heading, and an assumption that assembly equals origin is the single most common reason a preference is disallowed on verification.
• You have been importing on invoice declarations above EUR 6,000 without checking whether the supplier holds approved exporter status. Those declarations are invalid, and the exposure is retrospective across every consignment.
• French customs has opened a post-clearance verification. The reply goes through Israeli Customs and the Israeli exporter's records, not through you, and the file has to be assembled in Israel while the deadline runs in France.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We check on the Israeli side whether your supplier's goods genuinely qualify, whether it holds approved exporter status, and whether its EUR.1 applications are being made in a form French customs will accept, and we draft the origin and indemnity clauses into the supply contract.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.