Guidance

Country codes for the Customs Declaration Service

Find codes to use in the Customs Declaration Service (Appendix 13).

Documents

Details

Country codes which may be used on a customs declaration submitted to the Customs Declaration Service. There are 6 separate lists provided:

  • table 1 is sorted by country code
  • table 2 is sorted by country name
  • table 3 is a list of non-standard country codes and their definitions
  • table 3a is a list non-standard country codes and their definitions (Continental Shelf)

Table 3a has extra columns which are explained below:

  • IM — For trade with countries and territories situated outside of the Customs Territory of the Union* and for placing non-Union goods under a customs procedure in the context of trade between Member States (Customs duty, VAT and Excise duty due)
  • CO — All the goods being declared are from a Special Fiscal Territory of the EU or a territory with which the EU has formed a Customs Union, including EU Continental Shelf areas (VAT and Excise duty due)
  • EX — For trade with countries and territories situated outside of the Customs Territory of the Union*

*In GB the Continental Shelf of the UK or an EU Member State is treated as a third county (Row) for the purpose of customs duty and other charges and the code IM must be entered in Data Element (DE) 1/1.

Appendix 5 should be consulted to identify any additional codes that are required to be declared on the declaration specific to the circumstances of the import/export.

Table 4 details the Special Fiscal Territories and countries with which the EU has a Customs Union, and where CO must be entered in Data Element 1/1 for goods that are dispatched from the countries listed.

Table 5 details the preference group codes that are specific to Data Element 5/16 (Country of preferential origin) on declarations where a Preference or Origin Certificate is issued in the name of a group, instead of in the name of a specific country — no currency codes are associated with preference group codes.

The information included in tables 1 and 2 is identical. An asterisk (*) in table 1 or 2 indicates that the country is a special territory or a territory with which the EU has a Customs Union.

A separate list can be found in table 4.

Published 1 August 2018
Last updated 1 September 2022 + show all updates
  1. New table 3A has been added, covering Continental Shelf information. Tables 1, 2, 3, 3a, 4 and 5 are now in ODS format (replacing csv).

  2. First published.