How to research EU and U.S. import requirements before you quote

01

Use a live product-and-destination tool whenever one exists

Import requirements change. A Knowledge article can explain the research method, but it should not become a frozen tariff or regulatory database. For the European Union, Access2Markets lets users research a product by origin, destination and HS code and exposes tariffs, rules of origin, taxes and import requirements.

Its ROSA tool supports rules-of-origin self-assessment for applicable agreements. The result still needs to be read against the actual product and commercial route.

02

For U.S. food imports, separate food-law and plant-health questions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's food-import guidance covers responsibilities such as facility registration where applicable, Prior Notice and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program for relevant importers.

Plant and plant-product admissibility is a separate question. USDA APHIS states that requirements vary by commodity and country of origin and directs importers to the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database for current conditions.

03

Turn research into a quotation gate

The useful output is not a long copied checklist. It is a short set of route facts that the buyer and exporter can act on before price, delivery promise or document claims are finalised.

• Confirm product identity and likely HS/CN classification.
• Confirm importing country and, where relevant, the specific EU member state.
• Check tariff/preference and rules-of-origin route.
• Check food, plant-health, treatment, labelling and documentation requirements.
• Record the source URL and review date for time-sensitive findings.