On 25 March 2026, the EU General Court ruled in Lidikar (T-296/25) that EU customs authorities may rely on export data supplied by the customs authority of the exporting country.
The case
On 18 January 2021, a Bulgarian company, acting as indirect representative, declared a car damaged in an accident, imported from Canada. The declared value was CAD 3,310, about EUR 2,100. Under the Canada-EU customs cooperation agreement, Canadian customs later supplied a list of vehicles, which showed CAD 15,889, about EUR 10,100, for this car.
The Bulgarian authorities asked for evidence. The company supplied invoices, a packing list and a bill of lading, but said it had not kept the commercial file. Customs rejected the transaction value and set the value under the fallback method in Article 74(3) of the Union Customs Code.
The ruling
Data available in the EU. The concept is broad. It refers to data that EU customs authorities can actually use, so it is not limited to data collected in the EU. It also does not depend on whether declarants can consult the foreign database.
A reasonable means. Using the export price declared for goods going to the EU can be a reasonable way to set the value. The ban on using prices for export to a third country does not cover this situation, because here the export was to the EU itself.
The fallback method remains a last resort, for cases where the declarant does not provide sufficiently accurate or reliable information.
What to check
- Assume that the export declaration and the import declaration will be compared. Authorities exchange this data.
- Keep the full commercial file, including payment documents and correspondence. The company in this case had not, and that weakened its position.
- If the export value differs from your purchase price, record the reason at the time of import.
mr. J. el Khalfioui LL.M.