Division D. Standard rate of duty

Customs duty shall be charged at the flat rate of 2,5 % ad valorem on goods:

• contained in consignments sent by one private individual to another, or

• contained in travellers' personal luggage,

provided that such importations are not of a commercial nature.

This flat-rate 2,5 % customs duty shall apply, provided that the intrinsic value of the goods subject to import duty does not exceed € 700 per consignment or per traveller.

Such flat-rate assessment shall not apply to goods for which the rate of duty in the schedule of customs duties is ‘free’ and to goods of Chapter 24 which are contained in a consignment or in travellers' personal luggage in amounts exceeding those laid down in Article 27 or pursuant to Article 41 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 of 16 November 2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty^f1.

Importations shall be treated as not being of a commercial nature if:

1. (a)

   in the case of goods contained in consignments sent by one private individual to another, such consignments:

   • are of an occasional nature,

   • contain goods exclusively for the personal use of the consignee or his family, which do not by their nature or quantity reflect any commercial interest,

   • are sent to the consignee by the consignor free of payment of any kind;

2. (b)

   in the case of goods contained in travellers' personal luggage, they:

   • are of an occasional nature, and

   • consist exclusively of goods for the personal use of the travellers or their families, or of goods intended as presents; the nature and quantity of such goods must not be such as might indicate that they are being imported for commercial reasons.

The flat rate of customs duty shall not apply to goods imported under the conditions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 if the person entitled has, before the said flat rate is applied to them, requested that they be subject to the customs duties appropriate to them. All the goods making up the consignment shall then be subject to the import duties which are appropriate to them, without prejudice to the duty-free admission provided for pursuant to Articles 25 to 27 and 41 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, import duties shall mean both customs duties and charges having equivalent effect and other import charges provided for under the common agricultural policy or under specific arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products.

Non-participating Member States may round off the amount in national currencies resulting from the conversion of the sum of € 700.

Non-participating Member States may maintain unchanged the equivalent in national currency of the sum of € 700 if, at the time of the annual adjustment provided for in Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 the conversion of this amount, before the rounding off provided for in paragraph 4, results in a change of less than 5 % in the equivalent in national currency, or in a reduction thereof.