EU Commission Decision no. 491 of 3 Apri 2020 on relief from import duties and VAT exemption on importation granted for goods needed to combat the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak during 2020.

Exempt goods are subject to distribution free of charge to interested persons or those who are directly involved in the fight against virus clusters and that are contained in a list supplied by the European Commission, and that Member States can integrate according to their own particular national needs.

In implementation of the Decision, Member States are also required to draw up a list of the Entities/Organisations which are entitled to benefit and which, on the basis of the EU provisions (articles 74 et seq of Regulation EC 1186/2009 and articles 51 et seq of Directive EC 132/2009), fall exclusively into the following categories:

  • State organisations including state entities, public entities and other public law bodies
  • Accident and Emergency departments
  • Other charitable or philanthropic organisations which have been been approved by the competent authorities.

    In this section you can consult updated information regarding types of goods and subjects that fall within the ambit of application of Decision 491/2020 within the ambit of application of Decision 491/2020

     

Direct Customs clearance – electronic procedure:
The service “Management of importation bookings with exemption from customs duty and VAT (DECISION (EU) 2020/491)” to be used for the management of bookings which are exempt from customs duty and VAT is available, after logging into the reserved area, by following the “interactive”-> Customs” path.