As of 1 October 2019, an application for a BTI decision can only be submitted electronically via the Customs Portal to Hauptzollamt Hannover [Hannover Main Customs Office], Waterloostraße 5, 30169 Hannover, Germany.
Any applicant may be represented either directly or indirectly.
Indirect representation: The representative (customs agent, freight forwarder; e.g. parcel service, etc.) acts in their own name and on behalf of the represented party (importer or principal). The representative is therefore also responsible for all legal effects and becomes a customs and duty debtor, alongside the represented party. This case occurs, for example, when a company based outside the EU sends goods to a buyer in the EU and, with the option of carriage-free delivery, pays the duty and taxes. As the company is established outside the EU, and therefore is not established in the customs territory of the EU, it cannot lodge a customs declaration in its own name (Article 170(2) UCC).
Direct representation is therefore not possible in this case. The indirect representative then lodges the customs declaration in his own name and becomes a customs debtor. They also become the holder of the BTI.
Direct representation: The representative (e.g. customs agent, freight forwarder; e.g. parcel service provider, tax adviser, etc.) acts in the name and on behalf of the represented party (importer). All legal effects (e.g. import duty debt) are therefore borne only by the party repre-sented and not by the representative.
An individual application has to be submitted for each of the goods using the Customs Portal.
Once the application has been submitted, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt with an application number and an application accompanying document. If this has been indicated in the application, samples of the goods subject to examination must be sent in sufficient quantity, together with the application accompanying document, to the Hauptzollamt Hannover [Hanover Main Customs Office], Waterloostr. 5, 30169 Hannover, Germany. If this is not appropriate because of the specific nature of the goods, such as size, weight, perishability, value or similar, it is possible to upload images, data sheets or descriptions, etc. of the goods using the Customs Portal. Permissible file formats are JPEG and PDF. In order to comply with accessibility requirements, descriptions of uploaded images must be given in the corresponding field provided. Frozen, refrigerated, fresh products, samples of raw tobacco products and samples of dangerous goods are to be sent for examination only if the given authority specifically requested the applicant to provide them.
In principle, the BTI is issued free of charge. However, costs for tests and/or examinations of goods may be incurred where this is necessary for tariff classification. Such testing fees will be invoiced to you together with a “Notice of Assessment of Costs”. It should also be borne in mind that the goods may be subject to usage, damage or even destruction during the course of testing. This does not give rise to a claim for damages.
Instructions on how to complete the individual fields of the electronic application can be found in the following link.
The BTI is stored in your inbox in the Customs Portal.
A BTI may only be used by the holder of the decision. The holder is obligated to refer to it each time a declaration is made for a customs procedure.
A BTI is valid for three years and is binding for both the holder of the decision and the customs offices in the European Union.
The European Commission has made access to the EBTI database public via the internet. The internet address can be found at the following link.
This database contains all valid BTIs and their associated images, with the exception of confidential data. In the electronic application, information provided in boxes 1, 2, 4 and 10 is con-fidential. That information is subject to institutional data secrecy and will not be displayed in the EBTI database.
A BTI cannot be changed retrospectively. You can reapply for your BTI if it has become invalid or is about to become invalid (no earlier than 3 months before the expiry date of the BTI).
A complete overview of all information can be found at the link below. Link.
