Import from Türkiye
When importing from Türkiye, the customs union makes industrial goods duty free with A.TR. The certificate does not remove antidumping duty, which attaches to where the goods were made. Plain agricultural goods, coal and steel sit outside and need proof of origin instead.
The customs union does not cover everything
Türkiye is the only country outside the EU with which the EU has a customs union. It rests on free circulation rather than origin, and that is an important difference. But it covers only part of the goods.
- Industrial goods
- Inside the customs union. Duty free with A.TR, wherever the goods originate.
- Processed agricultural goods
- Inside, but with an agricultural component charged as a separate duty.
- Plain agricultural goods
- Outside. A separate trade agreement and proof of origin apply here, not A.TR.
- Coal and steel
- Outside. A separate free trade agreement from 1996, and this is also where the safeguard bites.
What sits where
The test is simple. Look the commodity code up against country code TR in the tariff. If there is a customs union duty row, the goods sit inside and A.TR is the right paper. If it is missing, they sit outside, and you need proof of origin instead, either an invoice declaration or movement certificate EUR.1.
The customs union asks where the goods were last in free circulation. Antidumping asks where they were made. Two questions, two answers, two paper trails.
What the certificate is worth
Measured in the tariff on 16 September 2026, per ten digit commodity code.
- Cotton t-shirt
- Twelve per cent without A.TR. Zero with it.
- Parts for a petrol engine
- Two point seven per cent without A.TR. Zero with it.
- Without the certificate
- There is no other route to zero. The customs union rate is not an origin preference, so Turkish origin does not help on its own.
- Steel outside quota
- Fifty per cent since 1 July 2026, and it hits countries the EU has preference agreements with as well.
Duty rate with and without A.TR
On a textile consignment with a customs value of 400 000 kronor the difference is 48 000 kronor in duty, plus 12 000 in VAT because VAT is calculated on the duty as well. The certificate is therefore not a formality but the single largest item in the calculation.
How A.TR works
- Who issues it
- The exporter applies and the customs authority in the country of export endorses it. On export from Sweden, Swedish Customs stamp box 12.
- Validity
- Four months from issue. The certificate must be presented to customs in the importing country within that period.
- No value threshold
- There is none. No certificate is needed for a traveller’s non-commercial goods, or for postal consignments without the yellow label.
- Retrospective issue
- Possible by way of exception, on grounds of error, oversight or special circumstances. Box 8 is then endorsed ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY. An approved exporter may not do this alone and has to go through Swedish Customs.
Movement certificate A.TR in practice
If you are exporting to Türkiye instead, the same thing applies in mirror image. You apply, Swedish Customs stamp, and your Turkish buyer avoids the duty. With regular exports, authorisation as an approved exporter lets you stamp it yourself.
The trap: free circulation does not remove trade policy
This is the point where imports from Türkiye become expensive without warning, and it is worth understanding properly.
A.TR says the goods may move freely within the customs union. It says nothing about where they were made. Antidumping duties, countervailing duties and safeguards attach to origin, and they therefore continue to apply even when the goods come from Türkiye. The agreement between the EU and Türkiye says so expressly, and the tariff carries its own footnote about it on Türkiye's rows.
In practice that means goods can be duty free and at the same time carry a charge of tens of per cent. It also means you must be able to state the origin in the declaration, not just show the certificate.
Steel has been its own question since the summer
Coal and steel sit outside the customs union and have their own agreement. On top of that sits the EU safeguard, and it was rewritten completely on 1 July 2026. Zero within quota, fifty per cent outside it, and it applies expressly to countries the EU has preference agreements with too.
The quotas are country specific and administered quarterly, which makes timing decisive. A consignment landing just after a quota runs out costs half the value of the goods on top. From October 2026 there is a further requirement to show where the crude steel was first poured in liquid form.
The rest of the import
Customs value, declaration, documents and payment look the same whatever the country. That is set out on the import declaration page, and an overview of the whole import chain is on the import page.
Read on
If the goods fall outside the customs union, proof of origin is needed instead, for example an EUR1 certificate.
Common questions
Does A.TR remove the antidumping duty?
No. This is the most expensive misconception in trade with Türkiye. A.TR certifies that goods are in free circulation. Antidumping and countervailing duties attach to the origin of the goods. The two things live side by side.
The tariff says so outright in a footnote on Türkiye's rows: antidumping and countervailing measures continue to apply to goods originating in the countries concerned even if imported from Türkiye. The agreement itself also requires you to state the origin in the declaration when such measures are in play.
There are also measures aimed at goods consigned from Türkiye whatever origin is declared. Cold rolled flat stainless steel has its own commodity code for exactly that, with countervailing duty, since May 2024.
How do I know whether my goods sit inside the customs union?
Look the commodity code up against country code TR in the tariff. If there is a customs union duty row, the goods sit inside and A.TR is the right document. If the row is missing they sit outside, and you need proof of origin under the agricultural agreement or the coal and steel agreement instead. The test takes half a minute and settles which paper to ask your supplier for.
What applies to steel right now?
The rules were replaced this summer. The old safeguard expired on 30 June 2026 and a new regime has applied since 1 July. Within the tariff quota the rate is zero. Outside the quota, or for product categories without a quota, it is fifty per cent.
Two things make it severe. It applies expressly to all imports, including from countries the EU has preference agreements with, and the only excluded origins are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Türkiye has its own country specific quotas administered quarterly, which means the same goods can cost zero in January and fifty per cent in March.
From 1 October 2026 the importer must also be able to show where the crude steel was first poured in liquid form. Ask your supplier for that evidence now.
Are there antidumping duties against Türkiye?
Yes, several, and it is not only a steel question. Hot rolled flat steel products of Turkish origin have carried antidumping duty since 2021, with a residual rate of 7.3 per cent and company specific rates for a number of named producers. An expiry review was opened in July 2026, so the rate may change.
Further measures in force cover corrosion resistant steel, steel bulb flats and ceramic tiles. The last is worth noting, because it shows the risk does not stop at steel.
Since September 2026 imports of welded steel mesh from Türkiye are also being registered. Registration is not a duty, but it allows duty to be charged retroactively on what was brought in during the period.
The countervailing duty on rainbow trout from Türkiye, by contrast, lapsed in May 2026.
These are examples, not a complete list. The tariff can only be queried by commodity code, not by country, so the check has to be made against your specific code. That takes us a few minutes.
What is the document actually called?
Movement certificate A.TR. The abbreviation does not stand for Admission Temporaire or Temporary Admission. That etymology belongs to the ATA carnet, used for temporary admission, which is an entirely different thing. More on what the certificate attests is on the page about the A.TR certificate.
Can you file the declaration in Türkiye for us?
Not ourselves. Turkish law requires the declarant to be established in the customs territory of Türkiye, and indirect representation may only be carried out by a licensed Turkish customs consultant. We handle the Swedish side and coordinate with a Turkish representative when the case calls for it. Be wary of anyone promising to declare in Türkiye in their own name.
Can the duty rate be negotiated?
No. Duty follows the Common Customs Tariff and is legislation, not a contract term. Türkiye is also bound to apply the same tariff against third countries and may not apply a lower one. The two lawful routes to a different rate are binding tariff information, valid for three years, and appealing a decision that has been made. Everything else is sales talk.
What happens if the documentation is wrong?
On the Swedish side the sanction is called a customs surcharge and it is decided by Swedish Customs, not by a court. It is twenty per cent of the duty that would otherwise not have been charged, and ten per cent where deductible VAT is concerned. A late declaration carries a late filing fee of 500 kronor, or 1 000 kronor after a reminder. Fines are something else, criminal in nature and tried in the ordinary courts, and they require a prosecution.
