---
id: KB-NO-022
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/regulation/buying-from-outside-the-european-union
idioma: en
categoria: normativa
subcategoria: cadena
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-010, KB-NO-015, KB-NO-028]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-029, KB-DI-021, KB-LG-019]
---

# Buying from outside the European Union

_The goods cross the border and you start answering for them as if you had made them. That changes which papers you need._

**Responde a:** importing goods documentation · what paperwork do i need to import · as an importer what am i liable for · certificate from a non-eu supplier

Buying abroad is cheaper, and almost never for the reason people assume. Part of the saving is real; another part is work the European manufacturer used to do and that now, without anyone saying so, you do. That work is documentary, and it turns up all at once the day someone asks.

## What changes compared with buying inside

| What to look at | EU supplier | Supplier outside |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who answers to the authorities | Usually the manufacturer | Very often you, as importer |
| The certificates | Issued under the framework here | Possibly another framework, or translated |
| Claiming when something goes wrong | Hard | Considerably harder |
| What has to be filed | The usual | That plus the customs paperwork |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The sentence to internalise is this: **on importing, you often take on the role the manufacturer had abroad**. It is not a formality — it is the difference between forwarding a question to your supplier and having to answer it yourself with documents in hand. And since the supplier is nine time zones away and sometimes changes account manager every six months, whatever you do not ask for at the start you will not get later.

## What to ask for BEFORE the first order, not after

1. **The declaration of conformity, in a language you can read** — And checking it refers to YOUR model, not to the product family.
2. **The technical documentation behind it** — The test reports, not only the handsome certificate with a stamp.
3. **Who the actual manufacturer is** — Whoever sells to you and whoever makes it are often not the same, and that matters.
4. **And a commitment to tell you if anything changes** — An unannounced component change turns your papers into old paper.

> [!WARNING]
> There is a much-repeated trap with certificates: **a stamp that looks like another is not the same stamp**. Documents circulate with marks resembling European ones, tests run by laboratories nobody recognises, and perfectly genuine certificates… for a different product in the same family. Checking three things filters out almost all of it: that the model number matches exactly what you buy, that the date is not earlier than the version they ship you, and that the signing laboratory exists and can be found.

## The customs paperwork worth keeping

**En corto**

- The import declaration and invoices, alongside the product file and not in a different folder.
- The declared origin and what justified it: that is what gets reviewed years later.
- And who acted as your representative, if you used one: liability is not delegated along with the admin.

> [!NOTE]
> Which duties an importer actually assumes, what documentation must be kept and for how long depends on the product, the country of origin and the customs regime. **Your adviser or customs agent settles that before the first order**; here we explain why it pays to ask for everything up front.

**Is the certificate my supplier sends good enough?**

It is if it refers to your exact model, is current, and is signed by someone identifiable.

**What if I buy through a European middleman?**

It changes who answers. Worth pinning down in writing before you buy.

**How long do I keep import paperwork?**

Longer than feels reasonable. Agree a period with your adviser and do not leave it to individual judgement.

## Ejemplos

**The first order from an Asian supplier arrives and the accompanying certificate is for another model in the same family.**

- Compares the certificate's model number with the order's before accepting the goods

→ The error surfaces on the loading bay instead of at an inspection two years later.

**The supplier changes a component without notice and the filed documentation no longer describes what you sell.**

- Puts a written commitment to report any change into the purchase order
- Requests fresh documentation with each change

→ The product file keeps describing the product actually sitting in your warehouse.

**You are asked for the file on a three-year-old import and the invoices sit in accounting while the certificates sit in quality.**

- Keeps the customs paperwork in the same file as the product

→ The file is produced whole in an afternoon instead of being reassembled across two departments.

**Goods are bought abroad and documentation requested on arrival.**

- Requests it on the purchase order, before paying

→ It is asked from the only position of leverage there is.

**The documentation arrives in a language nobody reads.**

- Agrees the language on the order

→ It arrives usable from the first shipment.

**A client asks you to evidence a shipment from two years ago.**

- Files documentation per shipment rather than per supplier

→ You answer for the specific operation.