Country codes for the Customs Declaration Service
Find codes to use in the Customs Declaration Service (Appendix 13).
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Known error workarounds may apply to this area of the instructions.
For the purposes of an import or export declaration, Great Britain (GB) is represented by the country code ‘GB’.
For the purposes of an import or export declaration, Northern Ireland (NI) is represented by the country code ‘GB’.
This means, for example, that ‘GB’ may be entered as the country of destination (DE 5/8), the country of dispatch (DE 5/14) and the country of origin (DE 5/15) on a declaration.
Country codes which may be used on a customs declaration submitted to the Customs Declaration Service. There are 6 separate lists provided:
- table 1 is sorted by country code
- table 2 is sorted by country name
- table 3 is a list of non-standard country codes and their definitions
- table 3a is a list non-standard country codes and their definitions (Continental Shelf)
Table 3a has extra columns which are explained below:
- IM — For trade with countries and territories situated outside of the Customs Territory of the Union* and for placing non-Union goods under a customs procedure in the context of trade between Member States (Customs duty, VAT and Excise duty due)
- CO — All the goods being declared are from a Special Fiscal Territory of the EU or a territory with which the EU has formed a Customs Union, including EU Continental Shelf areas (VAT and Excise duty due)
- EX — For trade with countries and territories situated outside of the Customs Territory of the Union*
*In GB the Continental Shelf of the UK or an EU Member State is treated as a third country (Row) for the purpose of customs duty and other charges and the code IM must be entered in Data Element (DE) 1/1.
Appendix 5 should be consulted to identify any additional codes that are required to be declared on the declaration specific to the circumstances of the import/export.
Table 4 details the Special Fiscal Territories and countries with which the EU has a Customs Union, and where CO must be entered in Data Element 1/1 for goods that are dispatched from the countries listed.
Table 5 details the preference group codes that are specific to Data Element 5/16 (Country of preferential origin) on declarations where a Preference or Origin Certificate is issued in the name of a group, instead of in the name of a specific country — no currency codes are associated with preference group codes.
The information included in tables 1 and 2 is identical. An asterisk (*) in table 1 or 2 indicates that the country is a special territory or a territory with which the EU has a Customs Union.
A separate list can be found in table 4.
Updates to this page
Published 1 August 2018Last updated 3 May 2024 + show all updates
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Table 2 has been updated as country name 'Swaziland' has changed to 'Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland)'.
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Appendix 13 Country Codes for Customs Declaration Service has been updated to clarify the country code for Northern Ireland.
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Table 1 and Table 2 have been updated as follows: the name of North Macedonia added to reflect the name change from Macedonia (no change to country code), the name of Eswatini added to reflect the name change from Swaziland (no change to country code) and Campione D’Italia switched from being covered by the country code for Switzerland (CH) to using the country code for Italy (IT). This reflects Campione D’Italia becoming part of the EU Customs Territory.
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New table 3A has been added, covering Continental Shelf information. Tables 1, 2, 3, 3a, 4 and 5 are now in ODS format (replacing csv).
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First published.