Germany: Exporting products

In this page: Customs procedures for export in Germany | Organize a transportation of goods to and from Germany

Customs procedures for export in Germany

Customs Procedures

Restrictions: It is only prohibited to export cultural artefacts, specimens of flora and fauna which are threatened with extinction and war material, arms, munitions and such like.
Export Taxes: None
Export Clearance: The export procedure foresees, in principle, two stages:
First the exporter/declarant presents the goods, his export declaration and, when necessary, his export authorization or license at the customs office responsible for the place where he is established or where the goods are packed or loaded for export (Article 161 (5) CC). The export declaration must be submitted by electronic means, through the Export Control System (ECS).

Subsequently, the goods are presented at the customs office of exit which examines the goods presented based on the information received from the customs office of export and makes sure that they correspond to those declared and supervises their physical departure (Article 332 UCC IA).

In the case of goods exported by rail, post, air or sea, the customs office of exit may be the office competent for the place where the goods are taken over under a single transport contract for transport to a third country (e.g. port, airport, railway station).
Necessary Declaration: The Customs declaration must contain the commercial invoice, which is a record or evidence of the transaction between the exporter and the importer. The commercial invoice contains the basic information on the transaction:
- code, number, name, quantity and price of the product;
- destination of the goods and the address of the person or place of reception;
- name and registration number of the transport company;
- place of warehousing.

Controlling the Quality of the Products

Quality Control Organizations: German Bureau of Standards

Organize a transportation of goods to and from Germany

Main Useful Means of Transport: With a turnover of approximately EUR 260 billion, logistics is the third largest sector of our economy: every year, 4.3 billion tonnes of goods are transported on German roads, railways and waterways.
According to the latest data by Eurostat, rail transport represented 19.8% of the total freight transport in Germany, whereas inland waterways was 7.4% and road transport accounted for nearly 73%.
Due to the size of the country and its location in the middle of Europe, German roads continue to top the list for European-wide international road freight transport: 27.0 % of all tonne-kilometres performed in international road freight transport (corresponding to around 163 billion tonne-kilometres) took place in Germany, with a decrease of 4.5% compared to 2017.

By Sea

Ports: Port of Hamburg
Port of Bremen
Port of Rostock
Port of Wilhelmshaven
Transport Professionals: DHL
Maersk
Government Transport Organisations: Ministry of Transport

By Air

Airports: Berlin Airport
Transport Professionals: List of German airline companies
Government Transport Organisations: German Civil Aviation

By Road

Transport Professionals: DHL
Government Transport Organisations: DEGES (German only)

By Rail

Transport Professionals: DHL
Fedex
UPS
Government Transport Organisations: Federal Railway Authority

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