Frequently asked questions
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General information and guidance on trade in services is available here.
No, the use of My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is free of charge.
However, certain information is protected by copyright. The information available on my Trade Assistant for Services and Investment may not be used for resale or for the provision of consultancy services, redistribution, building of databases, storage, or for any purpose other than reference use in support of the user's own international business processes. All other use is prohibited unless explicitly approved in writing by the owner of the data.
My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is available in English. Machine translation into all EU languages is also provided
You can contact us via the contact form that is available on the top of the page.
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International trade in services typically occurs in any of these four modes of supply
- Cross border supply of services: it is the supply of a service from the territory of one country into the territory of another country.
- Consumption abroad: it is the supply of a service in the territory of one country to the consumer of another country.
- Commercial presence: it is the supply of a service by a service supplier of one country, through commercial presence, in the territory of another country.
- Presence/Movement of natural persons/professionals: it is the supply of a service by a service supplier of one country, through the presence of natural persons of a country in the territory of another country.
My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment does not cover the second mode of supply mentioned above, “consumption abroad”, as this mode of supply focusses on the consumer’s movement to third countries.
You can find more information here.
Currently, My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is limited to Canada and the UK.
Please note that information for these two countries only covers legal services and maritime transport services. Information for accounting services is currently also available for the UK. The list of countries covered will expand gradually.
Currently, My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is limited to legal services, maritime transport services and accounting services
Please note that information about these services sectors is only available for Canada and the UK. Information for accounting services is currently only available for the UK. The list of services sectors covered will expand gradually.
When exporting services to countries that are not covered by My Trade Assistant for Services, you can contact the national authority responsible in your Member State or the relevant chamber of commerce or look for information on the website of the competent authority of the country you want to export to.
My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment provides information, per mode of supply, on the following market access conditions.
- Cross border supply of services
- local presence requirements;
- licensing and authorisation requirements;
- registration requirements;
- qualification requirements;
- quantitative restrictions;
- taxation and other financial measures;
- data transfer restrictions and
- data localisation requirements
- Commercial presence
- licensing and authorisation requirements;
- foreign equity caps;
- nationality requirements;
- senior management and boards of directors;
- quantitative restrictions;
- taxation and other financial measures;
- data transfer restrictions and data localisation requirements;
- technology transfer and transfer of data requirements;
- access to land;
- local content and export requirements;
- restrictions on the scope of activities of certain entities
- Presence/Movement of natural persons/professionals
- residency requirements;
- nationality requirements;
- work permit requirements;
- labour market tests;
- professional qualifications requirements
“Market access condition” refers to the requirements that a country applies in order to allow services suppliers from another country to supply services in its territory.
My Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is the most recent expansion of Access2Markets. It offers free information to EU companies on the conditions they need to meet when exporting services to markets outside the EU.
You can find information on the requirements an EU company should fulfil in order to export services and access markets outside the EU, in three modes of supply, as well as information on the authorities responsible in third countries. The information is currently available for legal services and maritime services in Canada and in the UK as well as for accounting services in the UK. The services sectors and countries covered will be expanded gradually.
The information available on my Trade Assistant for Services and Investment is not legally binding.
The information available is updated once a year.
Services or intangible goods such as software are imported into the EU duty free. However, if software developed in the EU is incorporated into a good in a third country e.g. a car in Japan and that car is imported into the EU, the importer could avoid paying duties on the value of the EU software if he made use of the outward processing procedure. See more here.
The product which has been produced outside the EU on the basis of an engineering project or any kind of design (e.g. clothes designed in the EU but produced in a third country) developed in the EU, is not charged with a duty for the value of services rendered in the EU. This is upon condition that such a design, engineering or development project was necessary for the production of the product. The duty is charged on the basis of the customs value of the imported product, excluding the value of the service produced in the EU. If such services were rendered outside the EU, the customs value of the goods would have to include the value of those services (See article 71 (1) (b) (iv) of the Union Customs Code).
For further details on the calculation of the customs value in such cases, please contact your customs office or see the European Customs Valuation Compendium.
Normally, a product imported from third countries, irrespective of the origin of the components of such products, is charged with a duty as per EU Combined Nomenclature, unless such a product has been fully liberalized under a free trade agreement of the EU with the exporting country. However, the importer can avail himself of available customs procedures in the EU to avoid paying a duty on a component which is produced in the EU but processed in a third country.
The available procedure for the situation at hand is outward processing. This means that the company which has developed or purchased the software in the EU (owner of the software) needs to get an authorisation for outward processing before the software is installed in a car or part thereof. The company needs to address the competent customs authority located in the place where the software owner’s records and documentation enabling the customs authority to take a decision (main accounts for customs purposes) are kept (in one of the 27 Member States).
The details to be filled in the authorisation include the indication of the value of software (commercial value) which will then be deducted from the value of the imported car/car part upon importation. The value of the software will be its costs of production or its purchasing price. The duty will be charged on the difference in that value (the added value). Customs authorities will specify the period within which the outward processing procedure will be discharged, i.e. the time by which the importation of the final product should take place.
The EU importer has to make reference to the relevant authorisation for outward processing in the customs declaration for release for free circulation.