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Selling into the EU through Spain without a company

A Turkish manufacturer can sell to Spanish buyers with no Spanish entity. Duty is zero under the Customs Union; the key choice is who acts as importer.

Published: 15 October 2026

A Turkish manufacturer can sell to buyers in Spain without setting up a Spanish company. Industrial goods enter duty free under the EU-Turkey Customs Union with an A.TR movement certificate, while import VAT is still paid in Spain. The decisive question is who the importer is. Under DAP or FCA terms the Spanish buyer is the importer and the Turkish seller needs no Spanish tax registration. Under DDP the import declaration moves to the seller's side; when the Turkish seller declares on its own account through an indirect representative, it becomes the importer and the import VAT taxpayer, and a Spanish tax number, a fiscal representative and an EORI number follow.

What the Customs Union covers, and what it leaves out

Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council applies to products other than agricultural products (Article 2). It covers goods produced in Turkey or the EU, and third-country goods already in free circulation in either (Article 3). Customs duties and charges with equivalent effect between the two sides are wholly abolished (Article 4).

Proof of free circulation is the A.TR movement certificate. Under Decision No 1/2006 of the Customs Cooperation Committee the certificate is issued by the customs authority at the exporter's request (Articles 5 and 6). An A.TR is not a certificate of origin; it shows that the goods are in free circulation.

Outside the Customs Union: basic agricultural products are governed by a separate decision (Decision No 1/98 of the Association Council), and coal and steel products by a separate 1996 free trade agreement. A 2021 European Parliament study describes the Customs Union as covering "almost all industrial and processed agricultural products".

Zero duty does not mean zero tax. Import VAT is still due. The two are often confused.

DAP or DDP: the delivery term decides who imports

Under Incoterms 2020 the delivery term allocates import formalities. According to the ICC Academy, under DAP the buyer must manage and pay for all import clearance formalities. Under DDP the seller carries out and pays for all customs formalities, including export and import. The ICC adds a warning: foreign sellers may have difficulty carrying out import clearance in the destination country, and where local rules do not allow it, DDP cannot be used and DAP is the appropriate rule.

In Spain that warning has a concrete legal basis. The Union Customs Code (Regulation 952/2013) requires that the declarant "shall be established in the customs territory of the Union" (Article 170(2)). The exceptions are narrow: transit and temporary admission declarations, occasional declarations that customs consider justified, and a neighbouring-country case (Article 170(3)). A seller established in Turkey does not meet the rule.

The workaround is customs representation. Article 18 of the same Code defines direct and indirect representation. In indirect representation a customs broker lodges the declaration in its own name on behalf of the seller. So DDP works for a Turkish seller only through an indirect representative established in Spain, with the cost and liability that implies.

Delivery termImport declarationImport VATSpanish registration for the Turkish seller
FCA / DAPSpanish buyerPaid and deducted by the Spanish buyerNot required
DDPTurkish seller, through an indirect representativePaid by the Turkish sellerNIF, fiscal representative and EORI required

When an EORI number is needed

The European Commission's EORI guidance states that an operator not established in the EU must register for an EORI number when it lodges a customs declaration in the customs territory of the Union. An operator acting only as consignor or consignee does not need one. Registration is done in the Member State where the first activity takes place; in Spain the Agencia Tributaria handles it.

In practice: under DAP or FCA the Turkish seller is only the consignor and needs no EORI. Under DDP it does.

Import VAT and the non-established seller

Under the Spanish VAT Law (Ley 37/1992) the taxable person on imports is whoever carries out the import, and the consignee of the imported goods, whether acquirer, transferee or owner, counts as importer (Article 86). The general VAT rate is 21 percent (Article 90.Uno; Agencia Tributaria rate table 2026).

If the Turkish seller becomes the importer under DDP it needs a Spanish tax identity. The Agencia Tributaria page on non-established businesses explains that the tax identification number (NIF) is requested with Form 036. Businesses established outside the EU must appoint a representative with a tax address in Spain; the only exception is for countries with a mutual assistance instrument, and the same page states that this currently applies only to Norway. Turkey is not within the exception.

Recovering the import VAT paid is a separate matter. For a non-established seller the refund route is, as a rule, Form 361, which requires reciprocity. Türkiye does not currently appear among the countries for which the Agencia Tributaria recognises reciprocity, so import VAT paid under DDP may in practice not be recoverable. It has to be checked case by case.

In short, DDP turns the Turkish manufacturer into a Spanish taxpayer in practice. If the aim is to sell without a company, that is the opposite of what is wanted.

CE marking stays with the manufacturer

Whatever the delivery term, product conformity is the manufacturer's task. The General Product Safety Regulation (2023/988) requires manufacturers to carry out a risk analysis, draw up technical documentation and keep series production in conformity (Article 9). The importer must ensure that the product complies with the general safety requirement (Article 11).

Under the Market Surveillance Regulation (2019/1020) certain product groups may be placed on the market only if there is an economic operator established in the Union responsible for them (Article 4). That operator can be an EU-established manufacturer, the importer, an authorised representative with a written mandate, or a fulfilment service provider. The legislation in scope includes construction products (305/2011), machinery (2006/42), low voltage (2014/35), EMC (2014/30) and pressure equipment (2014/68).

Under DAP that role falls to the Spanish buyer as importer. The manufacturer keeps the technical file and the declaration of conformity ready.

For construction products the new Regulation 2024/3110 entered into force on 7 January 2025 and applies from 8 January 2026; the European Parliament legislative summary gives a transition period running to 8 January 2040. For automotive parts, Regulation 2018/858 covers systems, components, separate technical units, parts and equipment for vehicles of categories M, N and O (Article 2(1)).

Conclusion: the model stays simple when the buyer imports

Under FCA or DAP the chain works like this: the Turkish manufacturer exports with an A.TR, the Spanish buyer lodges the import declaration, pays the 21 percent VAT and deducts it in its own return, and takes on the role of EU-established economic operator. The Turkish manufacturer needs no Spanish company, no tax registration and no EORI. This structure fits naturally with an independent commercial agent who finds buyers in Spain and negotiates on the manufacturer's behalf but does not sign.

What Saha İspanya does here

Saha İspanya is an independent commercial agent based in Madrid. It finds buyers in Spain for Turkish manufacturers, leads the conversations and coordinates quotations and samples. The manufacturer and the buyer sign the contract directly. Saha İspanya does not import, does not hold stock, does not sign, and does not act as EU authorised representative or distributor. Delivery terms, customs declarations and VAT obligations remain between the manufacturer and the buyer.

This article is general information. The specific case, delivery term and product group should be checked with a customs broker or a lawyer.

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