Scope
Being in Spain means being inside the European Union
The Customs Union, the A.TR movement certificate, CE marking and type-approval. The road from one buyer to a twenty seven country market.
Flow
From the factory to the single market
The factory
Production, pricing, certification and samples. The first half is played here.
The buyer
A distributor, a buying group or a chain. The second half, and the representative's work, happens here.
Single market
The same product in twenty seven member states, with no further approval.
The Customs Union has been in force since 31 December 1995 and covers industrial goods. Agriculture, fisheries, services and public procurement sit outside it, and coal and steel products are not covered by the A.TR, which follows a separate regime. Products within scope must also have a responsible operator established in the Union, and that obligation belongs to the manufacturer.
01 / The Customs Union
Do I pay customs duty on industrial goods entering the EU?
The Customs Union between Turkey and the European Union entered into force on 31 December 1995 and removed customs duties and quantitative restrictions on all industrial goods. The A.TR movement certificate evidences that the goods are in free circulation in Turkey and secures entry into the Union without customs duty.
A.TR is not a certificate of origin
It is a free circulation document. The product does not have to be of Turkish origin; it is enough that it is in free circulation in Turkey. The distinction matters when invoices and documents are drawn up.
What falls outside
Agricultural and fisheries products, services and public procurement lie outside the Customs Union. Coal and steel products are not covered by A.TR either and are subject to a separate regime.
02 / Documents
Is an approval obtained in one country valid across twenty seven?
CE marking and the Declaration of Performance for building materials
The new EU Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 applies from 8 January 2026, and the old Regulation 305/2011 runs alongside it for certain articles during the transition. For a product covered by a harmonised standard, one Union test is enough: with CE marking and a Declaration of Performance the product can be placed on the market in twenty seven member states.
Type-approval for automotive parts
Turkey is a party to the 1958 Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. For parts subject to type-approval, a UN/ECE approval is treated as equivalent under Union type-approval legislation. An approval completed in one member state lets the product be marketed throughout the Union without further testing. Not every part is subject to type-approval, and scope is checked product by product.
The legislative summaries on this page are for information and do not constitute legal advice. Which harmonised standard your product falls under, and which document it requires, is a separate review.
03 / The buyer itself
The Spanish distributor already sells into the Union
Source: monthly foreign trade report of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, December 2025 issue; ICEX, 19 February 2026.
Let us talk about where to start in Spain
Tell us your product group and which countries you sell to today. We will work out together which channel sells it in Spain, who does the buying and which documents get asked for.