Binding tariff information (BTI)

Every duty rate, every CBAM obligation and half the product rules hang off one goods code. A binding tariff information is the decision that pins yours: written by a customs authority, valid three years, binding across the whole EU. This page explains when an importer needs one, what applying involves, how to read the public EBTI database -- and what a wrong code costs per year.

A BTI binds only its holder, and only on classification. It does not decide origin, VAT or product compliance, and this page does not classify your product. Checked against the Union Customs Code and the Commission's EBTI service on 2 October 2026.

What a wrong code costs you

Shipments per year Customs value per shipment (€) Duty difference between your two candidate codes (%)

This is the amount that moves per year if the wrong of two plausible codes is used -- the ceiling of what is at stake, not a prediction. Where the difference is zero because both codes carry the same duty, the code can still decide CBAM applicability or product rules; those amounts are not in this sum. The duty calculator reckons a single shipment including VAT.

What a BTI is, in five sentences

It is a decision, not advice. Issued by a member state's customs authority on request (Articles 33 to 39 of the Union Customs Code), it classifies one precisely described product to a CN code.

It binds customs EU-wide against the holder for three years -- including in member states that would have read the product differently.

It is public. Every BTI is published in redacted form in the official EBTI database; searching it is free and needs no account.

Applying is currently free of charge (checked 2 October 2026); the cost is the work of describing the product exactly -- composition, function, images, sometimes samples -- through your customs authority's EBTI portal.

It carries a risk worth naming. Your application describes the product to customs in your words; an adverse decision binds you and is published. Search the database before you apply.

Searching the EBTI database

The database holds every BTI issued in the EU, valid and expired. Three habits make it work:

Filter on valid decisions unless you are deliberately tracing how a classification changed -- an expired BTI tells you about the past, not about your next declaration.

Search the code prefix, not the full code. The first six digits are the international HS level; the interesting EU difference usually sits in digits seven and eight. A prefix search catches the decisions that landed one digit apart.

Read the goods description like a lawyer. The description is what was classified -- a decision about "a remote-controlled toy car with a metal body" does not automatically cover the plastic one, and the difference is exactly where the duty difference lives.

The database is the closest thing to a public record of how customs reads products. Combined with the HS code finder (which names the rules attached to each chapter) it is the cheapest classification research an importer can do.

Questions importers actually ask

What is a binding tariff information?

A BTI is a written decision by a member state's customs authority on how one specific product is classified in the Combined Nomenclature. Once issued, it binds every customs authority in the EU against its holder for three years -- the closest thing to certainty the tariff offers. The rules sit in Articles 33 to 39 of the Union Customs Code, and every issued BTI is published, redacted for business details, in the Commission's EBTI database.

Does a BTI also settle preferential origin or VAT?

No. A BTI settles the tariff classification only. Whether goods qualify for a preferential rate under a trade agreement is a separate question with its own decision, the binding origin information (BOI); import VAT follows the classification but is national tax law, not part of the decision. The origin guide explains the agreement side.

What does a BTI application cost?

Filing is currently free of charge: no fee is due to the customs authority at application or issuance (checked 2 October 2026). The cost is in the work -- a precise goods description, composition data, images, sometimes samples. The 2023 customs reform proposal includes introducing fees for binding information; until that is adopted, budget time rather than money.

When does a BTI pay for itself?

Rule of thumb: when the classification is genuinely doubtful AND money moves with the doubt -- a duty-rate difference between two candidate codes, recurring shipments, CBAM applicability that flips with the code, or a marketplace that demands proof. The calculator above turns your own numbers into the annual amount at stake; a difference of a few points on regular shipments dwarfs the effort of applying.

Is a BTI without risk?

No, and that belongs on this page rather than in the small print. The application describes your product to customs in your own words, and an adverse decision binds you and is published. That is exactly why searching the EBTI database first -- has anyone already had this product classified, and how -- is the cheapest risk control an importer has. The HS code finder is the step before that.

How do I read someone else's BTI in the database?

Each record shows the goods code granted, a redacted goods description, the issuing member state, issue and expiry dates, and whether it is still valid. It does not name the holder. Another trader's BTI does not bind you, but a pattern of similar decisions tells you how customs reads the product -- evidence you can cite in your own application or in a discussion with your agent.