FedEx publish a newsletter and it mostly contains articles that are not really relevant to importing courier parcels to Spain or sending packages from Spain. However, the last one caught my eye so I read on.
To put this in context, Spanish Customs people are extremely difficult to deal with. They are employees of the Spanish Government and, as such, have jobs for life. The customs liaison officer of one Spanish International Courier Company told me “they are lazy, they have no incentive to work and they don’t care about the outcome”.
So the latest news from FedEx stating that the labelling laws for textiles have been changed by the EU worried me a little. In order to have the same information on the label of any fabric (which includes clothes, sofa covers, umbrellas, curtains etc.) in all countries of the EU the European Parliament have passed a 64 page document which can be seen here Nº 1007/2011 which takes effect from 8th May 2012.
So why should this affect International Courier Imports to Spain. Well, Citibox brings quite a few textile imports to Spain from the USA, China, India and Thailand (and we also export textiles to the USA and Japan from Spain). I can see that these imports will sit in Spanish Customs unable to be released into the EU Market because of incorrect labelling. Often this sort of event means that the International Import Packages to Spain are returned to the sender or destroyed by Customs and it will bring a mountain of work in either event.
If you are importing to Spain from outside the EU textiles, fabric, yarn, thread, clothes or anything similar, please make sure that you comply with the new EU Directive. Here is FedEx’ announcement:
As of May 8, 2012 new EU regulations come into force for international shipments relating to the tariff classification of textile fibers.
The amended regulation addresses the following changes in the classification of textile products: the amount of fiber, the fiber composition and new requirements for labeling and marking. These changes ensure that the fiber content is clearly indicated. The legislation also applies to textile products that incorporate non-textile parts of animal origin.
Note that an important transitional measure allows all textile products already on the EU market beforeMay 8, 2012, remain available without being subject to new regulations untilNovember 9, 2014.
The complete regulatory changes contained in the EU regulation No. 1007/2011 of 27 September 2011 which replaced previously under the Council Directive 73/44/EEC, No. 96/73 EC and No. 2008/121/EC.
