**In a standard export (EXW to DAP), the EU import declaration is filed by your buyer - so the EORI number is the buyer\u0027s responsibility. Sell DDP, and it becomes yours:** your own EU EORI, usually an indirect representative, and import VAT you often cannot recover.
The cargo arrived in Hamburg. The buyer tries to file the declaration, the system rejects it. One line: no valid EORI number.
The container waits. Demurrage accrues daily. And getting the number takes days.
EORI is the issue Turkish exporters to the EU hit most often and talk about least. Usually it is not your problem - but sometimes it is exactly your problem, and companies that do not know the difference learn it at the port.
What is EORI?
Economic Operators Registration and Identification: one identity number for every entity doing customs business in the EU. The format starts with a country code - DE, FR, NL - and the number is valid across the whole EU: an EORI issued in Germany works in the Netherlands too.
Türkiye has no EORI system - Turkish customs runs on tax numbers in the BILGE system. There is no such thing as a "Turkish EORI number".
Normally not your responsibility
Selling EXW, FCA, FOB, CPT, CFR, CIF or DAP? The EU import declaration is filed by your buyer, so EORI is the buyer\u0027s job. Yours is one step: ask for the number before shipping, put it on the documents, and verify it in the European Commission\u0027s online EOS validation tool - a good habit with any new buyer. A useful extra: as the EU\u0027s ICS2 safety-filing regime expands, the consignee\u0027s EORI is asked for on transport documents more and more often, so collect it early.
DDP changes everything
Sell DDP and the import declaration becomes yours - you are the importer in the EU. The chain that follows:
- You need your own EORI, from the member state where you file first.
- You usually need an indirect representative - non-EU companies generally cannot file alone, and because the representative is jointly liable for the customs debt, the service is neither abundant nor cheap.
- Import VAT hurts. A company not established and not VAT-registered in the EU usually cannot deduct the import VAT it pays. The VAT in your DDP price becomes pure cost.
Because of these three, most advisers steer Turkish exporters away from DDP. DAP is usually the cleaner answer: you still deliver to the buyer\u0027s door, but the declaration and taxes stay with the buyer. If a buyer insists on DDP, price all three items before quoting - DAP plus a net price usually beats DDP for both sides.
How to apply
Where: the customs administration of the member state of your first filing (Zoll in Germany, Belastingdienst in the Netherlands). What: trade registry extract, tax certificate, signature circular, activity certificate - some states want apostilles and translations. How long: from a few working days to a few weeks - do it before the shipment, not after. Cost: usually free. In practice, run the application together with your indirect representative or EU-side customs broker.
After Brexit: separate numbers
Your EU EORI is not valid in the UK - British numbers start with GB. And movements into Northern Ireland use a separate XI EORI. Selling DDP to both the EU and the UK means at least two, possibly three registrations.
What happens without EORI?
No filing - the system rejects it. The container sits, free time burns, demurrage and storage build daily, the number takes days to obtain, and then the fight starts over who pays. The cost of a missing EORI is not tax; it is waiting time - a textbook avoidable cost.
Pre-shipment checklist
- Buyer\u0027s EORI collected and verified?
- Number written on invoice, packing list and transport document?
- Selling DDP? Do you have your own EORI?
- Indirect representative appointed?
- Non-recoverable import VAT priced in?
- UK shipment? Separate GB (and XI for Northern Ireland) number?
Conclusion
For most Turkish exporters EORI is a checklist item: ask the buyer, write it down, move on. The moment your term becomes DDP it turns into a different job - your own number, an indirect representative, unrecoverable VAT. Do not commit to DDP before pricing those three. Practical advice: unless the buyer insists, sell DAP.
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*EU customs and VAT practice varies between member states and changes over time. Before selling DDP, confirm the current position with a customs broker and tax adviser in the destination country.*