AGRIM and AGREX licenses

Restrictions on imports and exports of agricultural products

Imports and exports of certain agricultural products are restricted. Imports of the following products are restricted: rice, sugar, seeds of hemp grown for fibre, flax and hemp grown for fibre, fruit, and vegetables, processed fruit and vegetables, seeds of hemp grown for fibre which are not intended for sowing, ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin. Export restrictions apply only to rice and sugar. 

The list of products can be found in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products.

AGRIM and AGREX licenses

When the quantities of such imported or exported products exceed the quantities set, an AGRIM import license or an AGREX export license shall be required. Quantities of products which may be imported or exported without licenses are established in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 of 18 May 2016 regarding the rules for applying the system of import and export licences.

The AGRIM license is also required for imports of any quantity of product under preferential or tariff quota arrangements. The AGREX license is required to apply for export refunds, but their payment is currently suspended.

It should be noted that the license is an electronic or paper document of a specific period of validity entitling the holder to import or export agricultural products. To exercise this right, the license must be submitted together with a customs declaration.

As a centralised information system for the administration of these licenses is not yet in place at the EU level, the importer or exporter must present a paper license to customs when initiating an import or export procedure in an EU country other than the one in which the license was issued.

How to find out which quantity of the imported product needs the license and who issues it?

About this - in the video.