Home › Guides › Does it apply to me?
Does the EU product identifier rule apply to my store?
Short answer: It applies if you sell goods at a distance to consumers in the EU and the goods are imported from outside the EU. Business-to-business shipments and goods already inside the EU are generally outside it. Marketplaces may handle it for their own listings; your own store is on you.
Five questions
- Do the goods enter the EU from outside? Shipping from Thailand, the US, the UK, China or any non-EU country to an EU address: yes. Fulfilled from an EU warehouse: the import happened earlier, usually in bulk; the parcel itself is not an import.
- Is the buyer a consumer? Private individuals: yes. VAT-registered businesses buying for their business: generally no; confirm with your customs representative.
- Is it a distance sale? Online, phone or mail order with delivery: yes.
- Who declares? Your carrier or its broker does, but only with the data you give them. If you cannot supply the three identifiers, they cannot declare correctly.
- Marketplace or own store? Large marketplaces collect identifiers for their listings. Your Shopify, WooCommerce or Etsy-standalone store: you collect them.
Common edge cases
- Digital goods and services — no customs declaration, so no identifiers.
- Gifts sent by private people — not a distance sale.
- Samples to EU business partners — not consumer distance sales; other rules apply.
Check your CSV free — first 25 rows
Questions
I sell from Thailand to Germany through my own Shopify store — in scope?
Yes, if the buyers are consumers and the parcels are imported into the EU from Thailand. Prepare the three identifiers per variant.
My EU 3PL ships my goods — in scope?
The consumer parcel is then a domestic shipment. The import happened when your stock entered the EU, under a different declaration. Check with the 3PL what they declared.
Do I need a customs broker?
Express carriers act as declarant by default. A broker matters when you ship freight or want DDP handling; either way they need the identifiers from you.