Tariff classification of protective textile face masks

In view of the continuing spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for and imports of protective equipment in the EU Member States has increased and continues to increase, increasing the workload of both customs brokers and customs. In order to facilitate and speed up the customs clearance of such goods and to enable more accurate statistics to be collected, new TARIC subheadings were introduced corresponding to the more detailed characteristics of the different face masks. We also provide an overview of standards that specify requirements for such goods.