How to get information about another country product regulations?

In order to be successful in your business international expansion it is important to understand and be familiar with the market you want to open up. So, as we told in our last post, if you want to become global you also have to be local. To this end, a country manager is by all means one of the best options as he will help you not just in reducing costs but also in guaranteeing satisfactory results when introducing your products in a new market. 

While having a partner in the new country is the best option to gain entry to, before you get in touch with him it is important to do some previous research so you can find out how this new market works and which possibilities your product has there. Although the best option is to ask for this information to a professional, there is also some trustful information that you can get by yourself. 

But… Where can you get this trustful information for free? Here by we introduce you some tips that will help you get some detailed official data for a more satisfactory international expansion of your business.

Tools to begin your product expansion

First of all, there is a previous step you must do before looking for the information. You have to identify which is the tariff code of your product. The tariff code is a product-specific code collected in the Hamonized Sistem (HS), which is regulated and supervised by the World Customs Organization. It will assist you in having some detailed information about trading your product internationally. This tariff code can have from 6 to 10 digits. The longer the tariff code is, the more specific it is for the product and hence the information that is given about it. Here we present a graphic to help you in the understanding.

In order to get the right tariff code, you should turn to the branch of the government in the charge of customs and duties in your local public administration. For example, in the case of Spain you would ask for this code to “La Agencia Tributaria”. 

Once having your tariff code you will be ready to access to the official European Union webpage called “Market Access Database”. There you can find out trade flows statistics and international trade guides and reports, as well as tariffs, trade barriers, rules of origin and the required procedures and formalities for trading a product from a third country in the European Union.

If what we want to know is all the requirements for trading a product from a third country in the European market, there is another official page which is more specific for exporters in EU trade partner countries. This one is called “Trade Helpdesk” and it is a wide guide that contains several information such as internal taxes, import duties and rules of origin, as well as marketing standards and environmental and sanitary requirements. This information it is particular for each country as it could change depending on the European country you want to import to. 

The information you will find out at these websites is very comprehensive and trustful, even so, we highly recommend you to reach a highly qualified professional that can give you more specific advices.  At Ferrer-Dalmau Country Managers, we have tools and professionals to help in your product expansion. We are experts in Spanish market, with more than 100 years of experience helping international companies in industrial sector to introduce their product in this country. If you want to know more about this contact us in this link below.