Instruments and apparatus intended for medical research, establishing medical diagnoses or carrying out medical treatment

Health authorities, hospital departments or medical research institutions may in some cases import instruments and apparatus intended for medical research, establishing medical diagnoses or carrying out medical treatment free of customs duties. Authorisation is required to import such goods free of customs duty.

This relief from customs duty also applies to spare parts, components and accessories for the instruments and apparatus. You may also import tools to be used for the maintenance, checking, calibration or repair of instruments or apparatus.

To benefit from this relief from customs duty, the instruments or apparatus must be donated either by a charitable or philanthropic organisation or by a private individual. They may also be purchased entirely with funds supplied by a charitable or philanthropic organisation or with voluntary contribution. The gift or donation may not be related to any commercial intent and there may not be any connection between the donor and the manufacturer of the goods.

Authorisation for duty relief

You need approval from Swedish Customs to import this type of goods duty free.

The accountable manager of the establishment should apply for authorisation by submitting a description of its operations to us. Attach any supporting documents to the application, such as organisation charts, annual reports and activity reports.

Remember to apply in time; the application must be authorised by the time you import your goods.

A decision as an approved consignee is valid for three years.

Apply for authorisation for each import

You need authorisation for duty-free import for each individual product that you intend to import.

The accountable manager of the health institution, hospital administration or establishment applies for authorisation from Swedish Customs. Your application should include:

1. a product description;
2. KN number;
3. intended use of the product;
4. name and address of the manufacturer and supplier;
5. country of origin;
6. customs value;
7. number of goods.
   

Enter the following for gifts:

1. name and address of the giver;
2. a written assurance that donation of the instruments or apparatus in question does not conceal any commercial intent on the part of the donor, and the donor is in no way connected with the manufacturer of the instruments or apparatus for which relief is requested.
   

Send your application to:
Tullverket
Box 12854
112 98 Stockholm

Remember to apply in time; you must hold the authorisation at the time of importation.

The authorisation is valid for six months.

Limitations on the use of the products after importation

One condition for duty-free treatment is that imported goods must be used for medical research or for medical diagnosis and treatment. This means that the goods may not be used for any other purpose without losing duty-free status.

If you intend to use the goods for any other purpose and transfer the goods, you must notify Swedish Customs, who will assess whether to impose customs duty and VAT. Here, and in the following sections, transfer is defined as lending, leasing, selling or gifting the goods.

The exemption from customs duty may remain in some cases, for example if the organisation intends to transfer the goods to an organisation that fulfils the criteria for duty relief and intends to use the goods for medical research or for medical diagnosis and treatment.

One condition for such transfers is that notification be given to Swedish Customs, as the transfer must be approved by Swedish Customs for duty relief to continue to apply to the goods.

Applying to Swedish Customs for authorisation to transfer imported goods without paying customs duty

As stated above, the transfer must be approved in advance by Swedish Customs.
The organisation must notify Swedish Customs to obtain approval for duty-free transfer. The application should be submitted in writing and signed by accountable manager, and contain the following information:

• Name, corporate identification number and address of the organisation intending to transfer the goods
• A description of of the reason for the application (sale, donation, lending, lease or other)
• Name and corporate identification number of the organisation taking over the goods
• Commodity description
• Quantity of goods
• CN codes of the goods
• Customs ID at the time of importation (where applicable).

Notifying Swedish Customs of other use

A declaration must also be made to Swedish Customs if the goods are not used for their intended purpose or if the organisation wishes to use the goods for purposes other than medical research or for medical diagnosis and treatment.

Enter the following codes in your customs declaration to apply for duty relief:

• Data element 99 05 000 000 – Nature of transaction:
  • 1 for purchases
  • 3 for gifts

• Data Element 14 11 000 000 – Preference: 100
• Data Element 11 10 000 000 – Additional procedure: C17
• Data element 12 03 000 000 – Supporting documents
  Enter the code for your attached documents:

• • Authorised consignee decision, document code 401G as the type and the authorisation number of the authorisation as the reference number
  • Authorisation for duty-free import, document code 401T as type and the authorisation number as reference number