Bulgaria - Commercial Guide
Bulgaria Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in bulgaria, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Import Requirements and Documentation
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Customs valuation is based on the dutiable transaction value based on:

purchase price + transportation costs + loading/unloading + insurance charges + commissions + royalties + license fees + a 20 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) levied at the time of customs clearance.  Some commodities are subject to excise duties.

Importation processes include:

  • A customs declaration document
  • A post-clearance examination of relevant documents or data
  • Submission of an invoice or pro forma invoice, a certificate of origin or a certificate of the movement of the goods in order to take advantage of preferential customs treatment, transport documents, an insurance policy, a specification, an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI) and a packing list
  • A veterinary or physio-sanitary certificate for goods of animal or plant origin
  • Other documents or laboratory analyses
  • An EC Safety & Security regulation and the Advance Cargo Declaration are mandatory for all goods leaving, arriving in or moving through the EC

Permits and Licenses

  • A Bulgarian decree is required for non-automatic license of nuclear materials, explosives, arms, dual-use commodities, plant protection products, and pharmaceuticals for human medicine
  • Bulgarian Customs exercises control over the export, import, re-export and transit of arms and dual-use goods and technologies.  Bulgarian regulations follow the EU list of dual-use goods, which includes goods and technologies in the nuclear weapon, chemical and biological warfare and missile areas. See Bulgaria’s export control information https://www.mi.government.bg/en/policies-and-strategies/licenses-and-concessions/export-controls/

Special Import/Export Requirements and Certifications

  • REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) - a major reform of the EU chemicals policy - became law in all EU countries in 2006. REACH affects virtually every industrial sector, from automobiles to textiles and requires chemicals produced or imported into the EU in volumes above 1 ton per year be registered with a central European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).  See https://echa.europa.eu/regulations/reach/understanding-reach and https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table.
  • WEEE & RoHS: EU rules on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) entail a financial obligation for U.S. exporters and require U.S. exporters (or their local partner) to register products with a national WEEE authority. WEEE restricts the Use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) including lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBBs, and PBDEs. U.S. exporters may be asked to enforce RoHS and provide evidence of due diligence and compliance with substance bans on a case-by-case basis.  See: https://www.trade.gov/eu-weeerohs
  • Products for human consumption should be analyzed in approved local laboratories in cooperation with local authorities.  The State Agency for Standards and Metrology strictly enforces Bulgarian quality standards, which do not always coincide with generally accepted international standards.  Foreign certificates may not be considered adequate.  After an approval is issued, the commodities may be sold on the local market. See: https://www.bipm.org/en/ https://www.damtn.government.bg/en

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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