Spain Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in spain, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Prohibited & Restricted Imports
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To determine if a product is prohibited or subject to restriction, check the TARIC for that product for the following codes:

  • CITES                    Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species
  • PROHI                 Import Suspension
  • RSTR                     Import Restriction

For information on the TARIC, see the Import Tariffs section above.

Spanish regulations ban the import of illicit narcotics and drugs. There are also very restrictive regulations for imports of explosives, firearms, defense equipment and material, tobacco, and gambling material. There are also restrictions on many types of pharmaceutical products.

EU regulations on hormones ban most U.S. beef and beef products from entry into the EU and prevent the importation of certain live cattle. As a result of the United States’s successful challenge to the EU hormone ban at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission instead opened a High-Quality Beef (HQB) quota for the import of hormone-free beef.

The Implementing Regulation 2019/2179 modifying the HQB quota allocation management was published in the Official Journal on December 20, 2019, and started on January 1, 2020. Under the new agreement, the U.S. specific HQB quota share will increase from 18,500 metric ton (MT) Product Weight Equivalent (PWE) of hormone-free raised beef in 2020 to 35,000 MT in 2026 in seven incremental steps. In 2022, imports of U.S. beef amounted to 53.9% of the U.S.-specific part of the quota allocation. Most U.S. beef imports are destined for the EU restaurant sector, so growth in U.S. beef exports to the EU depends on continued economic recovery in the tourism and hotel and restaurant sectors. U.S. exporters can use this quota as well as the “Hilton Quota,” a term for specific quotas of imports of HBQ into the EU from eight countries, for exporting high quality bovine meat to the European Union. For more information see GAIN Report – “US Beef Imports into the EU High Quality Beef Quota Increased in 2022.” 

The European Commission provides an updated document with a comprehensive EU prohibition and restriction list, which is available through their website.

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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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