0403 90 31: Buttermilk, kefir and other fermented milk: Not exceeding 1,5 %
Buttermilk, kefir and other fermented milk
✓ Can be used in a customs declarationData: EU Combined Nomenclature, in force from 1 January 2026 · checked on 24 October 2026
0403 Yogurt; buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream, whether or not concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured or containing added fruit, nuts or cocoa:
Charges on top of the customs duty, and rules the goods must meet at the border.
Additional duties and charges 5
Additional dutyAdditional duties50% with document Y-155 (Products exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation or Belarus) · otherwise free
Applies to goods from
all countries except Belarus, Russia
Legal act
Regulation 1227/25
Documents
Y155 Products exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation or Belarus
Additional dutyAdditional duties50%
Applies to goods from
Belarus, Russia
Legal act
Regulation 1227/25
Duty on low-value parcelsLow-value consignment customs duty3 EUR
Applies to goods from
all countries
In force
until 31 October 2026
Legal act
Regulation 0382/26
Duty on low-value parcelsLow-value consignment customs duty3 EUR
all countries except Andorra, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino
Legal act
Regulation 0632/21
Documents
N853 Common Health Entry Document for Products (CHED-P) (as set out in Part 2, Section B of Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 (OJ L 261))
Y170 Goods with third country origin coming from Andorra, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y171 Goods with third country origin coming from Switzerland, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y174 Goods with third country origin coming from Iceland, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y175 Goods with third country origin coming from Liechtenstein, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y176 Goods with third country origin coming from Norway, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y177 Goods with third country origin coming from San Marino, according to the relevant EU legislation.
C084 Exemption by virtue of Articles 3 and 4 of regulation 2019/2122 (animals intended for scientific purposes, research and diagnostic samples, and samples for product analysis and quality testing).
Import controlVeterinary control
Applies to goods from
Faroe Islands, Greenland
Legal act
Regulation 0632/21
Documents
N853 Common Health Entry Document for Products (CHED-P) (as set out in Part 2, Section B of Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 (OJ L 261))
Y058 Exemption by virtue of Article 7 of Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/2122 (Goods which form part of passengers' personal luggage and are intended for personal consumption or use) or Article 10 (small consignments of goods sent to natural persons which are not intended to be placed on the market) of Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/2122
Y170 Goods with third country origin coming from Andorra, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y171 Goods with third country origin coming from Switzerland, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y174 Goods with third country origin coming from Iceland, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y175 Goods with third country origin coming from Liechtenstein, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y176 Goods with third country origin coming from Norway, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y177 Goods with third country origin coming from San Marino, according to the relevant EU legislation.
C084 Exemption by virtue of Articles 3 and 4 of regulation 2019/2122 (animals intended for scientific purposes, research and diagnostic samples, and samples for product analysis and quality testing).
Y172 Goods with third country origin coming from Faroe Islands, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Y173 Goods with third country origin coming from Greenland, according to the relevant EU legislation.
Import controlImport control of organic products
Applies to goods from
all countries except Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
Legal act
Regulation 2306/21
Documents
C644 Certificate of inspection for organic products
Y929 Goods not concerned by Regulation (EU) 2018/848 (organic products)
Import control
Applies to goods from
Ukraine
Legal act
Regulation 0692/14
Documents
Y997 Goods not originating from or destined to Crimea or Sevastopol (Articles 2 and 2b.1 of Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014)
N864 Invoice declaration or origin declaration made out by any exporter on invoice or any other commercial document
Y984 Goods not originating from or not destined for the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia
N864 Invoice declaration or origin declaration made out by any exporter on invoice or any other commercial document
Import VAT in the EU member states
The rate each member state applies to goods of this code, from the Commission’s Taxes in Europe Database. A reduced rate can cover only part of the goods under a code: check the national VAT law.
Austria10% reduced rate
Belgium6% reduced rate
Bulgaria20%
Croatia25%
Cyprus5% reduced rate
Czechia12% reduced rate
Denmark25%
Estonia24%
Finland13.5% reduced rate
France5.5% reduced rate
Germany7% reduced rate
Greece13% reduced rate
Hungary5% reduced rate
Ireland23%
Italy10% reduced rate
Latvia12% reduced rate
Lithuania21%
Luxembourg3% reduced rate
Malta0% reduced rate
Netherlands9% reduced rate
Poland5% reduced rate
Portugal23%
Romania11% reduced rate
Slovakia5% / 19% reduced rate
Slovenia9.5% reduced rate
Spain21%
Sweden6% reduced rate
TEDB · 24 October 2026
Preferential rates by country
Agreement or scheme
Countries
Rate
standard rate (no agreement)
—
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
GSP-EBA (Special arrangement for the least-developed countries - Everything But Arms)
Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin and 42 more
Preferential origin in accordance with the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part.
Decisions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CROSS) and HMRC (Advance Tariff Rulings) on goods classified here. A ruling binds only its holder, but shows how the authorities classify similar goods. The descriptions are the authorities’ own, in English.
N302241U.S. CBP1 March 2019 · 0403.90.90.00revoked
The tariff classification of Cheese Flavor Pastes and Cultured Cream Flavor Paste from New Zealand
600009368HMRC15 December 2023 – 14 December 2026 · 0403 90 99 00
Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. The product is used for the hospitality sector as a frozen dessert. It is made from a Ultra Heat Treated (UHT) with a dairy base of cream, low fat yogurt and strawberry puree to make the final product, with a fat content of 11.1%. It is made by blending the above…
Legal notes
Notes
1. The expression ‘milk’ means full-cream milk or partially or completely skimmed milk.
2. For the purposes of heading 0403, yogurt may be concentrated or flavoured and may contain added sugar or other sweetening matter, fruit, nuts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, coffee or coffee extracts, plants, parts of plants, cereals or bakers’ wares, provided that any added substance is not used for the purpose of replacing, in whole or in part, any milk constituent, and the product retains the essential character of yogurt.
(a) the term ‘butter’ means natural butter, whey butter or recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter) derived exclusively from milk, with a milkfat content of 80 % or more but not more than 95 % by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2 % by weight and a maximum water content of 16 % by weight. Butter does not contain added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria;
(b) the expression ‘dairy spreads’ means a spreadable emulsion of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, with a milkfat content of 39 % or more but less than 80 % by weight.
4. Products obtained by the concentration of whey and with the addition of milk or milkfat are to be classified as cheese in heading 0406 provided that they have the three following characteristics:
(a) a milkfat content, by weight of the dry matter, of 5 % or more;
(b) a dry matter content, by weight, of at least 70 % but not exceeding 85 %; and
(c) they are moulded or capable of being moulded.
5. This chapter does not cover:
(a) non-living insects, unfit for human consumption (heading 0511);
(b) products obtained from whey, containing by weight more than 95 % lactose, expressed as anhydrous lactose calculated on the dry matter (heading 1702);
(c) products obtained from milk by replacing one or more of its natural constituents (for example, butyric fats) by another substance (for example, oleic fats) (heading 1901 or 2106); or
(d) albumins (including concentrates of two or more whey proteins, containing by weight more than 80 % whey proteins, calculated on the dry matter) (heading 3502) or globulins (heading 3504).
6. For the purposes of heading 0410, the term ‘insects’ means edible non-living insects, whole or in parts, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, as well as flours and meals of insects, fit for human consumption. However, it does not cover edible non-living insects otherwise prepared or preserved (generally Section IV).
The European Commission's explanatory notes on how to classify goods in these CN codes. They are not legally binding but customs authorities follow them; they complement the HS Explanatory Notes of the World Customs Organization.
0403 · Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yogurt, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream, whether or not concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured or containing added fruit, nuts or cocoa
Products in paste form which are normally eaten with a spoon are not to be classified as products in powder, granules or other solid forms.
For the purposes of this heading, the term ‘buttermilk’ covers both sweet (i.e., non-acidified) and acidified buttermilk.
0403 90 11 to 0403 90 99 · Other
See the explanatory note to subheadings 0403 20 11 to 0403 20 99.
These subheadings do not cover products of the type ‘cagliata’ as described in the explanatory note to subheadings 0406 10 30 to 0406 10 80, third paragraph.
General notes to the chapter
DAIRY PRODUCE; BIRDS' EGGS; NATURAL HONEY; EDIBLE PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN, NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED OR INCLUDED
General
Caseinates obtained from milk casein are used, for example, as emulsifiers (sodium caseinate) or as a source of protein (calcium caseinate). Products containing caseinates in excess of 3 % by weight of the dry matter are excluded from headings 0401 to 0404, since those caseinates do not occur naturally in milk at this level (in particular, see heading 1901).
The Combined Nomenclature of each year, as published in the Official Journal: description, third-country duty and supplementary unit.
Year
Description
Third-country duty
Supplementary unit
2026
Not exceeding 1,5 %
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2025
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2024
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2023
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2022
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2021
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2020
unchanged
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
2019
Not exceeding 1,5 %
0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net
—
CN code 0403 90 31 is a line of the EU Combined Nomenclature under HS subheading 0403.90 (yogurt; buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, kephir: other).
The third-country duty is a specific or compound duty: 0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net.
114 countries pay no duty in the EU thanks to trade agreements and preference schemes such as GSP-EBA and CARIFORUM, against a standard rate of 0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net.
In the EU, additional duty of 50% applies on top of the customs duty to goods from Belarus and Russia.
Imports of buttermilk, kefir and other fermented milk (HS 0403.90) into the EU came to €34.4m between September 2025 and August 2026 (up 46% on the year before); United Kingdom supplied 45%, followed by Bosnia & Herzegovina.
For the same subheading, the Türkiye duty is 8.3%–170%, the US duty is 17%–20%, the Canada duty is 7.5%, the Mexico duty is 20%, the Brazil duty is 14.4%, the Argentina duty is 16%, the Peru duty is free, the New Zealand duty is 0%–5%, the Japan duty is 21.3%–35%, the Taiwan duty is 10%–20%, the GCC duty is 5%, the North Macedonia duty is 20% and the Nigeria duty is 5%–20%.
EU member states imported goods of subheading 0403.90 worth US$1.3bn in 2024; the largest supplier from outside the EU was the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom ranked 1st with US$6.6m.
Questions and answers
What is the EU import duty for CN code 0403 90 31?
The third-country duty in the EU Combined Nomenclature is 0,95 €/kg + 22 €/100 kg/net; the supplementary unit is —. Preferential rates for goods from agreement countries, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.
Which countries get a lower rate on 0403 90 31?
116 countries have a preferential rate on this line, 114 of them at 0%, under GSP-EBA, CARIFORUM and OCTs and other arrangements. The rate applies only to goods that meet the rules of origin of the agreement, with proof of origin. Choose the country of origin on this page to see its rate.
Do anti-dumping or other extra duties apply to 0403 90 31?
Additional duty of 50% on goods from Belarus and Russia. These are charged on top of the customs duty.
Where does the EU import these goods from?
For subheading 0403.90 as a whole, the largest supplier from outside the EU in 2024 was the United Kingdom (US$6.6m), followed by New Zealand.
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EU Combined Nomenclature · CN code · 
United Kingdom
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Serbia
New Zealand
Norway
Switzerland
Ukraine
Iceland
Türkiye
USA
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Argentina
Peru
Japan
Taiwan
GCC
North Macedonia
Nigeria