EU Combined Nomenclature · CN code · HS 3003.20
3003 20 00: Medicaments: other, containing antibiotics
✓ Can be used in a customs declaration Data: EU Combined Nomenclature, in force from 1 January 2026 · checked on 24 October 2026
- 3003 Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of two or more constituents which have been mixed together for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, not put up in measured doses or in forms or packings for retail sale:
- 3003 20 00 Other, containing antibiotics
What you pay
Importing into EU
Additional duties and import rules
Charges on top of the customs duty, and rules the goods must meet at the border.
Additional duties and charges 3
- Duty on low-value parcelsLow-value consignment customs duty 3 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 duty 3 EUR
- Applies to goods from
- all countries
- In force
- from 1 November 2026
- Legal act
- Regulation 0382/26
- Handling feeUnion handling fee 2 EUR
- Applies to goods from
- all countries
- In force
- from 1 November 2026
- Legal act
- Regulation 2108/26
- Documents
- Y126 Goods sold in distance sales
Import requirements 3
- Import control
- Applies to goods from
- Ukraine
- Legal act
- Regulation 0692/14
- Import controlImport control on REACH
- Applies to goods from
- all countries
- Legal act
- Regulation 1907/06
- Documents
- Y106 Compliance with the REACH restrictions defined in Column 2 of Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
- Y110 Exemption from REACH restrictions by virtue of Article 67(1) and 67(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
- Y113 Substance/mixture not subjected to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (Annex XVII)
- Import control
- Applies to goods from
- Ukraine
- Legal act
- Regulation 0263/22
- Documents
- 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
- N954 Movement certificate EUR.1
- 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.
-
Austria 0% reduced rate
-
Belgium 21%
-
Bulgaria 20%
-
Croatia 25%
-
Cyprus 5% reduced rate
-
Czechia 12% reduced rate
-
Denmark 25%
-
Estonia 9% reduced rate
-
Finland 13.5% reduced rate
-
France 20%
-
Germany 19%
-
Greece 6% / 13% reduced rate
-
Hungary 27%
-
Ireland 0% reduced rate
-
Italy 10% reduced rate
-
Latvia 12% reduced rate
-
Lithuania 5% reduced rate
-
Luxembourg 3% reduced rate
-
Malta 0% reduced rate
-
Netherlands 9% reduced rate
-
Poland 23%
-
Portugal 6% reduced rate
-
Romania 11% reduced rate
-
Slovakia 5% reduced rate
-
Slovenia 9.5% reduced rate
-
Spain 21%
-
Sweden 25%
TEDB · 26 October 2026
EU: imports by month · HS 3003.20
Main suppliers, last 12 months
| Country | Value | Share | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| €172.8m | 78.8% | +189.9% | |
| €25.9m | 11.8% | -1.9% | |
| €19.1m | 8.7% | -22.4% | |
| €1m | 0.5% | -29.8% | |
| €334k | 0.2% | +780.3% | |
| €86k | 0% | -1.5% | |
| €68k | 0% | +24% | |
| €4k | 0% | +1,597.8% |
Same subheading in other tariffs
3003.20 Medicaments: other, containing antibiotics
Legal notes
Notes
1. This chapter does not cover:
(a) foods or beverages (such as dietetic, diabetic or fortified foods, food supplements, tonic beverages and mineral waters), other than nutritional preparations for intravenous administration (Section IV);
(b) products, such as tablets, chewing gum or patches (transdermal systems), containing nicotine and intended to assist tobacco use cessation (heading 2404);
(c) plasters specially calcined or finely ground for use in dentistry (heading 2520);
(d) aqueous distillates or aqueous solutions of essential oils, suitable for medicinal uses (heading 3301);
(e) preparations of headings 3303 to 3307, even if they have therapeutic or prophylactic properties;
(f) soap or other products of heading 3401 containing added medicaments;
(g) preparations with a basis of plaster for use in dentistry (heading 3407);
(h) blood albumin not prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses (heading 3502); or
(ij) diagnostic reagents of heading 3822.
2. For the purposes of heading 3002, the expression ‘immunological products’ applies to peptides and proteins (other than goods of heading 2937) which are directly involved in the regulation of immunological processes, such as monoclonal antibodies (MAB), antibody fragments, antibody conjugates and antibody fragment conjugates, interleukins, interferons (IFN), chemokines and certain tumour-necrosis factors (TNF), growth factors (GF), hematopoietins and colony-stimulating factors (CSF).
3. For the purposes of headings 3003 and 3004 and of note 4(d) to this chapter, the following are to be treated:
(a) as unmixed products:
(1) unmixed products dissolved in water;
(2) all goods of Chapter 28 or 29; and
(3) simple vegetable extracts of heading 1302, merely standardised or dissolved in any solvent;
(b) as products which have been mixed:
(1) colloidal solutions and suspensions (other than colloidal sulphur);
(2) vegetable extracts obtained by the treatment of mixtures of vegetable materials; and
(3) salts and concentrates obtained by evaporating natural mineral waters.
4. Heading 3006 applies only to the following, which are to be classified in that heading and in no other heading of the nomenclature:
(a) sterile surgical catgut, similar sterile suture materials (including sterile absorbable surgical or dental yarns) and sterile tissue adhesives for surgical wound closure;
(b) sterile laminaria and sterile laminaria tents;
(c) sterile absorbable surgical or dental haemostatics; sterile surgical or dental adhesion barriers, whether or not absorbable;
(d) opacifying preparations for X-ray examinations and diagnostic reagents designed to be administered to the patient, being unmixed products put up in measured doses or products consisting of two or more ingredients which have been mixed together for such uses;
(e) placebos and blinded (or double-blinded) clinical trial kits for use in recognised clinical trials, put up in measured doses, even if they might contain active medicaments;
(f) dental cements and other dental fillings; bone reconstruction cements;
(g) first-aid boxes and kits;
(h) chemical contraceptive preparations based on hormones, on other products of heading 2937 or on spermicides;
(ij) gel preparations designed to be used in human or veterinary medicine as a lubricant for parts of the body for surgical operations or physical examinations or as a coupling agent between the body and medical instruments;
(k) waste pharmaceuticals, that is, pharmaceutical products which are unfit for their original intended purpose due to, for example, expiry of shelf life; and
(l) appliances identifiable for ostomy use, that is, colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy pouches cut to shape and their adhesive wafers or faceplates.
Subheading notes
1. For the purposes of subheadings 300213 and 300214, the following are to be treated:
(a) as unmixed products, pure products, whether or not containing impurities;
(b) as products which have been mixed:
(1) the products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in water or in other solvents;
(2) the products mentioned in (a) and (b) (1) above with an added stabiliser necessary for their preservation or transport; and
(3) The products mentioned in (a), (b) (1) and (b) (2) above with any other additive.
2. Subheadings 300360 and 300460 cover medicaments containing artemisinin (INN) for oral ingestion combined with other pharmaceutical active ingredients, or containing any of the following active principles, whether or not combined with other pharmaceutical active ingredients: amodiaquine (INN); artelinic acid or its salts; artenimol (INN); artemotil (INN); artemether (INN); artesunate (INN); chloroquine (INN); dihydroartemisinin (INN); lumefantrine (INN); mefloquine (INN); piperaquine (INN); pyrimethamine (INN) or sulfadoxine (INN).
CN Explanatory Notes
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.
General notes to the chapter
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS
General
The description of a product as a medicament in Union legislation (other than that relating specifically to classification in the Combined Nomenclature) or in the national legislation of the Member States, or in any pharmacopoeia, is not the deciding factor in so far as its classification in this chapter is concerned.
Additional note 1
1. Herbal medicinal preparations are preparations based on one or more active substances, produced by subjecting a plant or parts thereof to a process such as drying, crushing, extraction or purification.
Active substance means a chemically defined substance, a chemically defined group of substances (for example, alkaloids, polyphenols, anthocyanins) or a plant extract. These active substances must have medicinal properties for the prevention or the treatment of specific diseases, ailments or their symptoms.
2. Homeopathic medicinal preparations are prepared from products, substances or compositions called homeopathic stocks (mother tinctures). The degree of dilution must be indicated (for example, D6).
3. Vitamins or mineral preparations are preparations based on vitamins of heading 2936, on minerals including trace elements and mixtures thereof. They are used to treat or prevent specific diseases, ailments or their symptoms. Such preparations contain a much higher amount of vitamins or minerals, generally at least three times higher than the recommended daily allowance (RDA).
As regards the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for certain vitamins and minerals, see, for example, the table in the Annex XIII to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 58) reproduced below:
| Vitamins and minerals | RDA |
| Vitamin A | 800 μg |
| Vitamin D | 5 μg |
| Vitamin E | 12 mg |
| Vitamin K | 75 μg |
| Vitamin C | 80 mg |
| Thiamin | 1,1 mg |
| Riboflavin | 1,4 mg |
| Niacin | 16 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 1,4 mg |
| Folic acid | 200 μg |
| Vitamin B12 | 2,5 μg |
| Biotin | 50 μg |
| Pantothenic acid | 6 mg |
| Potassium | 2 000 mg |
| Chloride | 800 mg |
| Calcium | 800 mg |
| Phosphorus | 700 mg |
| Magnesium | 375 mg |
| Iron | 14 mg |
| Zinc | 10 mg |
| Copper | 1 mg |
| Manganese | 2 mg |
| Fluoride | 3,5 mg |
| Selenium | 55 μg |
| Chromium | 40 μg |
| Molybdenum | 50 μg |
| Iodine | 150 μg |
4. Recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adults with a weight of 70 kg, on essential amino acids, according to the joint WHO/FAO/UNU expert Consultation 2007:
| Essential Amino Acid | RDA (mg) |
| Histidine | 700 |
| Isoleucine | 1 400 |
| Leucine | 2 730 |
| Lysine | 2 100 |
| Methionine + Cysteine | 1 050 |
| Cysteine | 287 |
| Methionine | 728 |
| Phenylalanine + Tyrosine | 1 750 |
| Threonine | 1 050 |
| Tryptophan | 280 |
| Valine | 1 820 |
Recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adults with a weight of 70 kg, on essential fatty acids, according to the joint WHO/FAO/UNU expert Consultation 2007.
| Types of essential fatty acids | Name of essential fatty acid | RDA (g) |
| n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids | linolenic acid (ALA) | 2 |
| long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids | EPA plus DHA | 0,25 |
| n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids | linoleic acid | 10 |
Heading 3004 does not cover, inter alia, food supplements or dietary preparations (see also note 1(a) to this chapter).
Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union, Official Journal C (consolidated text and later amendments) · © European Union
This line in earlier years
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 | Other, containing antibiotics | Free | — |
| 2025 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2024 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2023 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2022 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2021 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2020 | unchanged | Free | — |
| 2019 | Other, containing antibiotics | Free | — |
CN code 3003 20 00 is a line of the EU Combined Nomenclature under HS subheading 3003.20 (medicaments: other, containing antibiotics).
The third-country duty is free, and quantities are declared in —.
Imports of goods of subheading 3003.20 into the EU came to €219.3m between September 2025 and August 2026 (up 95% on the year before); Japan supplied 79%, followed by China.
For the same subheading, the UK duty is free, the Türkiye duty is free, the US duty is free, the Canada duty is free, the Mexico duty is 0%–10%, the Brazil duty is 0%–12.6%, the Argentina duty is 0%–12.6%, the Peru duty is free, the New Zealand duty is free, the Japan duty is free, the Taiwan duty is free, the GCC duty is free, the Switzerland duty is free, the Norway duty is free, the North Macedonia duty is free and the Nigeria duty is free.
EU member states imported goods of subheading 3003.20 worth US$182m in 2024; the largest supplier from outside the EU was China.
Questions and answers
What is the EU import duty for CN code 3003 20 00?
The third-country duty in the EU Combined Nomenclature is free; the supplementary unit is —. Preferential rates for goods from agreement countries, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.
Where does the EU import these goods from?
For subheading 3003.20 as a whole, the largest supplier from outside the EU in 2024 was China (US$43m), followed by Japan.