On April 19, 2021, in a press release, the European Union (EU) announced the extension of the temporary waiver of customs duties and value-added tax (VAT) on imports of medical devices and protective equipment used to combat COVID-19 until December 31, 2021.

These measures applies to:

• State organisations (state bodies, public bodies governed by public law including hospitals, governmental organisations, communes/towns, regional governments, etc); and
• Charitable or philanthropic organisations approved by the competent authorities of the Member States.

The press release can be found here:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/news/commission-decides-extend-customs-and-vat-waiver-imports-medical-and-protective-equipment-needed-fight-pandemic_en

The extension information can be found in Decision (EU) 2021/660 here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2021.140.01.0010.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2021%3A140%3ATOC

The original waiver can be found in Decision (EU) 2020/491 here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32020D0491

The EU Commission list of products eligible to be imported duty and VAT free can be found here:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/eu_indicative_list_decision_covid19-c2020_491_19_april_2021.pdf