Import requirements, by destination

European Union — an A.TR, and only an A.TR

Hotel furniture is industrial goods, so it moves inside the EU–Türkiye Customs Union on an A.TR movement certificate, duty-free, regardless of where the board or the hardware came from. The certificate is raised per consignment through the Gemlik chamber in MEDOS and carries a four-month presentation period. A buyer or broker who asks for "a EUR.1 for Germany" is asking for the wrong document; EUR.1 belongs to FTA partners outside the Customs Union.

One distinction worth raising before your broker does: an A.TR proves free circulation, not origin. If your project needs Turkish origin proved for its own reasons, that is a separate non-preferential certificate of origin, and we say so rather than waving the A.TR at the question.

From 30 December 2026 the EU deforestation regulation applies to furniture. The due-diligence statement is the importer's to lodge, and it needs harvest-plot geolocation for the wood in the product — data that has to come from the manufacturer. We are building that data now, so the statement has something to stand on. (Verified 5 August 2026 against the Commission's EUDR pages.)

United Kingdom — origin must be proved

The UK sits outside the Customs Union, so the instrument changes: a EUR.1 or an origin declaration, and this time origin actually has to be met. Under the revised PEM rules furniture carries a whole-chapter rule with two alternatives, chosen consignment by consignment: every non-originating input changes tariff heading, or non-originating materials stay under fifty per cent of the ex-works price. We state that as our broker has it, and confirm it in writing per contract.

The VAT position surprises more buyers than the duty. A seller with no UK establishment has no registration threshold at all: registration is mandatory on the first taxable supply, and postponed VAT accounting is available after it (HMRC VATREG37050, updated 29 July 2026). It is one of the reasons we quote DAP and leave the import entry with the buyer's side.

Contract upholstery is usually specified to BS 7176 medium hazard: EN 1021-1 and -2 plus BS 5852 ignition source 5. That is a manufacturer's declaration backed by test evidence on the exact build-up, not a certificate issued by a body, and we quote it per specification.

United States — classification is everything

No origin certificate changes the US outcome. The ten-digit HTS line does, by up to 37.5 points. As of 5 August 2026: wooden casegoods enter at 12.5% total (heading 9903.05.79, effective 24 July 2026). Upholstered wooden-frame seating pays 25%, and the two do not stack; U.S. note 52(f)(4) exempts the Section 232 wood headings from the forced-labour duty. The upholstered rate steps to 30% on 1 January 2027 under Proclamation 11000.

Metal furniture stopped being a metal-content calculation on 6 April 2026 — Section 232 duties now apply to the full customs value, but most metal hotel furniture is out of 232 scope altogether and pays the 12.5%. Mattresses are the one line we advise against shipping to the US: the antidumping order on Turkish mattresses survived its sunset review on 31 July 2026, and its 20.03% rides on top of everything else.

Composite wood panels fall under TSCA Title VI: the certification burden sits with the panel producer, and as the fabricator we buy certified board, keep the records, and label the finished goods with the compliant statement (40 CFR 770). Upholstery flammability runs on TB 117-2013 via 16 CFR 1640, where the permanent label is itself the declaration.

Saudi Arabia — SABER, per shipment

Since 1 January 2025 furniture clears through the SABER platform: a Product Certificate of Conformity valid one year, and a Shipment Certificate of Conformity issued per shipment, not once per project. All furniture is in scope regardless of material, and a shipment that fails is re-exported at the importer's expense. That is why the paperwork gets specified before the first container is loaded.

Labelling is the other half: material composition and country of origin, in Arabic, on each piece — specified with the order and applied in production. The importer files; we manufacture to the named standards and supply the documentation behind the filing. Duty for a given project we confirm in writing rather than quote from a table.

Serbia and the Western Balkans — zero, on condition

Duty on furniture into Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Albania is zero, and has been for years: since 2015 in Serbia and Montenegro, 2008 in North Macedonia, 2013 in Albania, 2021 in Bosnia. The condition is a valid proof of origin. Without one, MFN applies, and import VAT lands at destination either way.

Under the rules that took over on 1 January 2026 there are exactly two proofs: a EUR.1, or an origin declaration on the invoice below EUR 6,000 per consignment — and a container of hotel FF&E clears that threshold many times over, so plan on a EUR.1 per shipment. Validity is ten months from issue. We state both as our broker has them.

On cumulation dates for individual Balkan routes we give the honest answer: the Serbian route is published (13 February 2026); for the others we have our gümrük müşaviri confirm the date in writing rather than quote a number we would have to walk back.

Russia and the EAEU — the declaration travels with the product

Adult furniture into the Union is declared, not certified, under technical regulation TR CU 025/2012; children's furniture is the certified exception. The declaration of conformity is registered by a declarant established in the Union — the importer or an authorised representative — with a five-year ceiling on validity. We manufacture to the named standards and supply the documentation and test evidence the declaration rests on.

Where a Russian specification cites fire performance, the usual references are GOST R 53294-2009 for ignitability and GOST 19917-2014 as the product standard. We quote the build-up against the named standard per specification; we claim no certificate.