How to Import Clothing into the EU

If your brand is in the European Union and you are importing clothing for the first time, the figure to plan around is the landed cost, not the factory quote. For clothing made in Bangladesh the duty line is zero. What takes more care in the EU is everything around it: the import VAT of the country where the goods arrive, a label in the right language, and a set of product rules that have changed a great deal since 2024. This guide takes them in order. Every figure was checked against the EU sources listed at the end.

The short version

• Duty: 0%. Bangladesh is a beneficiary of the EU's Everything But Arms arrangement.
• The condition: the garment must be made from fabric in Bangladesh (single transformation). Cutting and sewing there is enough.
• Import VAT: charged at the rate of the member state where the goods are imported, for example 19% in Germany. A VAT-registered business recovers it.
• Label: fibre composition in the official language of each country where you sell.
• Product safety: since 13 December 2024 every product needs a responsible economic operator established in the EU.
• Newer rules to plan for: a PFAS limit from 10 October 2026, textile producer responsibility schemes by 17 April 2028, and the Digital Product Passport later.

How much duty do you pay on clothing from Bangladesh?

None. Bangladesh benefits from Everything But Arms (EBA), the EU arrangement that gives least developed countries duty-free, quota-free access for every product except arms and ammunition. Our duty guide sets this beside the UK, Canada, Australia and the United States.

The origin rule

For garments from a least developed country the rule is single transformation: the garment is made up from fabric in Bangladesh. Where the fabric itself was knitted or woven does not change the result. That is the work done on a cut-and-sew floor like ours. The proof your customs agent needs is a statement on origin, and it comes from the exporter, which is one reason to contract the factory and not an agent who cannot say where the goods were made.

What happens after Bangladesh graduates from LDC status?

Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from the UN's least developed country list on 24 November 2026. Under Regulation (EU) 2026/1395, the EU's renewed preference scheme that applies from 1 January 2027, a country that graduates keeps EBA for a transitional period of three years. The European Commission has said Bangladesh will keep these preferences at least until the end of 2029. After that it may apply for the GSP+ arrangement. So EU duty is zero now and is set to stay zero for at least three years. Our LDC graduation guide sets out the scenarios.

Import VAT depends on where the goods arrive

There is no single EU rate. Import VAT is charged at the standard rate of the member state of import, and each state sets its own rate above the EU minimum. In Germany it is the Einfuhrumsatzsteuer at 19% (Zoll), calculated on the customs value plus any duty and the transport and insurance costs to the first place of destination. Clothing is standard-rated. A VAT-registered business recovers import VAT through its normal return, so it is a cash-flow item between the border and the return and not a margin cost. If you are not registered, it is a real cost and belongs in your pricing.

A worked example

Take 500 T-shirts with a customs value of US$6.00 each: US$3,000 in total, with US$500 of freight and insurance on top, arriving in Germany.

The landed-cost calculator runs the same sum for any quantity and price, and our guide to import VAT and GST on clothing explains how the tax base differs between countries.

What has to be on the label

Fibre composition, under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011: the name and percentage by weight of every fibre in descending order, on a durable, easily legible, visible and accessible label, and in the official language or languages of the member state where the garment is sold. A range sold in Germany and France needs German and French. Country of origin is not required by that regulation, though an origin claim you choose to print must be true. Care symbols are not compulsory under EU law, but retailers expect them. Our guide to clothing labelling requirements by country puts the EU beside the other four markets.

Product safety: who is your responsible operator?

Since 13 December 2024 the General Product Safety Regulation requires, for every consumer product placed on the EU market, a responsible economic operator established in the EU. A factory in Bangladesh cannot be that operator. If your company is in the EU and you import the goods, it is you. The operator's name, registered trade name or mark, and postal and electronic address must appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document, and technical documentation has to be kept for ten years. Our GPSR guide explains what goes in the file and what to ask your factory for.

Chemicals: the limits that apply to clothing

• Azo dyes. REACH Annex XVII entry 43 bans azo dyes that release listed amines in textiles that touch the skin.
• PFAS. From 10 October 2026, clothing for the general public may not be placed on the EU market if it contains PFHxA and its salts at 25 parts per billion or more, or PFHxA-related substances at 1,000 parts per billion or more, under Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/2462. For goods made outside the EU, import counts as placing on the market. Our PFAS guide covers the exemptions and the national bans in France and Denmark.

Ask your factory for chemical test reports or for a certification that restricts inputs. On organic orders our GOTS certification (RSC 9687, scope certificate on request) covers most of that evidence.

Rules that are coming, and what to do now

• Textile producer responsibility (EPR). Directive (EU) 2025/1892 has been in force since 16 October 2025, and every member state must have a scheme by 17 April 2028. France and the Netherlands already run one. The business that first places clothing on each country's market pays. See our EU textile EPR guide.
• Digital Product Passport. The Commission plans to adopt the textile rules in late 2027, with a transition of at least 18 months after that, so a passport for clothing is not expected before about 2029. See our Digital Product Passport guide.

Both will ask for data your factory holds: garment weights, fibre composition and where each stage was done. It costs nothing to ask for it with your first order.

How the EU compares with the other markets

DDP or FOB

Under DDP (delivered duty paid) the factory's forwarder moves the goods to your door, files the statement on origin and clears customs, and you receive one landed figure. Under FOB you take over at the port in Bangladesh and your own customs agent will ask you for the documents. Either way they come from the factory: the commercial invoice, the packing list and the statement on origin. Make sure the quote says who is the importer of record, because that party pays the import VAT, reclaims it, and under the product safety rules is usually the responsible operator as well.

A contact inside the EU

Our brand office is in Amsterdam, so a European brand can deal with us in its own working day, and production happens on our own knitwear floor in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. We make knitwear for European brands from 150 pieces per style and colour, with GOTS-certified organic options, and we quote DDP to your door. See clothing manufacturing for European brands or for German brands, read our guide to importing clothing into the UK if you sell there too, or send us your brief and we will reply within one business day.