Spain - Country Commercial Guide
Prohibited & Restricted Imports
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To determine if a product is prohibited or subject to restriction, check the TARIC for that product for the following codes:

  • CITES                    Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species
  • PROHI                 Import Suspension
  • RSTR                     Import Restriction

For information on the TARIC, see the Import Tariffs section above.

Spanish regulations ban the import of illicit narcotics and drugs. There are also very restrictive regulations for imports of explosives, firearms, defense equipment and material, tobacco, and gambling material. There are also restrictions on many types of pharmaceutical products.

EU regulations on hormones ban most U.S. beef and beef products from entry into the EU and prevent the importation of certain live cattle. As a result of the United States’s successful challenge to the EU hormone ban at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission instead opened a High-Quality Beef (HQB) quota for the import of hormone-free beef.

The Implementing Regulation 2019/2179 modifying the HQB quota allocation management was published in the Official Journal on December 20, 2019, and started on January 1, 2020. Under the new agreement, the U.S. specific HQB quota share will increase from 18,500 metric ton (MT) Product Weight Equivalent (PWE) of hormone-free raised beef in 2020 to 35,000 MT in 2026 in seven incremental steps. In 2022, imports of U.S. beef amounted to 53.9% of the U.S.-specific part of the quota allocation. Most U.S. beef imports are destined for the EU restaurant sector, so growth in U.S. beef exports to the EU depends on continued economic recovery in the tourism and hotel and restaurant sectors. U.S. exporters can use this quota as well as the “Hilton Quota,” a term for specific quotas of imports of HBQ into the EU from eight countries, for exporting high quality bovine meat to the European Union. For more information see GAIN Report – “US Beef Imports into the EU High Quality Beef Quota Increased in 2022.” 

The European Commission provides an updated document with a comprehensive EU prohibition and restriction list, which is available through their website.