Relief from customs duties and import VAT on goods needed to combat COVID-19

Commission Decision (EU) 2020/491 of 3 April 2020, adopted at the request of the Member States including France (request of 21 March 2020), grants relief from import duties and exemption from import VAT for goods needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, where they are imported by public bodies or approved organisations, or on their behalf, for free distribution or free provision to people affected by or involved in fighting the pandemic, as well as by disaster-relief agencies. The decision applies retroactively to imports from 30 January 2020 and, in its initial version, until 31 July 2020; it was later extended by subsequent decisions.