Spain

Selling and buying

Reaching the consumers

Marketing opportunities

Consumers associations

Distributing a product

Market shares: The Spanish distribution is characterised by a very big number of retailers and traditional shops. The retail trade which employs about 2.5 million people and contributes to more than 13% of the Spanish GNP, constitutes one of the most dynamic branches of the Spanish economy. This is clearly demonstrated by the global turnover of 120 billion euros achieved by 620,000 retail shops existing in Spain (15,2 shops / 1,000 inhabitants) .
However, just the same as many other countries, distribution in Spain is changing mainly because of the development of new modes of distribution: the large-scale distribution which concentrates at the moment 10% of sales, specialised groups, etc... The consumer, whose purchasing power increased, indeed demands products of a good value for the money spent and asks for more services, especially with regard to payment terms.
On the 15 billion euro turnover achieved in 1998 by all hypermarkets, about 90% of the sales are coming from four big names, that are Carrefour, Alcampo, Eroski and Hipercor (whole subsidiary of the Corte Inglés group). This demonstrates the dimension of concentration in this sector.
Organizations in the retail sector

Market access procedures

International Conventions

Member of World Trade Organisation
Member of OECD
Party to the Kyoto protocol
Party to the Washington convention on International trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora
Party to the Basel convention on the Control of Transboudary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their disposal
Party to the Montreal protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer
Wassenaar arrangement on export controls for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies
Party of the International coffee agreement 2001

Non tariff barriers

In accordance with its European Union membership, Spain applies the European Union (EU) rules that are in force in all European Union countries. While the EU has a rather liberal foreign trade policy, there is a certain number of restrictions, especially on farm products, following the implementation of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy): the application of compensations on import and export of farm products, aimed at favouring the development of agriculture within the EU, implies a certain number of control and regulation systems for the goods entering the EU territory.
Moreover, for sanitary reasons, regarding Genetically Modified Organisms (after being allowed in the European territory), their presence should be systematically specified on packaging. Beef cattle bred on hormones is also forbidden to import.
The BSE crisis (often called the "mad cow disease") urged the European Authorities to strengthen the phytosanitary measures to make sure of the quality of meats entering and circulating in the EU territory. The principle of precaution is now more widespread: in case of doubt, the import is prohibited until proof is made of the non-harmfullness of products.

Customs classification

Since the first of January 1993, the European Union, of which Spain is part, has been a single market, without any customs barriers, which ensures free circulation of goods. On May, 1st of 2004, ten "candidate countries" became new members of the European Union: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. Trade within the European Union is totally free from customs duties, provided that the merchandises' country of origin is one of the 25 European Union Member States. Nevertheless, when introducing merchandises into Spain, exporters shall fill in an intrastat declaration.

When the country of origin of the merchandises which are exported to Spain is not part of the European Union, customs duties are calculated Ad valorem on the CIF value of the goods, in accordance with the Common Customs Tariff (CCT).

The duties for non-European countries are relatively low, especially for manufactured goods (4.2% on average for the general rate), however textile, clothing items (high duties and quota system) and food processing industry sectors (average duties of a 17.3% and numerous tariff quotas, PAC) still know protective measures.
In order to get exhaustive regulations and customs tariffs rates regarding their products, exporters shall refer to the TARIC code and its database, which includes all applicable customs duties and all customs trade policy measures for all the goods.

Moreover, many bilateral and multilateral agreements have been signed by the European Union, in order to define specific customs duties with the following countries:

- Customs agreements with Australia, Canada, United States, Mexico and South Korea.

- The EU-EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Agreement was signed in 1972 with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

- Free trade agreements with Bulgaria and Romania that hope join European Union in 2007.

- Mediterranean Agreements, concerning: Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.

- The ACP agreements, with 95% of the tariff lines with a 0% rate for developing countries in Africa, Caribbean Islands and Pacific. The Cotonou Agreement, signed in the year 2000, defines the new EU-ACP partnership.

- The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP): 54% of the tariff lines are at 0% for developing countries outside the ACP framework.

To get an exhaustive list of the foreign trade agreements of the European Union, click here.

>> To get further information on customs policies in the European Union, please check the exhaustive report by the European Commission.

Import procedures

You must submit to the Customs Office:
- the sales or pro-forma invoice
- a brief declaration (manifest (plane or ship)) for taking charge of the merchandise
- a common law declaration (UAD, unique administrative document), as welll as teh accompanying documents to enable their customs clearance.
The UAD form can be collected from the chambers of commerce or from an authorized printer. A computerized customs clearance platform (SOFI) can be accessed in the customs offices or in some chambers of commerce.

In case of intracommunity deliveries and purchases, goods exchange declaration (GED) or Intrastat declaration must be send to the customs service.

For further information