How to import rice

LICnet – online licence application

Standard licence for import

You need a standard licence for importing certain kinds of rice from non-EU countries. With a standard licence you pay the normal customs duty.

More specifically, you need a licence for importing rice of the following codes:

If you are importing less than 1 000 kilos, you do not need a licence.

Date for application

You can apply for a standard licence at any time during the year.

Lodge a security when applying for standard licence

You have to lodge a security when you apply for a licence. A security may for instance be cash or a bank guarantee. The point of the security is to ensure that you really intend to import the goods.

You may let another company import rice with your license. Even if someone else imports rice with your license, it is still you who pays the security amount.

If the total amount of your security is less than 100 euro, you do not need to lodge a security.

Converted to kilograms of rice, that means 3 333 kg. If you are importing between 1 000 and 3 333 kilograms of rice, you need a standard licence, but you do not need to lodge a security.

Import quota licence for rice

With an import quota licence, you can import rice and broken rice from certain non-EU countries at lower or zero duty.

Requirements for applying for a quota license

You must show trade at the first opportunity when you intend to apply for quotas during the current quota year and the trade must be shown for two consecutive twelve-month periods.

These are the twelve-month periods that expire two months before the first quota application can be submitted for the quota year. This means that for quotas applied for during the period 23‑30 November 2023, trade must be shown during the twelve-month periods of:

• September 23, 2021 – September 22, 2022
• September 23, 2022 – September 22, 2023.

These periods are valid until October 2024. Quota licences applied after that will face updated periods.

For quota applications in rice, you are required to show trade of 25 tonnes per twelve-month period for your application to be valid.

You can show trade by contacting the Swedish Customs.

Address:

Tullverket (The Swedish Customs), “Utdrag ur TDS”, Box 27311, 102 54 STOCKHOLM.

• tullverket@tullverket.se

Request extracts from the Customs Data System (TDS) and that the information be sent

on to the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

• Licenser@jordbruksverket.se

Address:

The Swedish Board of Agriculture

Fiskeri- och marknadsstödsenheten

551 82 Jönköping, Sweden

Please note that the above proof as well as sufficient security amount must come to the Swedish Board of Agriculture together with the quota application in LICnet - our electronic self service, before the application period expires.

Your company must have its registered office in Sweden and be VAT registered in Sweden.

A customs official or customs representative may not apply for quota licenses.

Dates for applications for quota licenses

Applications for import quota licenses must be made during the first seven days of each month during the tariff quota period. It is also possible to apply during the first seven days of the month before the tariff quota period begins. An exception is the month of December. Then you may not apply for import quotas for the first seven days. Quotas that are valid to use from the first of January, you apply from the 23rd to the 30th of November.

You may submit only one application for each type of rice and for each period. However, for quotas for which you are required to submit an export certificate, you may submit several applications for each quota number. This refers to quotas No. 09.4127, 09.4128, 09.4129 and 09.4149.

You may import 5 per cent more or less rice than the volume stated on your licence. If you should import 5 per cent less than the licence volume you still get your security back. You only get the duty reduction for the quantity that you have a licence for.

How to complete the application

In the online form, be sure to state the correct country of origin on the line for ”ursprungsland”. Also tick the box underneath, called “obligatorisk uppgift”.

On the line “kvot/referensnummer”, state the quota number. This is a six-digit number often written in the form 09.4123. However, do not include the point in the online form.

On the line “KN-nummer”, state the CN code with eight digits. If you got the number from the Customs, it may have ten digits. If so, ignore the last two digits.

On the line “kvantitet”, state the net volume in kilos, not in tonnes. Round it off to the nearest whole number, and do not use any points or commas anywhere. Do not state a larger volume than the one available for the relevant period.

Show a certificate of origin to Customs

When you bring the rice into Sweden, you have to present a certificate of origin to the customs authority. The certificate shall be issued by the competent authority in the country of origin. If you have an export certificate, you do not need a certificate of origin as well.

If the quota is exhausted

If the total volume applied for exceeds the available quota, every applicant will get the same percentage reduction of their quota volumes.

The Commission decides what volumes we may issue licences for. They do this for each quota period, after all applications have been submitted.

The Commission usually makes its decision on the 22th-30th day of the month. The licence takes effect from the 1st day of the month after you apply for the licence.

If you import less rice than the volume on your licence

If you import less rice than you have a licence for, we will either keep a part of your security or you will have to pay a certain sum.

For more information about these countries or products, please contact the Fisheries- and Marketing support unit at the Board of Agriculture.

• 036‑15 58 62

• Licenser@jordbruksverket.se

Special rules for rice from Vietnam and husked (brown) basmati rice from India and Pakistan

There are special rules for quota licenses to import rice from Vietnam and husked (brown) basmati rice from India and Pakistan.

How to apply for a licence

Use our online service LICnet to apply for licences. Before you can apply for a licence, you first need to do this:

• register with LICnet
• get an online identification

Then you need to do this:

• lodge a security
• apply for a licence

Register with LICnet

LICnet is an online service that lets you apply for various licences. Before you can use the service, you need to be a registered user.

Complete this form and send it to

• Licenser@jordbruksverket.se

In one or two days, you will get an e-mail from us, confirming that you are now a registered LICnet user.

• Form: Registration for LICnet

Get an online identification

You need an online identification in order to sign licence applications in LICnet. If you do not have one already, you need to get one.

An online identification proves who you are on the Internet, and is the online equivalent of your identity card or your driver’s licence. You can get an online identification from your bank or from Telia.

Lodge a security

You have to lodge a security when you apply for a licence. At least 2-3 days before you intend to apply for a licence, you need to lodge a security of 30 euro/ton rice. For broken rice, the security is 1 euro/ton. A security may for instance be cash or a bank guarantee. The point of the security is to ensure that you really intend to import the goods.

Apply for a licence

Standard licence

You can apply for a standard licence on any working day. If you apply before 1 pm, you get the licence on the same day. If your application reaches us after 1 pm, you get the licence the next day.

Quota licence

Applications for import quota licenses must be made during the first seven days of each month during the tariff quota period. It is also possible to apply during the first seven days of the month before the tariff quota period begins. An exception is the month of December. Then you may not apply for import quotas for the first seven days. Quotas that are valid to use from the first of January, you apply from the 23rd to the 30th of November.

When you apply for a quota license for the first time, you must ask the Custom Authorities to submit two Excel-files from the Customs Data System to The Swedish Board of Agriculture. You find the information above under the headline:

Requirements for applying for a quota license

This info is valid also for quota rice from India and Pakistan.

Apply through LICnet

You apply for a licence by using our online service LICnet, in the right-hand column. It you apply before 1 pm, you get the licence in about an hour. If you apply later than 1 pm, you get the licence in the morning of the next working day.

You should wait 2-3 days after lodging your security before applying for a licence, to make sure that we have had time to register your security. You cannot apply for a licence if you have not lodged a security, or if the security is not large enough.

The licence is valid for a limited time

The day your application for a standard license is received by us at the Swedish Board of Agriculture is usually counted as the first day of the license's validity period. The period of validity of a standard import license varies for different products. If the validity of the standard license expires on a non-business day, you can usually use the license immediately following the business day. This does not apply to quota licenses.

In LICnet you can see how long the license is valid.

Validity periods for import quota licenses

For applications submitted before the beginning of the tariff quota period, the period of validity of the license shall run from the first day of the tariff quota period until its last day.

For applications submitted during the current tariff quota period, the import quota license shall be valid from the first day of the month following the submission of the import quota application until the last day of the tariff quota period.

For import quota applications made between 23 and 30 November, the import quota license shall apply from 1 January, up to and including the last day of the tariff quota period.

If the tariff quota period is divided into sub-periods, import quota licenses are valid until the month after the end of the sub-period, but not longer than the last day of the tariff quota period.

Should the period of validity of an import quota license need to be extended due to force majeure (natural disaster or other major event beyond the control of the company), it may not be extended so that it expires after the last day of the tariff quota period.

Request the release of your security once the import is complete

Once you have imported the rice, you can request the release of the security. Releasing a security means that you either get it back or that you can use it again, depending on what type of security you are using. In order for the security to be released, you must have imported the stated volumes.

Use LICnet to request the release.

How to lodge a security

A day or so after you have registered with the online service LICnet, you can pay the security to the bank transfer service of the Board of Agriculture, No 5693-2304. The amount has to be in our account no later than 1 pm if we are to approve the licence application on that day.

Please state the following information:

• the company’s name and organisation number
• if it is a block security or a single security
  

If you apply for a licence more than once, or if you apply for several licences at the same time, we recommend that you lodge a so-called block security. If you only intend to import rice on a single occasion, you can lodge a single security.

• General information on how to lodge security

You can let some other company import rice using your licence. However, even if someone else carries out the import, you are still the one who has to lodge a security.

Regulations

• EU:s förordning nr 972/2006 om fastställande av särskilda regler för import av basmatiris och ett övergångssystem för fastställande av deras ursprung (eur-lex.europa.eu)