Am I eligible for EU customs relief on imports into Romania from non-EU suppliers under trade agreements?

The EU has no preferential trade agreement with China, so electronic components imported directly from China enter at the EU's standard Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates under the Common Customs Tariff. However, that is not the end of the analysis.
Electronic components span a wide range of CN codes with significantly different duty rates, some as low as 0% under the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), to which both the EU and China are parties. Many semiconductors, capacitors, integrated circuits, and similar components already enter duty-free under the ITA. If your components qualify but are being classified under a dutiable heading, you may be overpaying today
If you assemble components in Romania and re-export the finished goods outside the EU, the inward processing regime allows you to suspend or recover import duties on the inputs. This requires authorisation from Romanian Customs but can deliver substantial savings
A BTI ruling from Romanian customs gives you legal certainty on classification and protection against reclassification for three years. If you are importing recurring shipments of the same components, this is basic housekeeping that many manufacturers overlook.
For any duty relief claim, the core file includes commercial invoices with detailed product descriptions, packing lists and transport documents (bill of lading/airway bill), technical datasheets confirming component specifications (essential for ITA classification), a certificate of non-preferential origin where required, and your customs declarations (DAU) with the correct CN codes.
For inward processing, you additionally need an economic justification demonstrating re-export activity and an authorisation application to ANAF.
Non-preferential certificates of origin for Chinese goods are issued by the Chinese chamber of commerce (CCPIT) on the export side. On the Romanian side, classification and relief applications go through ANAF's customs division. For BTI applications, you file directly with Romanian customs or through the EU's eBTI system.
At Buju Stanciu, we work with manufacturers on customs optimisation, starting with a tariff audit of your current import declarations to identify misclassifications or missed ITA zero-rate eligibility. This alone often recovers more than it costs. From there, we assess whether inward processing or other customs regimes fit your production model, and handle the ANAF applications.