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What do you have to consider when importing masks or other protective equipment?

When importing breathing masks, for example, into free circulation for customs and tax purposes, the usual regulations apply. Information about this can be found on the General Customs Directorate website. When importing simple breathing masks made of nonwovens with the customs tariff number 63079098100, a customs duty of 6.3 percent and import sales tax of 19 percent are due.


Free deliveries such as donations to institutions entrusted with emergency medical care for Covid-19 risk groups (e.g. hospitals and retirement homes) are exempt from import duties. However, imports are not exempt from duties for resale or other uses.

Breathing masks are divided into different categories. Information about this can be found on the website of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. (Source: www.bfarm.de ). A distinction is made between:


A distinction is made between:

  • Makeshift mouth and nose masks are made from commercially available materials (so-called “community masks”)
  • Medical mouth and nose protection, which represent protective masks with a claimed protective effect due to the fulfillment of relevant legal requirements and technical standards.
  • Filtering half masks, i.e. mouth and nose protective masks and filtering half masks, which are medical products. These masks require CE marking. A CE marking stands for “European Conformity” and symbolizes the conformity of the product with the applicable requirements that the European Community places on the manufacturer.

We have carried out numerous mask transports in the past few weeks. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at any time at info.fra@quick-cargo-service.de