Introduction
ELAN, the EU’s ELectronic system for Agricultural Non-customs formalities, is part of the EU Single Window Environment for Customs which stores information about the issue and use of documents required for international trade in agricultural goods.
It facilitates the exchange of electronic documents between the authorities or bodies issuing them and customs authorities. This exchange occurs through the European Union Customs Single Window Certificates Exchange System (EU CSW-CERTEX).
Documents covered
ELAN covers the following documents:
- Import and export licences for agricultural products issued by the competent Member States authorities under Regulations (EU) 2016/1237 and (EU) 2016/1239.
- Documents issued by third countries required by Regulations (EU) 2020/760, (EU) 2020/761, (EU) 2020/1987, and (EU) 2020/1988 for imports benefitting of the tariff rate quota regime.
- Authenticity certificates for basmati rice issued by the competent authorities of India and Pakistan in accordance with Regulations (EU) 2023/2835 and (EU) 2023/2834.
This will soon be expanded to include:
- Documents allowing the import and export of fruit and vegetables,
- Documents required for the import of wine into the EU (VI-1 documents and VI-2 extracts).
- Documents required for the import and export of hops.
Launch
ELAN can be officially tested from 15 July 2025 onwards. It will come into use in January 2026 on a voluntary basis. It will become mandatory to use for authorities issuing documents as of January 2028, and for customs authorities as of October 2028.
Regulatory framework and instructions
Delegated Regulation on ELAN
Implementing Regulation on ELAN
Instruction on ELAN1L-AGRIM and ELAN1L-AGREX
