About Import8

Import8 is for businesses that import goods into the EU, and for forwarders and web shops. You have the documents of a shipment checked before they reach customs, and you find the HS code of your products. In Express mode the 6-digit code was right for 92% of 197 tested EBTI rulings. Every result comes with the reason.

The problem

Every product that enters the EU needs an HS code. The EU nomenclature has over 16,900 possible codes, so finding the right one takes time and goes wrong easily. With a wrong code you pay too much or too little duty, or your shipment is held.

And the code is only part of it. A shipment can also get stuck on an invoice without the country of origin, a weight that does not match the packing list or a missing document. You usually find out when the forwarder calls.

How Import8 works

You upload the documents of a shipment. Import8 reads them, finds the HS codes of the products and puts the documents side by side, and next to the rules for those products. For each document you get what is wrong, what is missing and what your supplier must change. If you only need a code, you describe the product or upload a photo.

What you can expect

  • Photo and text - you can upload a product photo, give a description or both. Import8 looks at material, shape and function in the photo.
  • 92% Express-mode accuracy - tested against 197 official EU EBTI (binding tariff information) rulings across 47 product chapters: 92% right on 6 digits and 97% on 8 digits (of the products that were right on 6 digits). See the benchmark.
  • The reason with it - for every code you see step by step how it came about. You can download it as a PDF for your records.
  • An API - if you want it in your own system, there is a REST API with batch processing and webhooks. You can also upload a CSV or Excel file.
  • Alerts on new rates - if an EU rate changes for a code you had classified, you get an alert.
  • Start free - you get 5 free credits. After that you buy credits, from €0.50 per credit in a large package. See pricing.

Technology

Import8 uses Claude by Anthropic to read products and documents. For the HS code, Import8 first makes the product description unambiguous, then searches the EU nomenclature of over 16,900 codes for the best candidates and then chooses, with hundreds of earlier EU EBTI rulings as examples.

We regularly fetch the EU TARIC data again from the official source. With a code you see the duty, VAT and any anti-dumping duties for all 27 EU countries.

Company

Import8 is made by Trade8 B.V., a software company in Groningen, the Netherlands. We build tools that make importing goods easier.

Legal entityTrade8 B.V.
AddressEuvelgunnerweg 25a, 9723 CV Groningen
KvK number99745720

Contact

Questions about Import8? Send us a message.

Send us a message

To the contact form

API documentation

Read the documentation

How Import8 works

For the HS code, Import8 works from top to bottom, the way customs does: first the General Rules for the Interpretation, then the chapter notes, then rules we derived from earlier EU rulings (EBTI). For documents, Import8 checks what must be on them under customs law, whether the documents match each other and which product rules go with the HS codes.

Where Import8 can be wrong

Import8 uses AI, and AI is sometimes wrong. That is why every code and every finding comes with the reason, so you can check it. You decide which code you declare and what you do with the report. In audit mode you record every step in a PDF. If you are unsure, ask a customs broker.

Please note

What Import8 gives you is help with your preparation, not legal or customs advice. That goes for the HS code and for the check report of your documents. As the importer you remain responsible for your declaration. Customs decides on the classification. A binding tariff information (BTI) from customs always takes precedence.

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