For Swiss companies delivering goods to Kosovo, relief is coming from October 1, 2026. This is when the new free trade agreement between Kosovo and the EFTA comes into force. EFTA stands for the European Free Trade Association. It includes Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway.
For industrial goods, tariffs should generally be eliminated immediately. For certain agricultural, fish, and seafood products, tariff reduction takes longer or special rules apply. The Federal Council states that current Swiss exports will overall become duty-free. However, in some cases only after a transition period.
For us in the freight forwarding office, one thing is particularly important: duty-free does not mean paperwork-free.
The goods must have Swiss preferential origin. It is therefore not sufficient that they are simply shipped from a Swiss warehouse. Depending on the shipment, a EUR.1 movement certificate or a correct declaration of origin on the invoice may be required. For declarations of origin, the prescribed wording must be used.
Existing authorizations as an authorized exporter also apply to this agreement. Such companies are permitted to issue declarations of origin without value limits. Other exporters can normally only do this up to a goods value of EUR 6,000 or CHF 10,300.
For smaller Swiss companies, Kosovo can thus become more interesting. Goods become cheaper compared to today, and Swiss suppliers are less disadvantaged compared to companies from the European Union. However, whether a tariff actually applies must be verified individually for each tariff number.
