The short answer
When you import bulk gas you need quota: Article 16(1) allows hydrofluorocarbons to be placed on the market only to the extent that the Commission has allocated quota to you. When you import equipment that arrives already charged, the logic is the same but the instrument is different.
Article 19(1) says that refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, heat pumps and metered dose inhalers pre-charged with substances listed in Section 1 of Annex I shall not be placed on the market unless those substances are accounted for within the quota system. In practice you do that with an authorisation to use quota granted by a quota holder under Article 21(2), not with quota of your own.
Three more things come with it: a valid F-gas Portal registration before the import (Article 20(4), point (a)), a declaration of conformity with the documentation behind it (Article 19(2)), and, where the gas inside the equipment had not been placed on the Union market before the equipment was charged, confirmation by an independent auditor (Article 19(3)).
It does not repeat the full bulk import procedure — that is covered in the HFC import procedure guide. It does not give you a declaration of conformity template either: Article 19(4) empowers the Commission to set out the details by implementing acts, so the format has to come from the official instructions in force, not from a summary. It contains no tariff classifications, no duty rates and no customs thresholds.
Which equipment falls under Article 19
The list in Article 19(1) is closed and it points at the substances in Section 1 of Annex I, that is, hydrofluorocarbons. If your appliance contains a different kind of fluorinated gas or a natural refrigerant, Article 19 does not apply to it. That does not mean nothing applies.
Refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, heat pumps and metered dose inhalers pre-charged with substances listed in Section 1 of Annex I shall not be placed on the market unless those substances with which the products or equipment have been pre-charged are accounted for within the quota system referred to in that Chapter. For metered dose inhalers the prohibition applies from 1 January 2025.
- Refrigeration equipment — from cabinets and display cases to condensing units shipped with a factory charge.
- Air-conditioning equipment — including monobloc units and split sets delivered pre-charged.
- Heat pumps — currently the highest-volume category of pre-charged import.
- Metered dose inhalers — brought in from 1 January 2025 by the second subparagraph of Article 19(1).
Note what Article 19 does not change: it says nothing about the placing-on-the-market prohibitions in Annex IV. A unit can be perfectly covered by a quota authorisation and still be prohibited because its refrigerant sits above the Annex IV GWP line for that date. The two filters are independent and both of them apply.
The scope limit. Article 19(6) states that Article 19 does not apply to undertakings that placed on the market less than 10 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons per year, contained in the products or equipment referred to in paragraph 1. It is a limit per undertaking and per calendar year, expressed in CO2 equivalent, not in kilograms and not per shipment. For R-32, 10 t CO2e is roughly 14.8 kg of gas across a whole year, because the Annex I GWP is 675. The arithmetic is set out in the CO2 equivalent for HFC imports guide.
The exemption is from Article 19, meaning the quota accounting and the documentation attached to it. It does not waive the valid F-gas Portal registration that Article 20(4), point (a), requires before any import, nor the licence required by Article 22(1). There is no general once-a-year or under-one-kilogram exemption anywhere in the Regulation.
Bulk gas and pre-charged equipment: the real differences
Both routes end in the same place — the gas has to be covered — but the steps, the documents and the person carrying the responsibility are different.
| Item | Bulk HFCs | Pre-charged equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 16(1) | Article 19(1) |
| Quota instrument | Quota allocated to you (Article 17(4)) | Authorisation to use another undertaking's quota (Article 21(2)) or a delegated authorisation (Article 21(3)) |
| Who is treated as placing on the market | You, the importer | The authorising quota holder, at the moment of the authorisation (Article 21(2), second subparagraph) |
| Specific document at customs | The trifluoromethane evidence under Article 4(6), made available under Article 23(7) | The declaration of conformity and documentation under Article 19(2), made available under Article 23(8) |
| Auditor verification | Article 26(8), at 1 000 t CO2e or more placed on the market | Article 19(3) for gas not previously placed on the market, plus the report under Article 26(7) |
| F-gas Portal registration | Required (Article 20(4)) | Required (Article 20(4)) |
| Licence | A valid registration constitutes the licence (Article 20(5)) | A valid registration constitutes the licence (Article 20(5)) |
One detail causes most of the confusion: on the equipment route, the quantity is deemed to be placed on the market by the quota holder who authorises you, at the moment of the authorisation. You are not drawing down quota of your own as the goods cross the border; you are showing customs that a sufficient authorisation exists. That is why the authorisation has to be in place before release for free circulation, not afterwards.
The steps in the right order
Register the undertaking in the F-gas Portal
Article 20(4), point (a), requires a valid registration before any import of fluorinated greenhouse gases or of products and equipment containing them. The information you must supply is listed in Article 2 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2473.
Work out the CO2 equivalent of the charge
Add up the gas in every unit in the consignment, then across every consignment in the year. The method is in Article 3, points (1) and (3), and for mixtures in Annex VI.
Obtain the authorisation to use quota before dispatch
Article 21(2). It is granted in the F-gas Portal by a quota holder with a reference value and becomes valid only once you accept it in the Portal, under Article 21(4).
Draw up the declaration of conformity
Article 19(2). By drawing it up you assume responsibility for compliance with Article 19(1) and (2). The supporting documentation must fully evidence the quota coverage.
Make the documents available to customs at release for free circulation
Article 23(8) requires the declaration of conformity and the Article 19(2) documentation to be available when the customs declaration is lodged.
The declaration of conformity and the independent auditor
Article 19(2) is short, but it moves the responsibility onto you in so many words.
When placing pre-charged products or equipment on the market, manufacturers and importers shall ensure that compliance with paragraph 1 is fully documented and shall draw up a declaration of conformity. By drawing up the declaration of conformity they assume responsibility for compliance with paragraphs 1 and 2. The documentation and the declaration shall be kept for at least 5 years from the placing on the market and made available, upon request, to the competent authority of the Member State concerned or to the Commission.
A second layer appears when the gas inside the equipment had not been placed on the Union market before the equipment was charged — the typical case for equipment built and filled outside the Union.
- Article 19(3) requires that, by 30 April each year, the accuracy of the documentation, of the declaration of conformity and the veracity of the report made under Article 26(7) is confirmed for the preceding calendar year, at a reasonable level of assurance, by an independent auditor registered in the F-gas Portal.
- The auditor must be accredited either under Directive 2003/87/EC or to verify financial statements under the law of the Member State concerned (Article 19(3), second subparagraph).
- Article 26(7) attaches the duty to submit the verification report to importers of equipment that placed on the market pre-charged equipment containing at least 1 000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons, where those gases had not been placed on the market beforehand.
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2473 sets out in Article 2(3) what an auditor must provide to register in the F-gas Portal, including proof of accreditation and the list of Member States and languages in which it is authorised to perform the audit.
If you have no establishment in the Union, Article 19(5) requires you to appoint an only representative established in the Union who assumes full responsibility for complying with the Regulation. It may be the same only representative appointed under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
The format of the declaration of conformity and the accreditation arrangements for auditors are to be detailed by implementing acts under the empowerment in Article 19(4). Take the format from the Commission's own instructions in force at the time of the import.
What actually happens at customs
At release for free circulation three things are checked at once: who you are in the customs declaration, what you declared, and what you can produce.
- Who. Article 23(2): for release for free circulation, the undertaking holding the quota or the authorisations to use quota and registered in the F-gas Portal shall be the importer indicated in the customs declaration. The authorisation and the declaration cannot sit on two different companies.
- The licence. Article 22(1) requires a valid licence issued by the Commission to be presented, and Article 20(5) states that a valid registration in the F-gas Portal at the moment of import constitutes that licence. Temporary storage is the exception.
- What is declared. Article 23(3) lists the data to be provided: the F-gas Portal registration identification number, the EORI number, the net mass of bulk gases and of gases contained in products and equipment and parts thereof, the commodity code, and the tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
- What customs check. Article 23(4): customs authorities verify in particular whether, in cases of release for free circulation, the importer indicated in the customs declaration has quota or authorisations to use quota before releasing the goods.
- The documents. Article 23(8): the declaration of conformity and the documentation referred to in Article 19(2) are made available to customs when the customs declaration for release for free circulation is submitted.
- Labelling. Article 23(10), point (c): during physical controls based on risk analysis, customs verify that the goods are appropriately labelled in accordance with Article 12 before they are released for free circulation.
Article 5(5) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2473: where a registration in the F-gas Portal is cancelled, any available quota and authorisations become void and any activity for which registration was required may no longer be performed from the moment of cancellation. Reporting duties for past activity survive. Article 4 of the same Regulation requires the information to be updated as soon as anything changes.
The link to customs is not optional. Article 20(2) provides for the interconnection of the F-gas Portal with the EU Single Window Environment for Customs through EU CSW-CERTEX, and Article 20(3) obliges Member States to connect their national single window environments. In practice, what the Portal says reaches the customs office without any action from you.
Checklist before you order the equipment
- You know exactly which gas and how many kilograms are in each unitThe figure must come from the manufacturer's technical documentation and the label required by Article 12(3), not from an estimate.
- You have converted the quantity into CO2 equivalentArticle 3, points (1) and (3); for mixtures, the method in Annex VI. Add it up per calendar year, not per shipment.
- You have checked the equipment against Annex IVQuota coverage does not rescue equipment that is prohibited from being placed on the market. Check the Annex IV date for that product type.
- The F-gas Portal registration is valid and up to dateArticle 20(4), point (a), and Article 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2473.
- The authorisation to use quota has been granted and accepted in the PortalArticle 21(2) and Article 21(4). Acceptance in the Portal is the condition of validity.
- The authorised quantity covers everything that is comingArticle 23(4): customs verify the coverage before releasing the goods.
- The declaration of conformity and its documentation are ready before arrivalArticle 19(2) and Article 23(8).
- You have established whether an independent auditor is neededArticle 19(3) for gas not previously placed on the market; Article 26(7) for the 1 000 t CO2e threshold.
Frequently asked questions
If the equipment arrives pre-charged, do I still need quota of my own?
Not quota of your own, but the gas still has to be accounted for within the quota system. Article 19(1) requires that, and Article 21(2) gives you the instrument: an authorisation to use quota granted by a producer or importer for whom a reference value has been determined. The quantity is deemed to be placed on the market by the authorising party at the moment of the authorisation.
Can any quota holder grant me an authorisation?
No. Article 21(2) restricts authorising to producers and importers for whom a reference value has been determined under Article 17(1). The Commission's own F-gas Portal material confirms that quota holders without a reference value cannot authorise. An authorisation you receive may be delegated onward once, under Article 21(3), and not a second time.
Under 10 tonnes CO2 equivalent a year, is there nothing to do?
That is not right. Article 19(6) exempts undertakings placing less than 10 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons per year on the market in such products or equipment from Article 19. What remains: the valid F-gas Portal registration required by Article 20(4), point (a), the licence under Article 22(1), the customs data under Article 23(3), and the Annex IV prohibitions.
Does it matter whether the gas in the equipment was bought inside the Union?
Yes, for the audit. Article 19(3) applies where the hydrofluorocarbons contained in the equipment have not been placed on the market prior to the charging. If the unit was charged in the Union with gas already lawfully placed on the market, the Article 19(3) auditor confirmation is not triggered, but the documentation proving that remains mandatory under Article 19(2).
Can the customs agent be shown as the importer in the declaration?
Not if the agent is not the holder of the authorisation. Article 23(2) requires that, for release for free circulation, the undertaking holding the quota or authorisations and registered in the F-gas Portal is the importer indicated in the customs declaration. An agent may act as a representative, but the identity in the declaration has to match the holder of the authorisation.
What happens if the authorisation does not cover the whole quantity?
Article 23(4) obliges customs to verify the coverage before release, so the goods are not released. Article 23(12) provides for alternative measures by customs or market surveillance authorities where goods are placed on the market in violation of the quota and authorisation requirements. The practical answer is to secure the additional authorisation before the goods arrive.
Do I have to report every year even if I import very little?
Article 26(4) ties reporting for gases contained in products and equipment to a threshold of 10 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons placed on the market during the preceding calendar year. Check the threshold that applies to your own case in the text of Article 26, because the Regulation uses different thresholds for bulk gases, for gases in equipment and for other fluorinated greenhouse gases.
Official sources
Articles 4, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 26 were read directly in the Official Journal text retrieved from the Publications Office CELLAR repository. The registration requirements come from the implementing regulation that governs the F-gas Portal.
Currency of this page and limits of liability
This page covers the duties in Regulation (EU) 2024/573 that attach to pre-charged equipment. It does not contain a declaration of conformity template, it contains no tariff classifications, and it does not replace the operating instructions of the F-gas Portal or of your customs authority. Always check the official text in force on the date of the import.
General information prepared by EgoLog from the Regulation and official European Commission material. It is not legal advice and it does not replace an assessment of your own situation.
Equipment and refrigerants are handled by competent personnel certified under Article 10. Confirm the applicable requirements with your national competent authority before you commit to a shipment.