A German customer just asked whether you can send them baklava, Turkish delight or a jar of pepper paste. Or maybe you already ship cosmetics or textiles from Turkey and want to add a food category to your Etsy or Shopify store. Shipping Turkish food to Germany is legal for most shelf-stable products, but it comes with a different set of rules than shipping toys or clothing — and getting them wrong means a parcel stuck at German customs (Zoll) or a buyer who refuses delivery over an unexpected fee.
Here is what actually matters before you pack the box.
What Turkish food can you send to Germany?
Germany follows EU rules on food imports, and the line between what's allowed and what's not comes down to the product category, not the brand or the recipe.
- Generally shippable: baklava, lokum (Turkish delight), helva, dried fruit and nuts, spices, Turkish coffee, tea, pasta, biscuits, olive oil, jams and packaged sauces or pastes, as long as they're commercially packaged and shelf-stable.
- Not allowed for consumer parcels: meat and meat products, dairy (including cheese and yogurt), and most plant products such as seeds, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables or live plants. These categories are restricted at the EU border regardless of packaging or quantity.
- Grey zone worth checking first: products containing small amounts of dairy or egg as an ingredient (some pastries and halva variants) are usually fine, but it's worth asking the carrier if you're shipping in bulk or as a registered business, since enforcement can vary by product and declared value.
If you're unsure about a specific product, check with the carrier before shipping rather than finding out after the parcel is held.
Who actually pays the German import VAT?
Every parcel entering Germany from Turkey is subject to German import VAT — the standard rate is 19% — and it applies from the first euro of declared value, including food. There's no small-parcel exemption like there used to be for low-value goods.
For consumer orders up to €150, that VAT can be collected at checkout instead of on delivery, through the EU's Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS). If you sell through a marketplace like Etsy or Amazon, the platform usually handles this and gives you an IOSS number to put on the shipping label and customs form. If you sell through your own Shopify or WooCommerce store without IOSS registration, the VAT and a carrier handling fee will be charged to your German customer on delivery — which is exactly the moment buyers get frustrated and sometimes refuse the package.
If food is a growing part of your catalog, it's worth checking whether your store platform or marketplace supports IOSS before you scale up shipments to Germany.
A.TR certificates and the new flat duty on small parcels
Since 1 July 2026, the EU charges a flat €3 customs duty per item on parcels under €150. Goods in free circulation in Turkey can keep their customs-union preference and avoid this duty if shipped with an A.TR movement certificate — but agricultural products, including most processed foods, are treated differently under the EU–Turkey customs union than industrial goods. In practice this means you shouldn't assume your baklava or olive oil automatically qualifies for duty-free treatment the way a textile product might. Check the specific HS code and current treatment with the carrier or a customs broker before promising customers a duty-free price.
Packaging and labeling that German customs and buyers expect
Food parcels get extra scrutiny, so a few habits save time at clearance:
- List ingredients in German (or at least English) on the packaging or in an enclosed note — Zoll officers and buyers both want to see this.
- Use a commercial invoice that clearly describes the product category (e.g. "confectionery, dried fruit, 500g") rather than a vague term like "gift" or "food item."
- If you ship regularly and in volume to German consumers, your packaging needs to be registered in the LUCID packaging register under German packaging law (VerpackG). Marketplaces often check this before letting sellers list food products at scale.
- Pack food in sealed, crush-resistant containers — baklava and lokum are fragile cargo, and a leaking jar of pepper paste can hold up an entire shipment at inspection.
Choosing how to send it
On Kargobaz, three carriers currently serve Germany: FedEx delivers in an estimated 1-2 business days with its fastest service, PTT in 4-5 business days, and Widect in 3-9 business days. For perishable-adjacent items like baklava or anything with a shorter shelf life, the faster option is usually worth the difference in cost. You can compare current rates for all three on the international shipping cost calculator before deciding, and the full Shipping to Germany guide covers the broader customs and documentation process beyond food specifically.
Mistakes that get food parcels held at German customs
- Declaring a vague description like "snacks" instead of the actual product and ingredients.
- Shipping dairy-containing desserts without checking the current rule for that specific product.
- Assuming A.TR automatically means duty-free, without checking how the agricultural exception applies to your HS code.
- Sending without an IOSS number on a non-marketplace order, then being surprised when the buyer complains about a surprise VAT bill.
- Skipping German-language labeling on products that will clearly be scrutinized as food.
If you're setting up shipments through your own store rather than a marketplace, generating the commercial invoice correctly matters as much as the product description. Kargobaz lets you connect an e-invoice account and attach the e-Archive invoice to the shipment, which keeps the paperwork consistent with what's declared on the label. Once a parcel is on its way, you and your customer can follow it through shipment tracking, which matters more for food orders than most, since buyers tend to ask "is it still fresh?" more than they do for other products.
