UK titanium dioxide gets new TARIC codes and EU import surveillance

Importers bringing titanium dioxide (TiO2) into the EU from the United Kingdom face new customs detail and closer scrutiny. The Commission has created three new TARIC additional codes for UK-origin TiO2Europa and placed those imports under surveillance under Article 2, with the Regulation entering into force on the day following its publication in the Official JournalEuropa.

The three codes attach to producers in the United Kingdom: 88ET for Tioxide Materials Ltd, 88EU for Tronox Pigments UK Limited, and 8999 for all other UK exporting producers. The three codes are added to Article 1 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4, which imposes the definitive anti-dumping duty on TiO2 from China, and they cover TiO2 under the TARIC codes named in Article 1 of the amending Regulation, or any corresponding future codes. The surveillance data give the Commission the import-flow granularity recital 10 describes: UK-origin imports under those codes are subject to surveillance under Article 56(5) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. Customs and trade teams handling UK TiO2 should therefore align their commodity-code tables and declaration data with the new additional codes for the next consignment.

UK-origin TiO2 itself carries no anti-dumping dutyEuropa, and that position is unchanged. No anti-dumping duties apply to imports of TiO2 originating in the United KingdomEuropa; the new additional codes exist so the Commission can monitor import flows, in particular UK flows not subject to measures against imports of the product concerned subject to measures. The duty picture they protect is the one imposed by Regulation 2025/4, namely a definitive anti-dumping duty ranging from 0,25 to 0,74 EUR per kg on imports of titanium dioxide originating in the People's Republic of China, with the LB group at 0,74 EUR per kg. The reason for the watch is stated openly. LB Group, a Chinese exporting producer whose TiO2 exported from China is subject to those measures, acquired the Greatham TiO2 pigment plant in the United Kingdom from Venator Materials UK Limited (in administration): the deal was agreed on 15 October 2025, cleared by the UK Competition and Markets Authority on 23 April 2026, and completed on 27 April 2026, when the LB subsidiary was renamed Tioxide Materials Ltd. Tronox Pigments UK Limited is described as a related company of Tronox Pigments Holland B.V., one of the sampled Union producers in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4, and one of the TiO2 producers in the United Kingdom.

Under surveillance per Article 56(5) of the Union Customs Code, the Commission follows statistical trends of UK TiO2 imports against imports of the Chinese product under measures, watching in particular whether UK exports into the Union rise sharply alongside UK imports under TARIC codes 2823 00 00 10, 2823 00 00 30, 3206 11 00 10 and 3206 11 00 30. A significant parallel increase may prompt the Commission to examine whether the pattern is linked to possible circumvention within the meaning of Article 13 of the basic anti-dumping Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and to initiate an investigation under Article 13(3). Importers moving TiO2 through the United Kingdom should therefore be ready to demonstrate the origin of their goods and the structure of their supply chains, since circumvention is the stated risk the surveillance exists to detect.

The surveillance lasts as long as the underlying duty: it ends when the anti-dumping duty on TiO2 from China is terminated or lapses. The Regulation enters into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal.

Legal basis: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2064 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4, adopted under Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and Article 56(5) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.