SOIVRE non-conformity: your product is blocked at Spanish customs

The case, in five lines

What is brought

An alzada (an administrative appeal to a higher authority) against the non-conformity decision, seeking its annulment and the NRC (Número de Referencia Completo, the reference customs needs to clear the goods) or a conformity decision and, in the alternative, clearance with an undertaking not to place the goods on the market; an appeal against the customs decision on destination or destruction, seeking its suspension; judicial review if the alzada is dismissed; a claim against the supplier.

Before which court

The alzada goes to the Secretaría de Estado de Comercio (the State Secretariat for Trade) or the body named in the statement of appeal rights (pie de recurso); it may be lodged with the Dirección Territorial o Provincial de Comercio (the regional or provincial trade directorate) itself (art. 121.2 of Law 39/2015). What customs decides is challenged by reposición (an appeal for reconsideration) or before the Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Regional (the regional economic-administrative tribunal). Court proceedings go to the sección de lo contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal de Instancia (the administrative-law section of the court of first instance) up to €60,000 (art. 8.3 LJCA); above that, to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia (the administrative chamber of the regional High Court of Justice) (art. 10.1.n).

Deadline

One month for the alzada from notification; once it has passed, the non-conformity decision is final (art. 122.1 of Law 39/2015). Three months for it to be decided, with negative administrative silence, and two for judicial review (art. 46.1 LJCA). One month against what customs decides (arts. 223.1 and 235.1 of the LGT, the General Tax Law). A suspension of release, four working days (art. 27 of Regulation 2019/1020). And, in the background, the 90 days of temporary storage (depósito temporal).

Who can bring it

The importer notified, personally or through a duly authorised representative: we lodge the alzada and the appeals before customs with our own digital certificate, without asking for yours. Your company signs the undertaking not to place the goods on the market. The new inspection request and the customs declaration are filed by your company or by a registered customs representative; we prepare the documents for you.

Financial risk

The alzada does not release the goods, and storage is at your expense. If no appeal is lodged in time, or it fails, the non-conformity decision is final, customs decides the destination at your expense and anything dangerous may be destroyed at the declarant's cost. Winning because the decision was inadequately reasoned may lead to a fresh inspection, not clearance; judicial review may end with an order to pay costs.

First, what you have been notified of: a suspension, a non-conformity decision or a customs decision

Not every hold is the same. If the border control authorities have merely suspended release because documents are missing, the marking or labelling does not comply or the economic operator responsible in the Union cannot be identified (art. 26.1 of Regulation 2019/1020), they must notify the market surveillance authority immediately; if that authority does not ask for the suspension to be maintained within four working days, the product is released, provided everything else is in order (art. 27).

Everything else includes the SOIVRE's approval, which those four days do not replace: the NRC (Número de Referencia Completo, the reference customs needs to clear the goods) for products in Annex I to Royal Decree 330/2008 (art. 6.3), an annex which since 4 April 2026 is the one in Order PJC/161/2026, or the conformity decision for electrical equipment and batteries (art. 8.5 of Royal Decree 993/2022). The non-conformity decision is the ruling of the SOIVRE at the Dirección Territorial o Provincial de Comercio (the regional or provincial trade directorate) that refuses it (art. 6.4 of Royal Decree 330/2008; art. 8.2.b of Royal Decree 993/2022).

The third act comes from customs: if the non-conformity concerns safety, the SOIVRE asks customs to take measures and customs decides the destination of the goods at the importer's expense (art. 6.7 of Royal Decree 330/2008). For electrical equipment and batteries, any non-conformity under Royal Decree 993/2022 leads the SOIVRE to ask customs for the measures in art. 28 of Regulation 2019/1020 (art. 8.7 of Royal Decree 993/2022). Each act has its own route, body and deadline: the first step is to read each statement of appeal rights (pie de recurso) and note each date.

Remediable or a safety failure: the difference that decides the way out

For Annex I products, a non-conformity based on labelling or marking has a quick way out: if it can be remedied, the SOIVRE may allow clearance with a signed undertaking not to place the goods on the market until it is corrected and the market control authorities have checked it (art. 6.5 of Royal Decree 330/2008). It has to be requested and justified; the goods reach your warehouse, not the shelves. If the failure concerns safety, that door does not exist (art. 6.7).

For electrical equipment and batteries, art. 9 of Royal Decree 993/2022 distinguishes four cases. Remediable and without risk: clearance with the same undertaking, verified by the market surveillance authority of the autonomous community where the goods are held. Remediable with risk: you may apply in writing, with a detailed plan, for authorisation to bring the goods into conformity within the customs area and then return to inspection. Failure to register in the Registro Integrado Industrial (the Integrated Industrial Register) can be remedied, but there is no clearance until registration is proved; exceeding the limits on restricted substances, save where an exemption applies, cannot.

What nobody tells you is that there is no second chance at another port: non-conforming goods may not be presented for inspection at another inspection point (art. 6.6 of Royal Decree 330/2008) and, for electrical equipment, not even at the same one, except under art. 9 (art. 8.6 of Royal Decree 993/2022), nor with a fresh notification without the SOIVRE's authorisation (art. 6.5). And if correcting the equipment means modifying it, you become its manufacturer, with a manufacturer's obligations (art. 9.2).

The alzada: one month, the body named in the statement of appeal rights, and what to ask for

A recurso de alzada lies against the non-conformity decision. Art. 6.4 of Royal Decree 330/2008 still addresses it to the ‘Secretaría de Estado de Turismo y Comercio’ and to Law 30/1992; Law 39/2015 now applies, and the body is the Secretaría de Estado de Comercio (the State Secretariat for Trade) or whichever body the statement of appeal rights names, which is what governs; Royal Decree 993/2022 refers to that law (art. 8.3). The sampling record may only be appealed separately if it decides the merits or causes defencelessness or irreparable harm (art. 112.1).

It is lodged within the month following notification, with the superior body or with the SOIVRE itself, which forwards it within ten days with its report and the file (art. 121.2). Once the month has passed, the non-conformity decision is final (art. 122.1). There are three months to decide, with negative silence (art. 122.2), after which the only administrative remedy left is the extraordinary review appeal (recurso extraordinario de revisión) (art. 122.3). Do not leave it late: temporary storage is limited to 90 days.

What you ask for matters as much as when: annulment and the NRC or the conformity decision and, in the alternative, that the failure be declared remediable and clearance allowed with an undertaking (art. 6.5 of Royal Decree 330/2008; art. 9 of Royal Decree 993/2022). Asking only for annulment is risky: if the SOIVRE was right on one point, everything may be upheld. We lodge it as your representatives, with our own certificate and without asking for yours.

What wins an alzada: the decision's reasons and the technical evidence

The decision must state why the product is non-conforming (art. 6.4 of Royal Decree 330/2008; art. 8.3 of Royal Decree 993/2022): if it does not identify the requirement breached, the failed test or the standard applied, it is inadequately reasoned, and that is attacked first. Then scope: Royal Decree 330/2008 only covers Annex I products (art. 1.2) and exempts non-commercial operations (art. 4.2); if your product's correct code is not in the annex, the goods were not subject to inspection at all.

On the merits, what decides is the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation for the specific model (art. 4.3.a of Regulation 2019/1020), with accredited laboratory tests for the model and batch inspected, not a generic ‘CE certificate’. An importer of electrical equipment must hold it before clearance (art. 5.2 of Royal Decree 993/2022): if it was missing, producing it now mainly opens the way to a remedy. If samples were taken, we request the sampling record and the report: how the sample was taken, which standard was applied and whether the model was yours.

Some grounds are won on paper. The details of the economic operator responsible in the Union may appear on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document (art. 4.4 of Regulation 2019/1020): if they were on the packaging, they were not missing, unless the product's own legislation requires otherwise. If the manufacturer is not established in the Union, that operator may be the importer itself (art. 4.2.b). Mere disagreement does not succeed: technical judgment is respected unless there is error, arbitrariness or lack of reasons.

While the appeal runs, customs: destination, destruction and duties

The alzada does not release the goods, and customs does not wait. If release is refused, the customs system records ‘Producto no conforme’ (non-compliant product) or ‘Producto peligroso’ (dangerous product), with the rider ‘Despacho a libre práctica no autorizado. Reglamento (UE) 2019/1020’ (release for free circulation not authorised), which may go on the invoice and follows the goods if they are declared for another procedure (art. 28.1 to 28.3). And anything presenting a risk to health and safety may be destroyed or rendered inoperable at the cost of whoever declared it (art. 28.4).

Before deciding against you, including of its own motion, customs must give you its reasons and time to make submissions, as a rule thirty days, save where there is a threat to health or consumers (arts. 22.6 and 29 of the Union Customs Code), and must give reasons for the decision and state the available appeal (art. 22.7). The statement of appeal rights governs: it is usually reposición, decided by the same customs office within one month, or a claim before the Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Regional (the regional economic-administrative tribunal); one month for either, never both at once (arts. 222, 223, 225 and 235 of the LGT).

An appeal does not suspend the decision (art. 45.1), but customs must suspend it if it has good grounds to doubt its lawfulness or irreparable damage is feared (art. 45.2), and destruction cannot be undone: request suspension expressly, proposing re-export to the supplier. Duties cease to be owed if the declaration is invalidated or the goods are destroyed under customs supervision or abandoned to the State (art. 124.1.d and f), and what was paid is repaid on invalidation (art. 116.1). If the goods were cleared and you reject them as defective, repayment is claimed within one year and requires that they were not used, other than to establish the defect, and that they leave the Union or are placed under another authorised procedure (arts. 118 and 121.1.b).

If the alzada fails: judicial review, the supplier and your next import

Once the alzada is dismissed, there are two months for judicial review from notification; without an express decision, art. 46.1 LJCA allows six, but it is unwise to use them up. If the Secretaría de Estado upholds the non-conformity decision in full, the case goes to the sección de lo contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal de Instancia (the administrative-law section of the court of first instance), as a rule the one for the province of the SOIVRE office that issued it, unless the amount at stake exceeds €60,000 (art. 8.3 LJCA). Above that, to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia (the administrative chamber of the regional High Court of Justice) (art. 10.1.n), or to the Audiencia Nacional (the National High Court) if the Secretaría de Estado issues a decision of its own (art. 11.1.a).

The supplier is a separate front, with its own clock. The SOIVRE's decision and the test report prove that the goods did not match what was agreed if the contract required compliance with Union law: notify the supplier in writing as soon as possible, describing the defect, and claim the costs of storage, transport and destruction and the duties lost. To sue in Spain, an appropriate dispute resolution method must first be attempted (art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025), a civil requirement that does not apply to administrative appeals, economic-administrative claims or judicial review.

What nobody tells you is that the non-conformity follows you: it is reported to the consumer authorities (art. 6.8 of Royal Decree 330/2008) and, for consumer products, to the RAPEX rapid alert network (art. 8.3 of Royal Decree 993/2022), and checks are selected by risk, using information on operators with a higher risk of non-compliance (art. 25.3 and 25.5 of Regulation 2019/1020). Expect more inspections. Nor is there protection the other way round: neither clearance nor the NRC proves conformity (art. 27; art. 6.1 of Royal Decree 330/2008), and the inspection does not limit your liability (art. 8).

How we run the case, step by step

1. 1

   Identify each act and diarise the deadlines

   Customs suspension (four working days), non-conformity decision (one month) and decision on destination (one month), against whatever remains of the 90 days of temporary storage.

2. 2

   Review the file and propose a remedy

   We request the sampling record and the test report, and ask the SOIVRE in writing whether the failure can be remedied (art. 6.5 of Royal Decree 330/2008; art. 9 of Royal Decree 993/2022).

3. 3

   Gather the technical evidence

   EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation, tests for the model and batch, details of the economic operator responsible in the Union and, for equipment and batteries, registration in the Registro Integrado Industrial.

4. 4

   Alzada within the month

   We lodge it with our own certificate: annulment and the NRC or a conformity decision; in the alternative, clearance with an undertaking not to place the goods on the market.

5. 5

   Protect the goods before customs

   We propose re-export instead of destruction, appeal with a request for suspension (art. 45.2 of the Union Customs Code) and seek invalidation. The customs declaration is filed by your company or a registered customs representative; we prepare it for you.

6. 6

   Judicial review and the supplier

   If the alzada is dismissed or there is no answer within three months, proceedings before the court with jurisdiction according to the amount at stake; in parallel, a formal demand to the supplier with the prior attempt at settlement required by Organic Law 1/2025.

The law that applies

• Arts. 1, 4, 5, 6 y 8 del RD 330/2008. Prior SOIVRE inspection of the safety and labelling of Annex I products, without whose NRC there is no clearance. A non-conformity decision may be challenged by alzada; if remediable, clearance with an undertaking is possible; the goods may not go to another inspection point, and in safety cases customs decides their destination at the importer's expense. BOE-A-2008-4730
• Arts. 4, 5, 6, 8 y 9 del RD 993/2022. Prior inspection of restricted substances in electrical equipment and of the importer's registration for equipment and batteries in the Registro Integrado Industrial. Non-conformity is notified with reasons and the available appeals, bars a return to inspection save by way of remedy (art. 9) and triggers the measures in art. 28 of Regulation 2019/1020. BOE-A-2022-19914
• Arts. 4 y 25 a 28 del Reglamento (UE) 2019/1020. A responsible economic operator established in the Union, identified on the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document. Risk-based entry checks; a suspension of release lapses if no request to maintain it is made within four working days; refusal carries an entry that follows the goods, and destruction at the declarant's cost is possible. 02019R1020-20260812
• Arts. 112, 121 y 122 de la Ley 39/2015. An appeal lies against decisions and against intermediate acts that decide the merits or cause defencelessness or irreparable harm. Alzada within one month with the superior body or with the body that issued the act, which forwards it within ten days; once the month has passed, the act is final. Three months to decide, with negative silence. BOE-A-2015-10565
• Arts. 8.3, 10, 11 y 46 LJCA. Acts of the State's peripheral administration, including those upheld on appeal: the administrative-law sections of the Tribunales de Instancia (courts of first instance), unless the amount exceeds €60,000; whatever is not assigned elsewhere: the High Courts of Justice; acts of Ministers and Secretaries of State: the Audiencia Nacional. Two months to bring proceedings; six without an express act. BOE-A-1998-16718
• Arts. 22, 29, 44, 45, 116, 118, 121 y 124 del Código Aduanero de la Unión. A hearing before an adverse decision, save where there is a threat to health or consumers; an appeal does not suspend, save where there are well-founded doubts or irreparable damage. The debt is extinguished by invalidation, destruction under customs supervision or abandonment; goods rejected as defective give a right to repayment within one year. 02013R0952-20221212
• Arts. 222, 223, 225 y 235 de la Ley General Tributaria. An optional reposición within one month, decided by the same body within a further month, or an economic-administrative claim within one month; if both are brought against the same act, the first proceeds and the second is declared inadmissible. BOE-A-2003-23186

Each article checked against the consolidated text published in the BOE (the Spanish official gazette).

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