Relevant information

A series of formalities apply when bringing any type of goods into the European Union. When goods are to be exhibited at a trade fair, they are considered commercial goods for all purposes. This applies regardless of whether the exhibitor organisation is based in the European Union.

Please note that you must comply with the following instructions with regard to all goods bound for exhibitions where these goods are brought in from a territory which is not within the European Union Customs Union.

Exhibitors who are unsure as to whether the goods exhibited originate from such territories should check at customs at the first point of entry into the European Union. For these purposes, exhibitors should consider goods to be not only the objects or articles they are going to exhibit, but also any type of catalogues, samples or advertising material.

When the goods are first imported into the European Union, they are to be presented at customs and the pertinent declarations made.

If you are unfamiliar with these procedures, the customs authority will provide you with the necessary information on request.

You should comply with these requirements regardless of how the goods are transported, as well as declaring any goods transported as passenger luggage.

Once the goods are in Spain and before unloading them on the exhibitor’s stand, the exhibitor must have obtained one of the following documents for the goods: ‘Levante de declaración de importación temporal’ (Declaration for Release for Temporary Admission) or ‘Levante de declaración de despacho a consumo’ (Declaration for Release for Free Circulation or Consumption).

This documentation shall remain in the possession of the company representative at the stand, along with the goods covered by the declaration, and should be available at all times in case Customs or the Tax Authorities ask to see it.

There are two ways to declare goods, depending on their purpose:

If the exhibited goods are to be given out free as promotional material, in order to exhibit them, you need to have the document entitled 'Levante de declaración de despacho a libre práctica y a consumo' (Declaration for Release for Free Circulation and Consumption), in which you have declared the value of the goods and paid the corresponding VAT on the aforementioned goods at a maximum rate of 21%.

Where the goods are imported with the sole purpose of being temporarily exhibited and with the intention of sending them back to their place of origin once the fair has finished, the document needed for the exhibition will be the ‘Levante de declaración de importación temporal’ (Declaration for Release for Temporary Admission). If the document used to authorise exhibition at the fair is the ‘Levante de declaración de importación temporal’ (Declaration for Release for Temporary Admission), once the fair is over and before the goods are removed from the authorised stands, you should finalise the temporary admission with the customs authority. These customs procedures can be processed by the interested party or via a customs representative who will complete the necessary customs formalities.

However, it is recommended to hire a professional service for transporting the goods with companies registered as Customs Agents, as this will allow you to make temporary or definitive imports, with a surety to guarantee the payment of the debt with customs and the tax authorities, using your tax ID number. IFEMA offers its customers a temporary import service for goods to be exhibited at fairs and congresses, managed by a selected service provider, which is authorised to undertake tasks on behalf of IFEMA MADRID and has offices at IFEMA.

For more information on these subjects, contact the Madrid-Barajas customs office (email: adu.madridbarajas@correo.aeat.es – tel.: 91 746 70 11).

Recommendations for exhibitors regarding customs procedures

Dear sir/madam,

We are contacting you on the occasion of your participation in the next edition of the …. event at IFEMA MADRID and so that you can go through Customs efficiently, we would like to remind you that all products from non-EU countries must go through customs procedures, recommendations:

• All products from non-EU countries must go through customs. Please note that since 1 January 2020, the United Kingdom has become a third country; therefore, all shipments originating from the United Kingdom must go through customs for due process.
• Exhibitors must have the details of the customs agent who cleared the goods, or failing that, a copy of the customs documentation on entry into the European Union.
• Spanish taxes must be paid on materials or goods to be distributed or consumed at the fair, even if they are products with no commercial value; the amount of the taxes may vary depending on the country of origin.
• All merchandise subject to a temporary scheme must be kept on the stand and must not leave the IFEMA MADRID premises until its situation changes and the customs procedures are finalised. During these procedures, it must be deposited in the warehouse of the official logistics agent on the site.
• It is absolutely prohibited to sell or distribute non-EU merchandise at “international” trade fairs, without having completed the appropriate customs procedures in advance.
• Products that are transported as carry-on baggage must be declared at the Barajas airport going through the RED CHANNEL ("something to declare"), and the merchandise should be regularised with the corresponding airport authority.
• Goods that have not passed customs control and that are on display will be confiscated by the customs authorities on the Trade Fair Site until the appropriate documents are presented.
• All lorries that arrive at IFEMA MADRID covered by a transit agreement consigned to IFEMA MADRID must go into the warehouse of the official Logistics Operator to be duly processed. The address is:

Avenida Partenón sn

Entrada Oeste – access via calle Rivera del Sena

Pabellón de servicios nave 2 / hall 2

28042 Madrid

Additionally, and complying with the previous points, please note that all merchandise from outside the EU must have a Temporary Import DUA (a single administrative document - SAD) or a declaration of release for consumption, otherwise it cannot be exhibited. If you do not present the DUA (SAD), the Madrid Customs inspection will send its Fiscal Security officers to your stand to demand the indicated documentation in person, and may confiscate the merchandise or seal off the stand if they see fit.

In order to avoid these unwanted situations, we urge you to send the necessary documentation described above to our Customs Operator company, DB SCHENKER, to the email: ifema.madrid@dbschenker.com

Contact person

DB Schenker Customer Service Office

Avenida Partenón nº5 local 23 (between halls 5 and 7)

Phone: +34 913305177

E-mail: ifema.madrid@dbschenker.com

Warm regards,

Pursuant to employment authority criteria, IFEMA MADRID informs all whom it may concern that the assembly and disassembly of certain elements, installations and structures (marquees, grandstands, stages, sound and lighting support structures etc.) may fall within the scope of application of Royal Decree 1627/1997, which establishes the minimum health and safety provisions on construction sites in accordance with their characteristics (size, height, use, location, relationship with other installations, existence of an project implementation plan, etc.).

However, although from a health and safety perspective there should be no differences depending on whether the activity is considered a construction site or not, from a management point of view, there are significant differences where the place of work is considered a construction site in light of the fact that the Construction Sector Subcontracting Act 32/2006 of 19 October would, among others, then apply.

As a result of the working group formed by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety and the Regional Institutes from Spain’s various Autonomous Communities, the Technical Criteria for the Management of Temporary Public Events document has been published, which can be accessed via this relevant information space, in order to establish a standardised technical criterion at a national level that facilitates preventive management in such activities and determines whether the activity in question falls within the scope of Royal Decree 1627/1997. In general, the use of construction techniques, the risk of falling from heights and the assembly characteristics represent determining conditions.

It is the responsibility of the promoter of the event to ensure the correct framing of each activity within the corresponding regulations. IFEMA MADRID, the owner of the facility, has a close relationship with the Regional Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, an advisory body within this field in the Comunidad de Madrid region, that can be contacted to clarify any aspect related to this matter.

The Good Practices Manual is also included here. Published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, it covers the planning, assembly and taking down of public shows and events. This manual focuses on ensuring appropriate health and safety management of the risks associated with the technical and material conditions of these phases. Although it covers purely construction-based activities that are very rarely on IFEMA MADRID’s premises, it also contains relevant information on structures, technical production tasks, identification of installations and equipment, PPE, etc. 

Technical criteria for the assembly of shows

Manual of good practices for the assembly and disassembly of public events and shows

Due to the large number of requests for information received from our exhibitors in connection with inadvertent contracting of advertising services with the international directory of fair exhibitors currently called "INTERNATIONAL FAIRS DIRECTORY” - formerly "EVENT FAIR EXHIBITORS INDEX","FAIR EXPO GLOBAL BUSINESS EXPOSURE","FAIR GUIDE","EXPO GUIDE","EVENT FAIR THE EXHIBITORS INDEX", IFEMA MADRID informs its exhibitors that it has no connection whatsoever with this directory or with the companies that market it.

The INTERNATIONAL FAIRS DIRECTORY is a guide or database marketed by companies based in different countries that market their advertising space to all exhibitors at the fairs they consider relevant from all over the world. The companies marketing this database that have been identified, and there may be others, are: WWWDB SRO (Slovakia); MULPOR COMPANY, SA (Uruguay), MULPOR COMPANY SRL (Costa Rica), EXPOGUIDE SC (Mexico).

The marketing process involves sending the exhibiting company a letter accompanied by a partially filled out form, on which are shown the fair and edition in which the exhibiting company participated, the Organiser and the information on the exhibiting company that is already partially filled out on the form and published in the directory in a free space. The exhibitor is invited to update the information by sending in the completed form in the attached reply envelope, in which case they are contracting for an initial duration of three years with tacit extensions at the price shown, although there is nowhere to indicate a direct debit. At the bottom of the form is the contracting entity, the cost of the service, the competent jurisdiction and the system of tacit extensions established.

The completion, signing and sending in of the form implies, therefore, the contracting of the service: "The sole purpose of this form is for your data to be entered correctly as an individual paid-for advertisement."

To qualify for the free mode, the interested party must update their data online: on the back of the form they are notified that free modifications can be made at the url www.interfairs.com.

This form leads to numerous misunderstandings, because exhibitors naturally assume that it is a request from the fair Organiser for them to update their information, whereas it is actually an international fair directory marketed by a company that has nothing to do with the Organiser of their fair.

Therefore, there is no contract with IFEMA MADRID or with any of its fairs or collaborating companies: the Exhibitor is contracting with one of the companies that market this guide.

The fair community, through the UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition industry), the international association of the fair sector, has demanded on several occasions that this company stop using these marketing methods, which lead to a constant stream of complaints from exhibitors, urging them to rectify and clarify their contractual documents.

If you, as an exhibitor, have signed the form without noticing that the service involves a cost, we suggest that you contact the company, indicating that you only completed the form to correct or update the data included in the directory and only wish to use the free service, not the paid service, since you were confused by the ambiguity of the aforementioned document.

Therefore, to avoid unwanted situations that are outside the purview of IFEMA MADRID, we urge all exhibitors to read the subscription form with great care before deciding to sign, should you want to purchase the service offered.

Some exhibitors receive phone calls and emails from people and companies offering services while giving the appearance of being companies linked to IFEMA, its fairs and events. To do this, they usually include the name and logo of the event or that of IFEMA in their marketing materials. They make FRAUDULENT use of the name and distinctive signs of IFEMA to confuse exhibitors and visitors and make illegal use of the activity and prestige of this Institution to promote their services.  

If you receive a suspicious offer, please notify us by writing to the manager of the trade fair you are exhibiting at and we will clarify whether the message is from IFEMA or an IFEMA partner or if the company has no connection and has not been authorised to use the IFEMA name.

Dear exhibitors and trade visitors:

We hereby inform you that IFEMA MADRID has become aware and has real evidence that there are companies that send e-mails to different exhibitors and clients announcing that they have the ‘attendee lists’ of our fairs and events. Also known as ‘attendees lists’. 

IFEMA MADRID informs that these e-mails are false because the lists of participants at its fairs are confidential and, under no circumstances, are they sold and/or transferred to third parties. 

Likewise, if you receive any e-mail from a company or user that commercialises IFEMA MADRID databases, please do not trust the content of the e-mail and let us know so that we can take the appropriate measures. To report this type of malicious e-mail, you can send us an e-mail: (i) to the address given for the specific fair or event, or (ii) to the address of our Data Protection Delegate (protecciondedatos@ifema.es). 

IFEMA MADRID, like other trade fair organisers and the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), is doing everything possible to solve this problem, which may affect its clients who associate these communications with IFEMA MADRID.

Thank you all for your cooperation. 

Raffles, tombols and number combinations of chance. (IFEMA General Rules of Participation)

Raffles, tombolas and number combinations of chance constitute means of gaming laid down by Articles 3.2 (f) as defined in Article 15 of Law 6/2001, of 3 July, regarding gaming in the Madrid region.

In accordance with the regulations in force, the exercise of the activities included in the scope of application of this law will require prior administrative authorisation, except for raffles, tombolas and number combinations of chance, which may only be notified to the Department responsible for gaming.

An exhibitor intending to provide activities that are regulated by the aforementioned law must send a copy of the issued authorisation or submitted notification, depending on the gaming activity that is going to be provided, to the Event Management.

• Communication number combinations of chance for advertising purposes

• Communication for holding prize draws and raffles

Customer Service

Phone: +34 91 722 30 00
Email: Contact Customer Service
Technical support for exhibitors: Contact Technical Support