Selling into Norway through distributors

How the market buys

Norway is not an EU member, but through the EEA Agreement it applies EU-style procurement rules, and its notices reach TED. The Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften) define Doffin as "the Norwegian official database for notices". Under section 21-1, contracting authorities must publish all notices for contracts above the EEA thresholds in Doffin, and Doffin forwards them to TED. Notices are written in Norwegian and in one of the official EU languages. Section 21-6 then requires a contract award notice no later than 30 days after the contract is concluded.

The regulation sets the EEA thresholds in Norwegian kroner: NOK 1.63 million for supply and service contracts awarded by central government authorities and NOK 2.5 million for those of other contracting authorities. Smaller procurements follow national rules in other parts of the regulation.

Two facts shape how a foreign manufacturer enters. Norway is in the EEA but not in the EU customs union — the EEA Agreement does not cover the Customs Union — so goods cross a customs border and somebody has to handle import formalities. And where the award notices in your category name a Norwegian distributor or wholesaler rather than a manufacturer, that company already holds the customer relationships. Norway ranks 5th of 123 countries and regions in the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index, so an approach in English will normally be understood.

Lawful first contact

Section 15 of the Marketing Control Act (markedsføringsloven) forbids traders to send marketing to natural persons by electronic methods that allow individual communication, such as e-mail, without the recipient's prior consent. Legal persons are not covered by the consent rule.

Forbrukertilsynet, the Consumer Authority, explains where the line falls in its guidance on marketing by e-mail and SMS. The ban covers messages to a natural person's individual work address, for example ola.nordmann@firmaX.no, even when the e-mail contains an offer to the business, and even when that address is registered as a company's contact address in the Brønnøysund Register Centre. It is, however, permitted to send marketing to e-mail addresses that do not belong to a particular natural person, such as post@firmaX.no. Where it is unclear whether an address belongs to a person, Forbrukertilsynet will find a breach if it actually does, so the sender carries that risk.

The guidance also recalls section 9 of the E-commerce Act: electronic marketing must make clear on whose behalf it is sent, and unsolicited marketing by e-mail must be recognisable as marketing as soon as it is received.

In practice: write to the distributor's general address (post@, firmapost@, salg@), state in the subject line that this is a commercial enquiry from your company, explain in a few lines why your range fits what the distributor sells, and offer a simple way to decline further messages. Do not e-mail named managers or sales staff until they have written to you or agreed to hear from you. A letter by post or a meeting at the sector's trade fair are good complements.

What local distributors expect

Before a Norwegian distributor takes on a new range, expect it to ask for:

• A clear answer on customs and delivery terms: who clears the goods, who pays any duties and taxes due on import, and what lead time that adds.
• Product information in Norwegian for its customers, with English technical documentation as a starting point.
• Conformity evidence for the category: CE marking and declarations of conformity where the product is regulated, and test reports against the standards buyers specify.
• A commercial structure that leaves room for the distributor's cost base: margin, territory, account ownership and exclusivity, set out early.
• Logistics for a long country: stock within reach, reliable lead times to distant regions, and a plan for spare parts and returns.

How to enter, step by step

1. Read the record for your categories. Choose the CPV codes that describe your range and look at Norwegian contract award notices in Doffin and on TED. Notices for supply and service contracts above NOK 1.63 million (central government) or NOK 2.5 million (other contracting authorities) must be published there; note which distributors and wholesalers win repeatedly.
2. Check the central agreements. Statens innkjøpssenter at DFØ runs joint agreements for state bodies and announces its competitions in Doffin and on TED; its agreements are to be usable electronically, preferably through a catalogue in the EHF electronic trade format from the supplier. For specialist health services, Sykehusinnkjøp HF enters into and manages the agreements for goods and services. If your category is covered, the suppliers holding those agreements are the companies to approach.
3. Settle customs before you talk prices. Norway is outside the EU customs union, so decide who clears the goods, who pays any duties and taxes due on import, and what lead time that adds.
4. Prepare Norwegian product information and conformity evidence. Have customer-facing material in Norwegian, English technical documentation behind it, and CE marking, declarations of conformity and test reports where the product is regulated.
5. Write to the general address. E-mail post@, firmapost@ or salg@, state in the subject line that this is a commercial enquiry from your company, explain in a few lines why your range fits, and offer a simple way to decline further messages. Do not e-mail named managers until they have written to you or agreed to hear from you; a letter or a meeting at the sector's trade fair are good complements.
6. Prepare the first meeting. Set out margin, territory, account ownership and exclusivity early, leaving room for the distributor's cost base, with a logistics plan for stock, lead times to distant regions, spare parts and returns.
7. Follow the results. Award notices are due no later than 30 days after the contract is concluded, so Doffin shows when a distributor you work with wins, and where to widen the range.

Where the evidence comes from

Above the EEA thresholds, Norwegian buyers must announce contract awards within 30 days. They publish the notice in Doffin, which forwards it to TED, the online supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. Each notice names the winning company and carries CPV codes — the regulation itself refers to the CPV classification — so the distributors that repeatedly win, for example, hospital supplies or furniture contracts in Norway can be identified from the public record.

Cresques reads the award notices for the CPV categories you choose and shows who already sells that category in Norway. It does not help you bid for the contracts; the notices are evidence of who the buyers already trust, and the lawful first contact above is how you reach them.