The recent UK and EU trade deal provides more clarity for UK and EU trade.
If you need any assistance with any of the new policies and rules, please call us on 01753 689698.
As of 1st January 2021 the following applies.
KEY POINTS
· Customs declarations required between Great Britain and the EU
· Commercial or Pro-Forma Invoices are needed
· In most cases zero tariffs (duties) apply subject to where the item originated
· VAT will apply for UK imports
CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS
Customs Declarations will be required from 1 January 2021 for shipments between Great Britain and the European Union (and vice-versa).
Although the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement refers to ‘zero tariffs’ (zero customs duties), this doesn’t replace the need to generate a Customs Declaration and so a Commercial or Pro-forma Invoice is required.
The trade deal only applies to Customs duties, meaning that in most cases Customs duties will not be applied to goods fulfilling all necessary “rules of origin” requirements.
VAT will still be levied. Customs declarations are therefore required for goods to clear the border, as the UK will have left the single market and the customs union. Country-specific restrictions will still be in place and any associated licences will also be required.
RULES OF ORIGIN REQUIREMENTS
In order to benefit from the EU-UK Trade Agreement ‘zero tariff’ (zero Customs duties), it’s essential that customers provide evidence of the country of origin in the Commercial or Pro-forma Invoice for both B2B and B2C shipments.
This is done by using the statement below for UK or EU goods fulfilling the relevant rules of origin requirements.
———
The exporter of the products covered by this document (Exporter Reference No.*) declares that, except where otherwise clearly indicated, these products are of … preferential origin.
(Place and date**):
(Name of the exporter):
———
IMPORTANT: The goods Country of Origin must be calculated and recorded accurately, and it is your responsibility to do this.
* The Exporter Reference No. is required for all UK to EU shipments (this reference is your GB EORI number). For shipments from the EU to the UK, the Exporter Reference No. (this reference is your REX number) is only required where the value of the shipment exceeds 6,000 EUR / £5,700.
** may be omitted if the information is contained on the document itself
VAT
Changes to UK VAT regulations will still be introduced on 1 January 2021, as this regulatory change is not part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and applies to shipments being imported into the UK from any country worldwide.
This means that most shipments valued at more than £135 will attract VAT on importation from any country, including the EU. For shipments with a value of £0-£135 when being sold by businesses to consumers in the UK, VAT will need to be collected at the point of sale and will therefore be the seller’s responsibility.
For additional information, please find the links below:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/business-tax/import-export
Or call our operations team on 01753 689698
Peter Joyce
Established in 1996 and based near London’s Heathrow Airport, GLM provide a range of tailored logistics services for the marketing departments of leading brands, sports sponsorship agencies and event management businesses. Our clients include Shell, Diageo, McLaren Group, Mercedes F1 and other sports marketing agencies and sponsors. GLM operates a worldwide partner network and is an IATA registered forwarder with ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001 accreditation.
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