There is a lot of noise and uncertainty about the Brexit implications for freight and shipping, our Brexit Management Team has been studying government and industry advice and we have the following 10 recommended steps to take now in preparation for a No Deal Brexit.

If you have any questions or need specific advice relating to your freight forwarding and supply chain please contact the team, Barry Broughton, Katie Town and David Stansfield will be happy to help on info@tps-global.com +44(0)1622 237979

For further information and Government guidance visit their website

Currently in the event of no deal negotiated from 29^th March 2019 UK businesses will have to apply the same customs, excise and VAT procedures for goods traded with the EU as currently used with goods traded worldwide.

To prepare we recommend the following steps.

1. Register for an EORI number

• You need an EORI number to trade. Details and the application form here

2. apply for transitional simplified procedures (tsp)

• Introduced by HMRC, TSP help businesses import goods from the EU by giving them extra time to submit a full declaration and pay customs duty, delay by up to 6 months. Register for this service here 

2. Find out the commodity code of your goods

• This classification is needed to fill in declarations; check if VAT or Duty are due; Know whether an import/export licence is required.
• Classifications guides are available here and the Trade Tariff list

3. Determine the value of your goods

• The value of goods is necessary to determine the level of customs duty
• The value is determined using one of six methods, you must use method 1 before going onto method 2 etc.
• Method 1 is based on transaction value – the rules and methods are here

4. Check whether your goods are prohibited or restricted in any way

• Licences are needed for the import and export of restricted goods such as military and para-military goods, dual-use and technology, artworks, plants and animals, medicines and chemicals. More information here
• Some instances may be covered with an ATA Carnet (temporary passport for goods)

5. Establish the origin of the goods

• Establishing the origin of the goods will help to identify whether they qualify for lower or nil customs duty. Rules of origin

6. Declaring your imports and exports to customs.

• This can be done via an experienced third party/freight forwarder who are authorised by HMRC to make electronic declarations making importing and exporting simpler and faster.

7. Importers are responsible for paying any duty due on the goods.

• Goods aren’t normally released by HMRC until you’ve paid all the charges due. Exceptions to this include if the importer of the goods takes advantage of the Duty Deferment Scheme or if your goods benefit from a duty suspension regime

8. Postponed payment of import VAT

• If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the government will introduce postponed accounting for import VAT on goods brought into the UK. This means that UK VAT registered businesses importing goods to the UK can account for import VAT on their VAT return, rather than paying import VAT when the goods arrive at the UK border. This will apply to imports from both the EU and non-EU countries.

9. VAT registration number validation

• EU VAT registration number validation – We will still be able to use this service to check the validity of EU business VAT registration numbers. But UK VAT registration numbers will no longer be part of this service. In the event of ‘no deal’, HMRC is developing a system that can continue to validate UK VAT numbers. We know this is important for certain businesses in order to carry out due diligence.

10. You are required to keep records for all traded goods you declare to HMRC for six years