UK businesses involved in international trade have had to manage a lot of change over the last year. For those expressly involved with moving goods between the EU and the UK, this change continues to evolve, and businesses will need to keep pace and be compliant.
The latest Border Operating Model (HMRC published data on the functioning of the UK EU border) was published by HMRC on 18th November 2021. This release is likely to be the amendment for 2021, so it will be important to find time to keep up to date with on-going releases of HMRC border related guidance published on the UK Government website, into the new year, and beyond.
For businesses and those involved with the planning and physical movement of the goods need certainty so, further evolving changes to processes may prove challenging to manage in daily working practice. The biggest impact will be on UK imports, where import easements (or staged import controls) in place now, will cease and full UK import controls come into force on 1st January 2022.
So as an importer, what changes might affect you and your business in the new year?
What is vital to understand in the first instance is:
- Import declarations will be required when goods physically arrive into GB from EU member states 1st January 2022.
- The import easements that have been in place for 2021 that permitted import declarations to be made later (within 175 days of physical arrival) will stop.
- The EU UK Trade Cooperation Agreement will not negate the requirement for customs measures at the border.
- Goods Vehicle Movement Service – Go Live GB-EU, EU-GB January 2022.
Import Easements
Businesses that have been using the delayed declaration easement at import, where top level data is submitted to HMRC at import, with 175 days to make the Supplementary Declaration Import (SDI), will need to consider reverting to the non-easement process. Only companies specifically approved to use the Simplified Customs Declaration Procedures (SCDP), also known as CFSP, will be able to bring goods into GB without a full customs declaration. A Simplified Frontier Declaration (SFD) will be needed at arrival with the supporting Supplementary Declaration Import (SDI) submitted by the 4th working day of the month following the month in which the goods were imported. In addition, a Final Supplementary Declaration (FSD) will need to be submitted to HMRC, this is a message confirming the number of SDI submissions that month.
Customs entries made into declarants’ records (EIDR) will also cease in the present import easement form, unless approved to use EIDR within a CFSP authorisation. So, from 1st January, the procedure for imports, where declarations are made into declarants’ commercial records, will need to be supported by the appropriate HMRC authorisation.
The authorisation applications will incur HMRC processing time.
If your business has received imported goods without the evidence of an import declaration, it is crucial that your business investigates and takes appropriate action.
VAT needed to be calculated at the time of the arrival of the goods and declared within the VAT return relating to the date of that import. This has proven challenging for businesses using the easements unless appropriate VAT import measures have been implemented within its financial business process. If import VAT has not been provisioned at import within 2021 or declared on the VAT return for the period covering the imported goods receipt into the UK, the business should investigate and seek appropriate guidance.
Traders involved in the supply and import of Products of Animal Origin, Phytosanitary, and Sanitary goods will need to keep abreast of the revised import timetable and any updates that are expected to be announced as measures progress.
POAO, Phytosanitary and Sanitary Goods: Revised timetable:
Pre-notification requirements of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) goods, which were due to be introduced on 01 October 2021, will now be introduced on 1st January 2022, with some change to certification and physical checks slipping back to November 2022, when the inland Border Control Posts are fully prepared.
Full customs declarations and controls will be introduced on 1 January 2022, as previously announced. However, Safety and Security Declarations (the responsibility of the party engaged in moving the goods) will now not be required until 01 July 2022.
From 01 July 2022, certification and physical checks will be introduced for:
- All remaining regulated animal by-products.
- All regulated plants and plant products.
- All meat and meat products.
- All remaining high-risk food not of animal origin.
From 01 September 2022, certification and physical checks will be introduced for all dairy products.
From 01 November 2022, certification and physical checks will be introduced for all remaining regulated products of animal origin, including composite products and fish products.
From 1st July 2022: High-priority plants and plant product checks will transfer from place of destination to designated Border Control Posts and control points.
Live animal physical checks
Live animal physical checks will take place at Designated Border Control Posts, where a facility is operational at the port of entry.
Where there is no designated BCP, checks will remain at goods’ destination for other ports of entry until sufficient BCPs are operational.
1st July 2022 – Checks at Sevington inland BCP and designated airport BCPs will commence.
For businesses where the updated BOM falls short of the detail needed to make thorough adjustments to their working processes or make changes to their IT, software, or databases, or for those simply intent on giving their agents and carriers accurate import instructions, the devil will be in that detail.
In September 2022, GB electronic imports will move from the HMRC Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight system to the HMRC Customs Declaration Service, a system already in use for goods movements to Northern Ireland. CDS is substantially different from CHIEF and will represent a substantial change in data input requirement for those using it.
Goods Vehicle Movement Service – Go Live GB-EU, EU-GB January 2022
The GVMS has been in use for movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1st January 2021. The service will become integral to cross-border movements through RORO ports and the Eurotunnel from 1st January 2022.
GVMS will not be operated at all ports and airports so you will need to check the locations where GVMS will be accepted. If the GB arrival point is not linked to the customs computer, then either GVMS or the Temporary Storage procedures can be used, in some cases ports will use both procedures.
Early preparation for the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) is essential, and time is running out if delivery delays are to be avoided from 1st January 2022.
The GVMS is an online system and hauliers must register to use the system via the GOV.UK website. A Government Gateway ID and a GB EORI are needed to complete the registration process and within two hours of application the GVMS registration should be confirmed as live.
It is important to note that businesses will not be able to move goods between GB and the EU through RORO ports or the Eurotunnel without a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) generated by the GVMS. This reference is the vital key to the operation of the service. The GMR locks the goods and customs requirements together and will be the link between the customs process and the carrier making the crossing.
HMRC announces a relaxation to the requirements for Authorisations for Temporary Storage for Authorised Consignees.
Authorised Consignees are trusted traders, authorised to end the Transit movements of goods and complete customs import formalities at their own premises (away from the border) under the Common Transit Convention (CTC). Authorised traders must ensure that they have a Temporary Storage Facility (TSF), approved by Border Force, to enable the temporary storage of goods at a TSF for up to 90 days.
When the staged customs controls (easements) end on 1st January 2022, HMRC will require that all TSF’s be inventory linked, which will impact on any authorised consignee using such a facility.
Authorised consignees ending a transit movement tend to move goods into free circulation and would rarely store goods at a facility for any length of time, so preparing for inventory linking to the facility would represent an extra cost, disproportionate to the compliance risk presented by a body having already undergone a trusted trader authorisation process.
All parties involved with cross border trade may find it challenging at times to keep up with change to regulations and processes. Communication will be integral to best practice. Whether this communication is from government to business, or between carrier and driver, clear communication and understanding of border processes will be vital, well into the new year.
Communication within the supply chain will also be important. Ensure that delivery responsibilities are contractually clear. Suppliers, whether UK or EU based, will need good, clear understanding of the responsibilities ahead if unplanned costs are to be avoided and compliance kept optimum.
In this ever-evolving situation, we at Strong & Herd remain dedicated to providing our clients with available facts and practical solutions to the problems arising with international trade. We ourselves have had to adapt the way we deliver training to be more reactive to the changes. We have now implemented a number of specialist live clinics on difficult subjects to ensure we are at the forefront of delivering the information in the moment.
The Chamber have a number of Import services to help your business with these new changes. To view the services that can be of use to your business visit hwchamber.co.uk/international-trade.
Source: Co-written by Sandra Strong Managing Partner & Gail Leeson Export Compliance & International Trade Advisor at Strong and Herd LLP