Customs Declarations from EU changing on 1 January

22 Nov 2021

HMRC has warned business that Customs Declarations on imports from the EU will change once again at the start of next year.

From 1 January 2022, businesses will no longer be able to delay making import customs declarations under the Staged Customs Controls rules that have applied during 2021. Most businesses will have to make declarations and pay relevant tariffs at the point of import.

The tax authority says businesses should consider how they will make their declarations. They can either appoint an intermediary, such as a customs agent, or submit the declarations themselves.

Some businesses already have a 'Simplified Declarations' authorisation from HMRC that allows their goods to be released directly to a specified customs procedure without having to provide a full customs declaration at the point of release.

Businesses that want to use Simplified Declarations will need authorisation to do so. It can take up to 60 calendar days to complete the checks needed for this and therefore a new application made now may not be authorised before 1‌‌ ‌January‌‌ ‌2022.

From 1 January businesses must use the correct country code for the country of origin and the country of dispatch when they complete their customs declaration. HMRC says that for EU countries, the individual country code of the relevant member state should be used. The EU country code must not be used and will be removed from HMRC's systems shortly.