The Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Made: 29th November 2018

Laid before the House of Commons: 30th November 2018

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2) and (3)

The Treasury, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 19, 21(7), 32(7), (8) and (13), 33(8) and 36(8) and (9) of, and paragraph 1(7) of Schedule 1, paragraphs 1 to 3, 9, 10, 12 to 18 and 20 to 23 of Schedule 2, paragraphs 6 and 8 of Schedule 6, and paragraph 1(3)(c) of Schedule 7 to, the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 , make the following Regulations.

The Treasury consider it appropriate in consequence of, or otherwise in connection with, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, that provisions of the following Regulations come into force on such day as the Treasury may by regulations under section 52 of that Act appoint.

PART 1 — Introductory Provisions

Citation and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), these Regulations come into force on such day as the Treasury may by regulations under section 52 of the Act appoint.

• (3) The following regulations come into force on 2nd January 2019—

• (a) this regulation;

• (b) regulation 2 (interpretation), insofar as it relates to the provisions specified in sub-paragraphs (c) to (j);

• (c) regulation 3(2), (3) and (4) (authorisation);

• (d) regulation 9 (eligibility for authorisation or approval);

• (e) regulation 10 (period for which an authorisation is to have effect);

• (f) regulations 19 to 21, 22(2), (3)(b) and (4) and 23(1) (authorisation to declare goods for an inward processing procedure);

• (g) regulations 27, 28(1), (4)(b) and (5) to (10), 29(1) to (3) and (7)(c) and 30 (authorisation to declare goods for an outward processing procedure);

• (h) regulations 32 and 33 (authorisation to declare goods for an authorised use procedure);

• (i) regulations 36, 37, 38(3) and 39 (authorisation to declare goods for a temporary admission procedure);

• (j) regulations 45 and 46 (authorisation to use equivalent goods).

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the Act” means the Taxation (Cross-border) Trade Act 2018;

• “the import duty regulations” means the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 ;

• “accompanied baggage” means baggage which—accompanies an individual when arriving in the United Kingdom; orwould have so accompanied an individual had the baggage not been delayed in transit to the United Kingdom;

• “agricultural policy measure” means a provision made by or under any enactment relating to the import and export of the goods specified at points (1), (2) and (3) of the document entitled “Sensitive Goods (version 2.0)”, dated 1st June 2022;

• “approval notification” means a notification issued under regulation 89 of the import duty regulations;

• “charges” has the meaning given in regulation 94 of the import duty regulations;

• “classification code” means the ... code given to goods in accordance with section 8(1)(b) of the Act;

• “Customs obligation” has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018;

• “customs office” means premises used by HMRC for the purposes of exercising its functions under the Act;

• “customs warehouse” means premises owned, occupied or otherwise used by a person who is approved by HMRC under these Regulations to operate the premises as a place to keep goods declared for a storage procedure ;

• “the Delegated Regulation” means the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning provisions of the Union Customs Code;

• “equivalent chargeable goods” means chargeable goods that are of the same, or of substantially the same, description as domestic goods intended to be declared for an outward processing procedure ;

• “equivalent goods” means equivalent domestic goods and equivalent chargeable goods;

• “established in Northern Ireland” means—in the case of an individual, where the individual is resident in Northern Ireland;in all other cases, where that person—has a registered office in Northern Ireland; orhas a permanent place in Northern Ireland from which the person carries out activities for which the person is constituted to perform;

• “established in the United Kingdom” means—in the case of an individual, where the individual is resident in the United Kingdom; orin all other cases, where the person—has a registered office in the United Kingdom; orhas a permanent place in the United Kingdom from which the person carries out activities for which the person is constituted to perform;

• “EUCL” means the direct EU legislation referred to in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 7 to the Act;

• “EU Customs Code” means—the UCC;the Delegated Regulation; ...Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code; and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/341 of 17 December 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards transitional rules for certain provisions of the Union Customs Code where the relevant electronic systems are not yet operational and amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446;

• “free zone activity” means an activity falling within the description in regulation 3(2)(c);

• “free zone business” means a person authorised to declare goods for a free zone procedure or to carry out a free zone activity, and an authorisation as a free zone business is an authorisation to carry out one or both of those activities;

• “holder of a procedure” means—a person in whose name, or on whose behalf, goods have been declared for a relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure; ora person to whom rights and obligations in relation to goods declared for a relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure have been transferred under regulation 42,and “holder of the procedure” is to be construed accordingly;

• “non-commercial goods” means goods—which are provided by one individual to another;where no payment is made, directly or indirectly, for the goods by the recipient;which are for the personal use of the recipient; andwhich do not form part of a series of consignments of goods made between the individuals;

• “non-tariff trade policy measure” means a provision made by or under any enactment relating to government policy in respect of international trade in goods, other than provisions relating to the amount of import duty;

• “non-transit Part 1 procedure” means—a Customs procedure other than a transit procedure ; oran outward processing procedure;

• “Part 1 procedure” means a Customs procedure or an outward processing procedure;

• “personal gifts” means goods contained within accompanied baggage of a qualifying traveller which—are intended for an individual's personal use;are not imported for commercial purposes; anddo not form part of a series of consignments of goods imported by the qualifying traveller;

• “private customs warehouse” means a customs warehouse that may only be used to store goods by the person approved to operate that warehouse;

• “processed goods” means goods which have been released to a relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure and processed in accordance with that procedure;

• “public customs warehouse” means a customs warehouse that may be used to store goods by any person;

• “qualifying traveller” means an individual who—is not resident in the United Kingdom and is arriving in the United Kingdom for a temporary stay; oris resident in the United Kingdom and is returning after a temporary stay outside the United Kingdom;

• “relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure” means—a special Customs procedure other than a transit procedure; oran outward processing procedure;

• “replacement goods” has the meaning given in regulation 5(3);

• “responsible authority” means a person appointed as a responsible authority for a free zone under section 100A(3)(c) of CEMA 1979, and references to a responsible authority for a free zone are to a responsible authority so appointed in relation to that free zone;

• “sensitive goods” means the goods of a type listed in the document entitled “Sensitive Goods (version 2.0)”, dated 1st June 2022;

• “standard exchange system” has the meaning given in regulation 5(3);

• “the temporary admission document” means the document entitled “Temporary Admission: Eligible Goods and Conditions for Relief (version 4.2)”, dated 25th June 2025;

• “UCC” means Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code.

• (2) For the purposes of these Regulations references to “process” (however expressed) include an operation of a type described in paragraph 11 of Schedule 2 to the Act.

• (3) In these Regulations—

• (a) a declaration of goods for “a customs warehouse procedure” is a declaration of goods for a storage procedure in a case where the goods are to be kept in a customs warehouse; and

• (b) a declaration of goods for “a free zone procedure” is a declaration of goods for a storage procedure in a case where the goods are to be kept in a free zone.

PART 2 — Authorisation and Approval

Authorisation requirement

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• (1) A person must not carry out an activity specified in paragraph (2) unless that person is authorised or approved to do so in accordance with these Regulations.

• (2) The specified activities are—

• (a) operating premises as a place to keep goods declared for a customs warehouse procedure;

• (b) declaring goods for—

• (i) an inward processing procedure ;

• (ii) an outward processing procedure ;

• (iii) an authorised use procedure ; ...

• (iv) a temporary admission procedure or

• (v) a free zone procedure;

• (c) any industrial, service or commercial activity in a free zone that—

• (i) relates to goods declared for a free zone procedure, including storing those goods in a free zone; and

• (ii) is not an activity of a description specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (3) Subject to regulation 8, the activities specified in paragraph (2) are to be treated for the purposes of Part 9 of the import duty regulations as matters requiring approval under those Regulations.

• (4) The period specified in regulation 89(2)(a) of the import duty regulations may be extended by a further period of up to one year where—

• (a) the application is—

• (i) an application for authorisation to declare goods for an inward processing procedure in relation to which an examination of the available evidence is required for the purposes of regulation 20(1)(a); or

• (ii) an application for authorisation to declare goods for an outward processing procedure to which regulation 27 applies; and

• (b) HMRC notify the applicant that such an extension will be made.

Treatment of a declaration as an application for authorisation

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• (1) Subject to regulation 35, a person in whose name goods are declared for a relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure is to be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as making an application for authorisation to declare the goods for that procedure where—

• (a) that person is not so authorised and ...—

• (i) subject to paragraph (ii), where there is any liability, or potential liability, to pay import duty, in respect of the goods—

• (aa) that person gives a single guarantee in accordance with Part 10 of the import duty regulations; or

• (bb) there is no requirement for a person to give a guarantee by virtue of regulation 101 of the import duty regulations; or

• (ii) where there is any liability, or potential liability, to pay both import duty and excise duty in respect of goods, and the goods are declared for a temporary admission procedure or inward processing procedure—

• (aa) that person gives a single guarantee in accordance with Part 10 of the import duty regulations as modified by paragraph (3); or

• (bb) there is no requirement for a person to give a guarantee by virtue of regulation 101 of the import duty regulations as modified by paragraph (3); and

• (b) the declaration—

• (i) is of a type specified in paragraph (2);

• (ii) is not one to which regulation 6 or 7 applies; and

• (iii) is made in accordance with—

• (aa) any provision made by or under Schedule 1 to the Act; or

• (bb) in the case of a declaration of goods for an outward processing procedure, any provision that applies by virtue of regulation 13A.

• (2) The specified types of declaration are a declaration of goods for—

• (a) a temporary admission procedure;

• (b) an authorised use procedure;

• (c) an outward processing procedure where the goods are to be exported for repair and—

• (i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (ii) the goods are not sensitive goods; or

• (d) an inward processing procedure where the goods are not sensitive goods.

• (3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a)(ii)—

• (a) Part 10 of the import duty regulations is modified as follows—

• (i) other than in regulation 97(2), for “import duty”, wherever it appears, regard as substituted “ import duty and excise duty ”;

• (ii) in regulation 95(1)(a), for “discharge of the liability” regard as substituted “ discharge of the liability to pay import duty ”;

• (iii) after regulation 100(1)(b), regard as inserted—

(ba) where the goods have been placed under a duty suspension arrangement and— (i) all the liability to import duty to which the guarantee relates and, where regulation 95(2) (guarantee in relation to charges) applies, any charges in relation to that liability have been paid in full; or (ii) the potential liability to import duty to which the guarantee relates has been extinguished on the discharge of a special Customs procedure,

• (iv) in regulation 100(1)(c)—

• (aa) in paragraphs (i) and (ii), for “the duty” regard as substituted “ the import duty ”;

• (bb) at the end of paragraph (ii), regard “and” as omitted;

• (cc) at the end of paragraph (iii), for “or” regard as substituted “ and ” and regard as inserted—

(iv) the part of the specified amount which is equivalent to the amount of the liability, or potential liability, to excise duty is paid in full or the goods to which that part relates have been placed in a duty suspension arrangement; or

; and

• (b) a reference to a “guarantee” in the import duty regulations, wherever it appears, should be construed in accordance with the modifications made by sub-paragraph (a).

• (4) In this regulation—

• “duty suspension arrangement” has the meaning given in regulation 3(1) of the Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point) Regulations 2010;

• “excise duty” has the meaning given by section 53 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.

Treatment of a declaration as an application to amend an authorisation

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• (1) Subject to regulation 7, where the conditions specified in paragraph (2) are met, a person in whose name goods are declared for the free-circulation procedure is to be treated, for the purposes of regulation 91(2)(a) of the import duty regulations, as making an application to amend an authorisation to declare goods for an outward processing procedure (“the authorisation”) so as to authorise the use of the standard exchange system in accordance with regulation 29.

• (2) The specified conditions are that—

• (a) the person in whose name the goods are declared is not so authorised and either—

• (i) that person gives a single guarantee in accordance with Part 10 of the import duty regulations; or

• (ii) there is no requirement on any person to give a guarantee by virtue of regulation 101 of those Regulations;

• (b) the declaration is made—

• (i) in the name of the person authorised to declare goods under the authorisation; and

• (ii) in accordance with any provision made by or under Schedule 1 to the Act; and

• (c) the goods declared for the free-circulation procedure are replacement goods.

• (3) For the purposes of this regulation, “standard exchange system” means the import of goods to replace defective domestic goods that are to be, or have been, declared for an outward processing procedure and “replacement goods” means the goods that are imported for that purpose.

Cases where a declaration is not to be treated as an application for authorisation

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• (1) Where any of paragraphs (2) to (4) applies, a declaration of goods for a relevant non-transit Part 1 procedure is not to be treated by regulation 4 as an application for authorisation.

• (2) This paragraph applies where, by virtue of regulation 23, liability to import duty is to be determined by reference to the goods as they stood when the declaration was made.

• (3) This paragraph applies where—

• (a) the declaration is for a temporary admission procedure;

• (b) the goods fall within section 27 of the temporary admission document (other goods – no economic effect); and

• (c) in the opinion of an HMRC officer it is not appropriate for the declaration to be treated as an application for authorisation.

• (4) This paragraph applies where—

• (a) the declaration is—