The government has issued a series of updates in recent days relating to customs and trade rules and systems.
These include notifications about issues with the UK’s ports and its Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), resolving duplicate charges on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and a new system for advanced customs valuation rulings.
The IOE&IT Daily Update here summarises key information that traders need to know about.
Delay warnings
HMRC’s Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) has emailed industry stakeholders today (27 March) with information relating to technical issues that could cause a delay for hauliers carrying goods over the UK border over the next couple of days.
The JCCC secretariat writes: “Ports and GVMS users have been informed that due to a technical issue hauliers diverted to Inland Border Facilities or to port inspection facilities may experience increased waiting times over the next 48 hours.”
HMRC is looking to resolve the issue and apologises for any inconvenience caused.
CDS duplicate charges
The JCCC has also written to stakeholders to say that it is looking into the “major incident” that led to import declarations not being cleared on CDS in recent weeks.
HMRC has noted the issues may have led to duplicate charges of VAT and import duty for some firms that submitted declarations during the period of disruption.
JCCC is urging declarants that made duplicate declarations to check their records to see if double payments have been made. If this has happened, firms should submit a C285 form to get a refund.
Firms that had issues obtaining a Movement Reference Number (MRN) for their pre-lodged declarations, who had their goods permitted to move while the issues were being resolved, have been reminded that they will now need to manually arrive their declarations.
NCTS5 webinar
JCCC has also written to stakeholders to inform them about a webinar on NCTS5 that is taking place on Wednesday (29 March).
NCTS5 is the latest update to the UK’s National Computerised Transit System (NCTS) – the IT service administering the use of transit procedures for goods moving into, through and out of the UK.
HMRC’s software developer support team advises that the webinar will “provide an overview of some of the changes coming with NCTS5, what you can expect, and how we will support you with development and technical information throughout the lifecycle of the project.”
You can join the two-hour webinar at 1pm on Wednesday via this Teams link.
Advanced valuation rulings
A new package of ‘customs measures’ was announced by the Treasury alongside the chancellor’s Spring Budget announcement earlier this month, including a new system for ‘advanced valuation rulings’.
These rulings are legally binding decisions made by customs authorities regarding which valuation method a trader should use when submitting a customs valuation on a declaration (go here for more explanation).
In the latest Borders Bulletin from Cabinet Office, government has advised that businesses looking to apply for these rulings can prepare to do so by obtaining a Government Gateway ID and an EORI (Economic Operator Registration Identification) number.
The new system for applying for advanced customs valuation rulings will go live in the Spring.
You can learn more about it in a free webinar from the IOE&IT about the Spring Budget customs measures, which you can sign up to here.
Export control rule changes
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has issued a new Notice to Exporters (NTE) regarding amendments to key regulations.
In NTE 2023/06, the unit says it has:
“Amended the Export Control Order 2008 (“the 2008 Order”) and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a community regime for the control of exports and the transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items (“the retained Dual-Use Regulation”).”
The new Export Control (Military and Dual-Use Lists) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 will come into force on 31 March 2023.
You can read more detail about the amendments here.
Knocking down export barriers
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) also issued a statement yesterday (26 March) claiming that the department has knocked down “barriers to markets worth more than £2.2bn to UK businesses” since secretary of state Kemi Badenoch took on the government’s trade portfolio.
Badenoch, who has now been in office for 200 days, said:
“As an independent trading nation Britain can now get to grips with these blockages. So I’m very proud that since becoming Trade Secretary we’ve been able to unlock billions for the UK economy, and I look forward to smashing even more barriers to ensure our businesses thrive.”
Badenoch initially took on the leadership of the Department for International Trade (DIT) under the previous premiership of Liz Truss. Since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, DIT was merged with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to become the new DBT, which she now head.