The Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

End of the common transit procedure (1): obligations of the holder of the procedure, and of the carrier and recipient of goods moving subject to the procedure U.K.

29.—(1) The holder of the common transit procedure is responsible for all of the following—

(a) presentation of the goods intact, and the required information in paragraph 30(1)(c), at the customs office of destination (see paragraph 16(3)) within the time-limit set under paragraph 20(1), and in compliance with the measures taken by HMRC and other customs authorities to ensure their identification;

(b) observance of the customs provisions relating to the procedure;

(c) unless otherwise provided for, provision of a guarantee [F1 in accordance with Part 10 of the import duty regulations], as supplemented and modified by sub-paragraph (2) and paragraph 64, in order to ensure payment of the amount of any customs debt which may be incurred in respect of the goods.

[F2 (1A) A comprehensive guarantee or guarantee waiver authorised by customs authorities of another common transit state will apply for the purposes of the provision of a guarantee at paragraph 29(1)(c), provided that—

(a) the authorisation has been issued in accordance with Article 55(1)(a) of Appendix 1 to the Convention and has not been annulled or revoked and is not suspended,

(b) the general conditions for authorisation at Article 57(1) of Appendix 1 to the Convention were satisfied at the time the authorisation was granted, and

(c) the comprehensive guarantee or guarantee waiver satisfies the requirements of, and is used by the holder of the common transit procedure in accordance with, Chapter II of Title III of Appendix 1 to the Convention.

(1B) Sub-paragraphs (1A) to (1G) supplement guarantees for the purposes of each common transit procedure.

(1C) Where the common transit procedure has not been discharged, HMRC must, within nine months from the time-limit prescribed under paragraph 20(1) for presentation of the goods at the customs office of destination, notify the guarantor that the common transit procedure has not been discharged.

(1D) Where the common transit procedure has not been discharged and the customs debt [F3 excluding duties under sections 30A(3) and 40A TCTA] is incurred in the United Kingdom, HMRC must, within three years from the date of acceptance of the declaration for the common transit procedure, notify the guarantor that the guarantor is or might be required to pay the customs debt [F3 excluding duties under sections 30A(3) and 40A TCTA] for which the guarantor is liable in respect of the common transit procedure in question.

(1E) The guarantor is released from the obligations of the guarantee if either notification provided for in sub-paragraph (1C) or (1D) has not been issued to the guarantor before the expiry of the time limit.

(1F) Where either notification has been issued, the guarantor must be informed by HMRC of the recovery of the customs debt or the discharge of the common transit procedure.

(1G) No guarantee is required in any of the following situations—

(a) goods carried by air in accordance with the authorisation in paragraph 18(5),

(b) goods carried by a fixed transport installation as mentioned in paragraph 16(2),

(c) goods carried by air under Part 3.]

(2) In this Part (and for the purposes of paragraph 64 F4 ...), a “customs debt” is the obligation in the United Kingdom on a person to pay an amount under TCTA of [F5 any duty of customs] and other charges due, [F6 an amount of excise duty or (except for the purposes of paragraph 29(1D) and 64(10)(d)) to pay corresponding amounts] owed to a common transit state apart from the United Kingdom.

(3) A carrier, or recipient of goods who accepts goods knowing that they are moving subject to the common transit procedure, is also responsible for presentation of the goods intact at the customs office of destination within the time-limit set under paragraph 20(1) and in compliance with the measures taken by HMRC and other customs authorities to ensure their identification.

The operator of a fixed transport installation who is established in the United Kingdom is the carrier for these purposes.

(4) The obligation of the holder of the procedure in sub-paragraph (1) is met and the common transit procedure ends when the goods subject to the common transit procedure and the required information are available at the customs office of destination, in accordance with paragraph 30.

This does not apply in a case covered by sub-paragraph (5) or (6).

(5) The common transit procedure is deemed to have ended when the appropriate entry is made in the commercial records of the consignee, or the operator of a fixed transport installation, certifying that the goods transported by fixed transport installation—

(a) have arrived at the consignee's plant;

(b) are accepted into the distribution network of the consignee; or

(c) have left [F7 Great Britain] for a country other than a common transit state.

(6) If an electronic transport document is used as the declaration if so authorised under paragraph 18(5), the common transit procedure ends when both the goods are presented at the customs office of destination for the airport and the particulars of the electronic transport document have been made available to that customs office in accordance with the means defined in the authorisation.

(7) The holder of the common transit procedure for the purposes of a case covered by sub-paragraph (6) must notify HMRC, and the customs office of destination if outside the United Kingdom, of all offences and irregularities related to the common transit procedure.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(1)(c) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Customs and Excise (Miscellaneous Provisions and Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1215), regs. 1(2), 13(2)(b)(i); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F2 Sch. 1 para. 29(1A)-(1G) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Customs Transit Procedures (Amendment, etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1491), regs. 1, 4(6); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F3 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(1D) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1605), regs. 1(1), 39(2)(i)(x); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F4 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Customs and Excise (Miscellaneous Provisions and Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1215), regs. 1(2), 13(2)(b)(ii)(aa); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F5 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(2) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1605), regs. 1(1), 39(2)(ii)(x); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F6 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(2) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Customs and Excise (Miscellaneous Provisions and Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1215), regs. 1(2), 13(2)(b)(ii)(bb) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1491, reg. 3(b)); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

F7 Words in Sch. 1 para. 29(5)(c) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1605), regs. 1(1), 39(2)(iii)(x); S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 1 para. 29 in force at 31.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1643, reg. 2, Sch.