The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Regulations are made by the Treasury primarily under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22) (“the Act”) as amended by the Taxation (Post-transition Period) Act 2020 (c. 26: “the 2020 Act”). This is an EU Exit statutory instrument. The Regulations make provision in relation to goods chargeable to duty under sections 30A to 30C and 40A of the Act.

Part 1 (introductory provisions) U.K.

Part 1 provides for citation and commencement and definitions used in the Regulations. The Regulations will be brought into force by way of a separate statutory instrument made under section 52 of the Act.

Part 2 (importation of goods and goods potentially for export) U.K.

Part 2 makes provision in relation to the duties of customs charged on non-Union goods imported into the United Kingdom as a result of their entry into Northern Ireland under section 30A(3) of the Act and on the removal of goods to Northern Ireland from Great Britain under section 40A of the Act.

The provision made under Part 2 includes the goods not chargeable to duty, the description of goods chargeable to duty under section 40A, the application of provisions made by or under the Act to goods chargeable to duty under section 30A(3) or 40A, and relief.

Part 3 (potentially imported goods) U.K.

Part 3 makes provision in relation to the duties of customs charged on the removal of goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland under section 30C(1) and (2) of the Act. The provision made under Part 3 includes the goods not chargeable to duty, goods not subject to the procedural aspects of the Act, reductions in the amount of duty chargeable or value of the goods and transition of approvals.

Part 4 (goods exported on removal from Northern Ireland) U.K.

Part 4 makes provision for goods to retain domestic goods status in certain circumstances when they are exported on removal from Northern Ireland and the declarations that must be made in relation to certain of those goods on their arrival in Great Britain.

Part 5 (application of provision made by or under the customs and excise Acts) U.K.

Part 5 provides for the following to have effect with modifications for the purposes of duties charged under sections 30A, 30C and 40A—

(a) section 9 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c. 2);

(b) the Customs and Excise (Transit) Regulations 1993 (S.I. 1993/1353);

(c) the Customs Traders (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/1203);

(d) the Customs (Contravention of a Relevant Rule) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3113);

(e) the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1248);

(f) the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulation 2018 (S.I. 2018/1249)

(g) the Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1258);

(h) the Customs (Managed Transition Procedure) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/487);

(i) the Taxation Cross-border Trade (Special Procedures Supplementary and General Provision etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1439).

Part 6 (consequential amendments) U.K.

Part 6 makes consequential amendments in relation to the Regulations and the Act to—

(a) the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018;

(b) the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulation 2018;

(c) the Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018;

(d) the Customs (Crown Dependencies Customs Union) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/385);

(e) the Customs (Managed Transition Procedure) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019;

(f) the Customs (Reliefs from a Liability to Import Duty and Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1431);

(g) the Taxation Cross-border Trade (Special Procedures Supplementary and General Provision etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

The notices referred to in regulations 19, and 38 will be published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/customs-vat-and-excise-uk-transition-legislation-from-1-january-2021. A person unable to access the notices electronically may access them, while government advice on social distancing and unnecessary travel applies, in hard copy by post free of charge on application to 07741835049, and otherwise by inspection free of charge at HMRC, 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) covering this instrument will be published on the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-information-and-impact-notes-tiins.