Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

43 Duty on imported goods. U.K.

(1) Save as permitted by or under the customs and excise Acts or section 2(2) of the M1 European Communities Act 1972 or any [F1 EU] regulation or other instrument having the force of law, no imported goods shall be delivered or removed on importation until the importer has paid to the proper officer any duty chargeable thereon, and that duty shall, in the case of goods of which entry is made, be paid on making the entry.

(2) [F2 Subject to subsections (2A), (2B) [F3 (2C) and (2D)] below,] the duties of customs or excise and the rates thereof chargeable on imported goods—

[F4 (a) if entry is made thereof, except where the entry is for warehousing, or if they are declared under section 78 below, shall be those in force with respect to such goods at the time when the entry is accepted or the declaration is made;]

(b) if entry [F5 or, in the case of goods entered by bill of sight, perfect entry] is made thereof for warehousing, shall be ascertained in accordance with warehousing regulations;

[F6 (c) if no entry is made thereof and the goods are not declared under section 78 below shall be—

(i) as respects [F1 EU] customs duties, those in force with respect to such goods at the time of their entry into the customs territory of the [F7 European Union] ; and

(ii) as respects other duties, those in force with respect to such goods at the time of their importation.]

[F8 (2A) Where the Commissioners require a duty of customs to be paid because of a failure to comply with a condition or other obligation imposed under section 47 or 48 below (not being a condition or obligation required to be complied with before the goods were allowed to be removed or delivered) the duty shall be charged as if entry of the goods had been accepted at the time when the non-compliance occurred.

(2B) Where any duties of customs are chargeable in respect of waste or debris resulting from the destruction of imported goods in free circulation, those duties and their rates shall be those in force at the time when the goods were destroyed.

(2C) As respects goods which have been unlawfully removed from customs charge, subsection (2)(c) above shall have effect with respect to any duties of customs as if they had entered the customs territory of the [F7 European Union] , or, as the case may be, had been imported at the time of their removal.]

[F9 (2D) Nothing in the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) above or of subsection (6) below or in any exception to any of those provisions made by or under any of sections 44 to 48 below shall have effect for the purposes of any duty of excise chargeable on any goods for which—

(a) the excise duty point is fixed by regulations under section 1 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 1992; and

(b) the applicable rate of duty is determined in accordance with subsection (2) of that section.]

(3) Any goods brought or coming into the United Kingdom by sea otherwise than as cargo, stores or baggage carried in a ship shall be chargeable with the like duty, if any, as would be applicable to those goods if they had been imported as merchandise; and if any question arises as to the origin of the goods they shall, unless that question is determined under section 120 below, section 14 of the M2 Customs and Excise Duties (General Reliefs) Act 1979 (produce of the sea or continental shelf) or under a [F1 EU] regulation or other instrument having the force of law, be deemed to be the produce of such country as the Commissioners may on investigation determine.

[F10 (4) Where, in accordance with approval given by the Commissioners, entry of goods is made by any method involving the use of a computer, subsection (2) above shall have effect as if the reference in paragraph (a) to the time of the delivery of the entry were a reference to the time when particulars contained in the entry are accepted by the computer.]

(5) Subject to sections 10 and 11 of the Customs and Excise Duties (General Reliefs) Act 1979 (reliefs for re-imported goods) and save as provided by or under any such enactments or instruments as are mentioned in subsection (1) above, any goods which are re-imported into the United Kingdom [F11 after exportation from the United Kingdom or the Isle of Man], whether they were manufactured or produced in or outside the United Kingdom and whether or not any duty was paid thereon at a previous importation, shall be treated for the purpose of charging duty—

(a) as if they were being imported for the first time; and

(b) in the case of goods manufactured or produced in the United Kingdom, as if they had not been so manufactured or produced.

[F12 (6) Where entry of goods is made otherwise than for warehousing and there is a reduction in the rate of duty of customs or excise chargeable on the goods between—

(a) the time mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above; and

(b) the time when the goods are cleared from customs and excise charge,

the rate of the duty chargeable on the goods shall, if the importer so requests, be that in force at the time mentioned in paragraph (b) above unless clearance of the goods has been delayed by reason of any act or omission for which the importer is responsible.

(7) Notwithstanding section 6(5) of the European Communities Act 1972 “duty of customs” in subsection (6) above does not include any agricultural levy.

(8) Where the samples are taken of goods under section 38A above and the quantity of the goods covered by the entry which is subsequently delivered does not include the samples the duties of customs and the rates of those duties chargeable on the samples shall be those in force at the time when the application under subsection (1) of that section was made and shall be determined by reference to the particulars contained in the application.

(9) Where a substituted entry is delivered under section 38(2) or 38B(2) above the entry referred to in subsection (2)(a) above is the original entry.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Act substituted (22.4.2011) by The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1043), arts. 2, 3, 6 (with art. 3(2)(3), 4(2), 6(4)(5))

F2 Words inserted by S.I. 1982/1324, reg. 2(2)

F3 Words in s. 43(2) substituted (1.12.1992 in so far as mentioned in S.I. 1992/2979, art. 4 and 1.1.1993 in so far as then not already in force) by Finance (No. 2) Act 1992 (c. 48), s. 1(5), Sch. 1 para. 2(a); S.I. 1992/2979, art. 4, Sch. Pt. 2; S.I. 1992/3261, art. 3,Sch.

F4 S. 43(2)(a) substituted by Finance Act 1981 (c. 35, SIF 40:1), s. 10(1), Sch. 6 para. 7(2)

F5 Words repealed by Finance Act 1981 (c. 35, SIF 40:1), Sch. 19 Pt. 1

F6 S. 43(2)(c) substituted by S.I. 1982/1324, reg. 2(3)

F7 Words in Act substituted (22.4.2011) by The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1043), arts. 2, 3, 4 (with art. 3(2)(3), 4(2), 6(4)(5))

F8 S. 43(2A)–(2C) inserted by S.I. 1982/1324, reg. 2(4)

F9 S. 43(2D) inserted (1.12.1992 in so far as mentioned in S.I. 1992/2979, art. 4 and 1.1.1993 in so far as then not already in force) by Finance (No. 2) Act 1992 (c. 48), s. 1(5), Sch. 1 para. 2(b); S.I. 1992/2979, art. 4, Sch. Pt. 2; S.I. 1992/3261, art. 3,Sch.

F10 S. 43(4) repealed by Finance Act 1981 (c. 35, SIF 40:1), s. 139(6), Sch. 19 Pt. 1

F11 Words substituted by Isle of Man Act 1979 (c. 58), Sch. 1 para. 8

F12 S. 43(6)–(9) inserted by Finance Act 1981 (c. 35, SIF 40:1), s. 10(1), Sch. 6 para. 7(4)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 43 modified by S.I. 1986/260, regs. 5(d) (as substituted by S.I. 1986/1019, reg. 2), 18

C2 S. 43 modified (10.1.2012) by The Postal Packets (Revenue and Customs) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/3036), regs. 1, 12 (with reg. 25) (as amended (31.08.2023) by The Postal Packets (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/872), regs. 1(2), 3(8))

C3 S. 43(1) modified by S.I. 1983/947, regs. 12, 13, 1988/1810, reg. 4 and 1988/1898, reg. 4 (S.I. 1983/947 is revoked 1.1.1993 by S.I. 1992/3152, reg. 1(2))

C4 S. 43(1) amended by S.I. 1985/1032, reg. 11(a) (which S.I. is revoked 1.1.1993 by S.I. 1992/3152, reg. 1(2))

S. 43(1) amended by S.I. 1992/3152, reg. 11(a).

S. 43: s. 43(1)(a) expressed to be amended (1.11.1993 - 31.10.1996) by virtue of S.I 1992/3152, reg. 11(a) (with S.I. 1996/2537, reg. 15(b))

C5 S. 43(5) excluded (20.10.1995) by S.I. 1995/2518, reg. 118(c)(i)

Marginal Citations

M1 1972 c. 68.

M2 1979 c. 3.