Guidance

Notice to Traders 23/22

Published 23 March 2022

Imports of Sugar under Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 1432

Introduction

This notice explains how the rules are applied to this quota and how to apply for a licence. It also advises you of the quota amounts available in the April 2022 quota application period. Details of the quantities available are given in Annex 1 of this notice.

Proof of Trade

You must provide the following documents to prove that you are eligible for a sugar quota licence. If you do not have the proof of trade as detailed below, you are not eligible, and you cannot apply for a quota licence.

You must be established and registered for VAT in the UK. You must tell us your current VAT registration number. You can provide your VAT number on your quota licence application or send us a copy of your current VAT certificate. However, if your company is part of a group VAT registration number, we will need to see a copy of your current VAT certificate before the quota deadline.

If this is your first application in the quota year you must provide evidence to prove that you have imported at least 25 tonnes of sugar during:

• The 12-month period ending two months before the first application can be submitted for the quota year (1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021); and
• The 12-month period immediately before that (1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020).

HMRC agents or representatives cannot apply for import licences under these quota arrangements.

Applications

Your quota application must be received between 1st and 7th April 2022. It is your responsibility to ensure that your application, all additional documentation and the security are correct at the time of submission and they are received by the RPA before 17:00 on the 7 April 2022.

Note: We will reject any applications where the application, security and / or proof of trade is received after 17:00 (UK time) on 7 April 2022.

You must submit your licence applications using an AGRIM import licence application form. We advise you to use the latest version of the application form. You can submit applications either by post or by email. The email address for licence applications is trader@rpa.gov.uk

Your application must not exceed the quantity available. You must not lodge more than one import quota licence application for the same order number.

Note: If you lodge more than one application for the same order number, all your applications will be rejected.

Any unused quota will be carried forward to the next application period in April.

Security

You must lodge a security of £20 per tonne with each licence application.

You can find further information on how to lodge your security by searching for ‘Licence securities for the import/export of agricultural products’ on GOV.UK.

Completing a licence application

As part of the sugar import tariff quota, licence applications must include at least the following entries:

• Box 20 of your application must contain the correct import tariff quota order number. You must also include “Statutory Instrument 2020/1432”.

If you are not sure of the Combined Nomenclature (CN) code for your product (box 16) you should contact HMRC by sending an email containing as much information about the product as possible to classification.enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk. They will be able to provide you with the correct code and description.

Issuing Licences

As soon as the application period has closed, we will collate details of all valid quota applications we received and calculate the reduction coefficient applicable to each order number. Details of these reduction coefficients will be published on GOV.UK.

Licences will be issued towards the end of April 2022 for use from 1 May 2022.

Please note, the reduction in duty will only be valid for the quantities shown in sections 17 and 18 of your licence.

As licences will only be valid for imports into the UK, your licence will be issued electronically. We no longer issue paper import licences.

Import licences will be valid from 1 May 2022 until the end of the 2021/22 quota period, 30 September 2022 (except for the Albanian sugar quota). Where an electronic licence is issued an email can be sent to inform you of its issue. To receive this email notification, you must have already completed the appropriate sections of the il3 form.

Authority

You can find details of the arrangements in Statutory Instrument 2020/1432. You can obtain copies from Stationery Office bookshops and accredited agents, or order from the Stationery Office website.

You can also access Statutory Instruments electronically by visiting the UK’s Legislation website. The RPA is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the Legislation website. Whilst every care has been taken in producing this guidance, the Statutory Instrument as published is definitive.

Questions

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Import Licensing team as follows:

• Our telephone helpline number – 03300 416 500 (Option 1)

• E-mail contact – trader@rpa.gov.uk

• Our postal address is:

Import licencing Team
Rural Payments Agency
Lancaster House
Hampshire Court
Newcastle Business Park
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE4 7YH

Annex 1

Annual Quota from October 2021

Sugar under CN Code 1701 1310 or 1701 1410 imported at a reduced rate of duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order Number	April
Australia	05.4317	4,964,000 kg
Brazil	05.4318	29,670,000 kg
All Countries	05.4320	31,416,000 kg
Total		66,050,000 kg

Note: Licences are valid from 1 May 2022 until the end of the quota period (30 September 2022).

For this quota (CN Code 1701 1310 or 1701 1410):

• You must lodge security of £20 per tonne.
• For order numbers 05.4317 and 05.4318, box 8 of your application must state the country of origin of the product and you must select this as ‘Yes’. Licences will carry an obligation to import from the country stated.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number 05.43**’
• Box 24 (comments box) of your application must contain: ‘Reduced rate of customs duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Statutory Instrument 2020/1432).

Sugar under CN Code 1701 imported at a zero rate of duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order Number	April
India	05.4321	4,159,000 kg
Total		4,159,000 kg

Note: Quota quantities not allocated in April will be carried over to subsequent months.

Note: Licences are valid from 1 May 2022 until the end of the quota period (30 September 2022).

For this quota (CN Code 1701):

• You must ensure that you can obtain the required export documentation from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority [APEDA] in India.
• You must lodge security of £20 per tonne.
• Box 8 of your application must state the country of origin of the product and you must select this as ‘Yes’. Licences will carry an obligation to import from the country stated.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number 05.4321’
• Box 24 (comments box) of your application must contain: Zero rate of Customs duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Statutory Instrument 2020/1432).

Sugar under CN Codes 1701 and 1702 imported with a reduced rate of duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order number	April
Northern Macedonia	05.4327	953,000 kg
Albania	05.4324	136,000 kg
Serbia	05.4326	24,652,000 kg
Total		25,741,000 kg

Note: Quota quantities not allocated in the April application window will be carried over to subsequent months.

Note: Licences are valid from 1 May 2022 until the end of the quota period (30 September 2022). However, for the Albanian quota, licences will be valid from 1 May 2022 until the end of the quota period (31 December 2022).

For this quota (CN Codes 1701 and 1702):

• You must lodge security of £17 tonne.
• Box 8 of your application must state the country of origin of the product and you must select this as ‘Yes’. Licences will carry an obligation to import from the country stated.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number 05.43**’.
• Box 24 (comments box) of your application must contain: ‘Reduced rate of duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Statutory Instrument 2020/1432).

Annex 2

Checklist for your reference prior to submission of a sugar import licence application

Presenting a correct application will assist us in processing your quota import licence.

Before submitting your application, check that the following details are correct:

• Is the quota order number correct for the commodity code and country, which you have applied for?
• Check the rate of security used is correct.
• Does the security amount calculated cover the quantity applied for?
• Is it the correct description against the required commodity (CN) code?
• Has your proof of trade and a valid VAT certificate been supplied / submitted for the current quota year?
• Is the form signed and dated by an authorised individual?

If you are not sure of any details, then the following will provide further information:

• Annex 1 of this Notice to Traders.
• Import Licensing team contact details are given in this Notice to Traders