Statutory guidance

Notices made under the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 which have force of law

Updated 31 January 2024

Applies to Northern Ireland

The following section has the force of law by virtue Regulation 16CA(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The undertaking lead must be appointed in accordance with the following rules:

• for a single undertaking with a single business, that business must be the role of undertaking lead
• for a single undertaking which contains multiple businesses the undertaking lead must be appointed with agreement from all individual members of that undertaking

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16CA(4) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

Notification of the appointment of a person as an undertaking lead must be provided to HMRC by that person registering on the digital service (Version 3 July 2023) and providing the following information:

• the date of their appointment as undertaking lead
• the name and address of all individual members of the single undertaking
• confirmation that each individual member of the single undertaking has consented to the appointment of that person as undertaking lead and to this notification being given to HMRC
• Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers of all individual members of the single undertaking

In addition to the above, first time digital service users (Version 3 July 2023) who are lead undertakings must also provide the following:

Details relating to each company and other organisation that are members of the single undertaking

• Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) if Corporation Tax is paid in the UK
• registered company address
• registered company name
• date of establishment

Details relating to a Sole Trader or Individual that is the single undertaking

If the undertaking lead has worked in the UK or registered for self-assessment, the undertaking lead will need to provide one of the following:

• National Insurance number
• Self-assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16CA(5)(b) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

An undertaking lead can resign its status by confirming this resignation via the digital service (Version 3 July 2023).

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16CA(6) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Where HMRC cancel an appointment as an undertaking lead this will be done by HMRC by making an entry to that effect on the digital service (Version 3 July 2023)

The following text has force of law by virtue of Regulation 16G(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A claim for relief made in a customs declaration must be lodged using electronic data-processing techniques by:

• entering ‘NIAID’ on the ‘Additional Information’ statement area of the declaration; and
• completing  and lodging that declaration, and any accompanying documents, in accordance with the requirements of union customs legislation, as defined in section 37 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018

For these purposes, a customs declaration includes a supplementary declaration, as required by in Article 167 of the Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code.

A claim for repayment of duty may be made by either:

• submitting a claim via HMRC’s online service (this option is available only where the goods in respect of which the repayment claim is made were declared in Northern Ireland using HMRC’s CHIEF declaration system)
• completing form C285 (Application for repayment/remission) Version 2.0, and sending this by post with any additional information that is required to the following address:

BT-NCH   
HM Revenue and Customs   
BX9 1GZ   
United Kingdom

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16H(1)(a) (b) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A claim for relief made in a customs declaration must include the entry ‘NIAID’ in the ‘Additional Information’ statement area of the customs declaration.

A claim for repayment of duty must include all the information required by:

• form C285 (Application for repayment/remission) Version 2.0, or
• HMRC’s online service (whichever is appropriate) and should include the following documents concerning the goods in respect of which the repayment claim is made:
  • the commercial invoice
  • the packing list
  • the transport documents for example an airway bill or bill of lading

Any claim for repayment must also include the following information:

• the amount of duty that was paid to HMRC in respect of the goods
• contact details for the claimant and (where a claim is made by a relief agent) any person on whose behalf the claim is made

Where the customs declaration for the goods was made using the Customs Declaration Service the claim must also contain the Movement Reference Number.

Where the customs declaration for the goods was made using the CHIEF declaration system, the claim must also be accompanied by the following documents:

• form E2 — the entry acceptance form received for the goods
• form C88 — the customs declaration

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16M(2)(b) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A notification required by regulation 16M(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 must be in writing and sent to HMRC at the following email address: customs.dutywaivers@hmrc.gov.uk.

The notification must include the following information:

• name of person making the notification
• name of the claimant
• claimant’s Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number
• email address of the claimant
• contact phone number for the claimant
• the claimant’s business sector (road freight transport for hire or reward, fisheries and aquaculture, agricultural primary production or other)
• the amount of aid that has been granted to the single undertaking in the last 3 years which counts towards the applicable de minimis state aid limit as defined in regulation 16E(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Where a relief agent made the claim on behalf of a principal, references in the above paragraph to the claimant are to be read as referring to the principal.

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16S(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The claimant must keep and preserve copies of all customs duty waiver claims and information and evidence which they have completed and submitted to HMRC, or which have been completed and submitted on their behalf and any documents to HMRC  supporting those.

Records may be kept and preserved by the claimant in any manner sufficient to enable an HMRC officer to examine claims for relief and to enable the claimant to demonstrate to an HMRC officer that the conditions and requirements of the relief have been satisfied.

Records must be kept and preserved for a minimum of 10 years from when the claim was granted.

Where a customs duty waiver form has been completed or submitted by a relief agent, then the relief agent must provide the claimant with any customs duty waiver claims and information and evidence the agent has completed or submitted on behalf of the claimant.

An undertaking lead must keep and preserve any records relevant to their:

• appointment as undertaking lead; and
• entitlement to act as undertaking lead for the single undertaking

These records may be kept and preserved in any manner sufficient to enable the undertaking lead to demonstrate to an HMRC officer that the conditions concerning the appointment of an undertaking lead have been satisfied. Records must be kept and preserved for:

• the period during which the person acts as undertaking lead, or
• a minimum of 10 years from when the claim was granted

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16SA(1) and 16SA(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The undertaking lead must provide the following information to HMRC by the dates specified below in the form and manner specified below:

(i) The amount of state aid granted to the single undertaking within the relevant 90 day period (whether relating to customs duty or otherwise) which counts towards the applicable de minimis state aid limit, as defined in regulation 16E(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020), or confirmation that no such aid has been granted to any individual member of the single undertaking within that 90 day period.

(ii) The government department or other body which granted this aid (where appropriate).

(iii) The name of the scheme or arrangement under which this aid was granted.

(iv) The date on which this aid was granted.

(v) A cumulative total of all de minimis state aid granted to members of the single undertaking in the last 3 years, which counts towards the applicable de minimis state aid limit, as defined in regulation 16E(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

(vi) Details of any changes to the composition of the single undertaking, including mergers and separations, or members leaving or joining the single undertaking -including the date on which this change took place.

The information at (i) to (v) must be provided at least every 90 days from the date when the undertaking is registered.

The information at (vi) must be provided within 90 days of the relevant change to the composition of the single undertaking.

The information must be provided to HMRC by updating the information held on HMRC`s digital service (Version 3 July 2023).

The following text has the force of law by virtue of Regulation 16W(4)  of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A claim for repayment or remission under Chapter 6 of Part 2 of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 must be made electronically by submitting the claim, and any accompanying documents and evidence, via a digital form.

The following text has the force of law by virtue of regulation 16Z1(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A claim for repayment or remission of duty under Chapter 6 of Part 2 of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 must:

• contain the information required in the digital form; and
• be accompanied by digital copies of documents and evidence that:
  • identify the goods in respect of which the claim is made
  • demonstrate that the eligibility criteria described in Section One of the document entitled ‘Duty incurred in Northern Ireland — repayment and remission on production of evidence: Eligibility criteria and other conditions’) is satisfied
  • establish that the goods in respect of which the claim is being made are within one of the classes described in Section Two of the document referred to above

Where possible, evidence and documentation submitted should contain a full description of goods that can be used to establish, by comparison with the original customs declaration for the goods in Northern Ireland and other documents, that the goods described in the relevant evidence or documentation:

• have been liable to customs duty in Northern Ireland
• are within one of the classes described in Section Two of the document entitled ‘Duty incurred in Northern Ireland — repayment and remission on production of evidence: Eligibility criteria and other conditions’; and
• are those in respect of which the claim has been made

A claim must include evidence establishing the quantity of declared goods that are present in processed goods where the claim is made in respect of goods that have been used in, or have been subject to, a processing operation in Northern Ireland between the time that:

• the duty that is the subject of the claim was incurred by declaration of the goods in Northern Ireland; and
• the processed goods are removed from Northern Ireland, or those processed goods are finally used by an end-consumer, permanently installed or finally destroyed in Northern Ireland — as described in Section Two of the document entitled ‘Duty incurred in Northern Ireland — repayment and remission on production of evidence: Eligibility criteria and other conditions’.

In the case of goods to which paragraph 9 of the document entitled ‘Duty incurred in Northern Ireland — repayment and remission on production of evidence: Eligibility criteria and other conditions’ applies, the claim must include a copy of the notification required by that paragraph.

The following text has the force of law by virtue of regulation 16Z6(5) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

A notification required by regulation 16Z6(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 must be given in the form and manner set out below:

(i) Notification of:

• an error in a claim for repayment or remission which means that the amount claimed was too high; or
• a repayment or remission claim that has been being granted in error;

must be given by completing and submitting a C2001 form.

This notification must:

• contain the information required in the C2001 form described above;
• contain details identifying the claimant and any relevant claim;
• identify when the person giving the notification became aware of the error; and
• be accompanied by digital copies of documents and evidence which (so far as relevant to the circumstances):
  • where the claimant becomes aware of an error in a claim: identify the error and explain (with reference to the claimant’s accounting systems or any other relevant factors) how this error arose
  • where the claimant becomes aware that repayment or remission has been granted in error by HMRC: identify the error and any matters known to the person giving the notification about how this error arose

(ii) Notification of an error in a claim where a repayment or remission amount granted was too low may be made by submitting a further claim under regulation 16W of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

This further claim must contain the information, and be accompanied by documents and evidence specified for the purposes of regulation 16Z1 of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

This further claim will serve as a request for HMRC consent for the purposes of regulation 16Y(d) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

The following text has the force of law by virtue of regulation 16Z10(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The claimant must keep and preserve copies of:

• all repayment and remission claims they have made to HMRC
• all repayment and remission claims made on their behalf to HMRC
• any documents or evidence that accompanied such a claim, as required under regulation 16Z1 of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020
• commercial or official documents, and other evidence relevant to the claim, including evidence concerning the satisfaction of the eligibility criteria and other conditions specified in the document entitled ‘Duty incurred in Northern Ireland — repayment and remission on production of evidence: Eligibility criteria and other conditions

Records may be kept and preserved by the claimant in any form sufficient to enable an HMRC officer to examine claims and other documents and evidence.

Records must be kept and preserved by the claimant for a minimum of 3 years from the date of the claim.

Where the claim for repayment or remission is made by a repayment and remission agent on behalf of a principal:

• the references to ‘the claimant’ above are to the principal, as defined in regulation 16T of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020; and
• the repayment and remission agent must provide the principal with any repayment or remission claims and accompanying documents and evidence the agent has submitted to HMRC on behalf of that principal

The following text has the force of law, by virtue of Regulation 19(2) of The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Section A

The evidence sufficient to show that goods are not chargeable to duty under section 30C of the Taxation Cross-border Trade Act 2018 (TCTA) is as set out below.

For the purposes of this section, commercial, transportation or official documentation includes but is not limited to the following:

• customer orders
• contracts
• correspondence
• copy invoices
• advice notes
• consignment notes
• packing lists
• insurance and freight charges
• evidence of payment
• credit transfer documents
• receipts
• business records
• customs records

A single commercial, transportation or official document may be used to demonstrate more than one of the matters set out below.

(i) Goods not chargeable to duty under section 30C TCTA because:

• they are qualifying Northern Ireland goods; and
• the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland is not to (a) avoid any other duty chargeable as a result of TCTA, or (b) avoid any obligation in connection with such a duty^{[footnote 1]}

Any commercial, transportation or official documentation relevant to the goods that shows that the goods meet the criteria set out in regulation 3 of The Definition of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (EU Exit) Regulations 2020^{[footnote 2]}; and

If the information above is not sufficient to demonstrate a business or logistical reason for routing the goods through Northern Ireland that is not connected with the avoidance of duty or the avoidance of any obligation in connection with duty, either of the following:

(a) where goods originate in Northern Ireland or have been processed in Northern Ireland: any commercial, transportation or official documentation showing that fact; or

(b) where goods are imported into the United Kingdom by arriving in Northern Ireland and are subsequently removed to Great Britain without being processed in Northern Ireland: any other commercial, transportation or official documentation that shows why the goods were routed through Northern Ireland

(ii) Goods not chargeable to duty under section 30C TCTA because:

• they are goods described in regulation 105 of the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018^{[footnote 3]} (goods regarded as domestic goods: fish); and
• the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland is not to (a) avoid any other duty chargeable as a result of TCTA, or (b) avoid any obligation in connection with such a duty^{[footnote 4]}

The fishing logbook, landing declaration, transhipment declaration and vessel monitoring system data; and

If the information above is not sufficient to demonstrate a business or logistical reason for routing the goods through Northern Ireland that is not connected with the avoidance of duty or the avoidance of any obligation in connection with duty, any other commercial, transportation or official documentation that shows why the goods were routed through Northern Ireland.

(iii) Goods not chargeable to duty under section 30C TCTA because:

• they have been declared for an outward processing procedure in Great Britain and would, if they were subsequently imported into the United Kingdom by entering Great Britain, have continued to be regarded as domestic goods; and
• the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland is not to (a) avoid any other duty chargeable as a result of TCTA, or (b) avoid any obligation in connection with such a duty^{[footnote 5]}.

The declaration of the goods for an outward processing procedure in Great Britain and commercial, transportation or official documentation that show the declared goods have been repaired outside the United Kingdom, that repair was free of charge (such as the terms of a warranty or other contractual document); and

If the information above is not sufficient to demonstrate a business or logistical reason for routing the goods through Northern Ireland that is not connected with the avoidance of duty or the avoidance of any obligation in connection with duty, any other commercial, transportation or official documentation that shows why the goods were routed through Northern Ireland.

(iv) Goods not chargeable to duty under section 30C TCTA because:

• they are domestic goods returning to Great Britain after a temporary period in Northern Ireland; and
• the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland is not to (a) avoid any other duty chargeable as a result of TCTA, or (b) avoid any obligation in connection with such a duty^{[footnote 6]}.

Any commercial, transportation or official documentation that shows that the goods meet the criteria set out in regulation 18(3A) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020^{[footnote 7]}, which may include:

• transport documentation concerning the movement of the goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
• commercial, transportation or official documentation that show either: (i) that the goods were wholly obtained in the United Kingdom, or (ii) that prior to the goods being removed to Northern Ireland, the goods have been subject to a free circulation or authorised use procedure that has been discharged
• commercial or official documents concerning the use of the goods while they were outside Great Britain, and details of any declaration to a customs procedure while the goods were in Northern Ireland

In addition, if the information above is not sufficient to demonstrate a business or logistical reason for removing the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland that is not connected with the avoidance of duty or the avoidance of any obligation in connection with duty, any other commercial, transportation or official documentation that shows the reason for this removal.

Section B

The evidence which is to be required for the purposes of showing that goods are not goods to which regulation 20(1) applies is:

• evidence that the goods are not excise goods: business records, commercial or transport documentation relevant to the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland that describes the goods in a manner that is inconsistent with the goods being excise goods
• evidence that the goods have not been removed from the European Union to Northern Ireland, or have not merely passed through Northern Ireland before being removed to Great Britain:
  • for goods in excise duty suspension, an electronic administrative document as required by the Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point Regulations) 2010 or similar document
  • for goods which have been released for consumption in the European Union, business records that demonstrate that UK duty has been paid on the goods
  • for any other goods, any business records, commercial or transport documentation relevant to the removal of the goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland that demonstrates where the goods were loaded, and the journey they took, before being removed to Great Britain

Business records, commercial documentation or transport documentation include (but are not limited to) the documents listed below:

• customer orders
• contracts
• correspondence
• copy invoices
• advice notes
• consignment notes
• packing lists

The following text has force of law by virtue of Regulation 27(4) of The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The goods specified for the purposes of regulation 27(1) of The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (regulation 27 goods) are goods that are of a type or class listed below:

• specimens of species included in Annexes A to D of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein
• any weapons of mass destruction-related goods that are subject to control under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention – as amended most recently with effect from 7 June 2020). This includes any chemical listed in Schedule 1 of the ‘Annex on Chemicals’ within this Convention
• any:
  • sources of special fissionable material, or
  • equipment or material especially designed or prepared for the processing, use or production of special fissionable material

as these terms are used in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons adopted at London, Moscow and Washington on 1 July 1968

• any:
  • chemical, bacteriological (biological) agents,
  • toxins, or
  • weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to use such agents or toxins

as these terms are used in the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction adopted at London, Moscow and Washington on 10 April 1972

• alcohol in the form of wine and made-wine, beer, cider and perry, spirits, low alcohol beverages, denatured alcohol, imported composite goods containing alcohol (for example, liquor chocolates)
• tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, hand-rolling tobacco, chewing tobacco, other smoking tobacco, unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse, tobacco for heating
• tobacco product manufacturing machines
• hydrocarbon oil
• goods subject to Climate Change Levy
• biofuels and fuel substitutes
• road fuel gases

1. Section 30C(1) and (2) of TCTA ↩

2. SI 2020/1454 ↩

3. SI 2018/1248 ↩

4. Regulation 18(2) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1605 ↩

5. Regulation 18(3) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1605) ↩

6. Regulation 18(3A) of the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1605) ↩

7. SI 2020/1454 ↩