Exporting personal protective equipment during coronavirus (COVID-19)
Find out about the changes if you are exporting personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus pandemic.
Goods exported from the European Union after midnight on Monday 25 May 2020 will no longer require an export authorisation.
The European Union export authorisation requirement for PPE products (Regulation 2020/568) expired on 25 May 2020 and will not be extended.
You can email: Exports@dhsc.gov.uk if you have any questions about this change.
During the coronavirus outbreak anyone wanting to export personal protective equipment (PPE) to areas outside the EU and EFTA member states and certain other territories will temporarily need a PPE licence.
The Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance that sets out the exporting restrictions on PPE products.
There is an EU regulation which includes an Annex stating which commodity codes are affected. The regulation also includes:
- technical specifications and the export control process now in place
- how economic operators can apply for a licence
The licencing procedure is being jointly operated with Department of International Trade. Any queries on the licensing procedure must be emailed to ppeexports@trade.gov.uk.
Customs Handling Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) export declarations
Exports from the UK are declared using the Customs Handling Import and Export Freight system (CHIEF). This measure does not impact the Customs Declaration Service.
How to apply for a licence
You can apply for a licence on the Department of Health and Social Care website.
How to complete an export declaration where a licence is needed
Once you have registered and you have received your export licence, you will need to include information from the licence in your customs export declaration.
In box 44 of the declaration, at item level, enter:
- C086 as the document code (code description: export authorisation protective equipment (regulation 2020/568))
- AE as the document status code (code description: document attached - exhausted by (or only applies to) this entry (document returned to the trader)
- GBPPE2020 as the document reference, plus your unique six-digit number given for the licence
The document part field needs to be completed to identify the line number of the licence. This should always be completed even when there is only one line on the licence.
The quantity field needs to show the amount relating to the line number on the licence that you declared in the part field.
How to complete an export declaration where a licence is not needed
You will need to make a positive statement within your customs export declaration that a PPE licence is not required.
In box 44 of the declaration, at item level, enter:
- C086 as the document code (code description: export authorisation protective equipment (regulation 2020/568))
- XX as the document status code (code description: ex-heading goods for which the document does not apply)
- GBPPE as the document reference (code description: country code and potential licence type)
Alternatively LIC99 can be used as a positive statement which is entered as an additional information (AI) statement code in box 44 at item level.
Customs procedure codes that cannot be used to export PPE
Non-commercial and low value consignments of PPE are also subject to these licensing measures. The following customs procedure codes must not be used for PPE consignments:
| Customs procedure code | Code description |
|---|---|
| 10 00 096 | Personal effects exported from the UK outside of the EU |
| 10 00 097 | Free circulation goods (other than those of no statistical interest) being exported outside of the UK and EU that are less than £873 and weigh less than a 1000kg and not dutiable or restricted |
| 10 00 098 | Free Circulation goods excluded from external trade statistics under Commission Regulation 2010/113 Annex 1, non stat goods being exported outside the UK or EU |
Get more information
If you have issues declaring your licence in your customs export declaration you can ask the HMRC National Export System helpdesk for help at email: export.enquires@hmrc.gov.uk. This helpdesk is open from Monday to Friday but is open 8:00am to 3:30 pm.
You can also get information about general CHIEF error codes by emailing the CHIEF Operations at email: chief.operations@hmrc.gov.uk.
Updates to this page
Last updated 29 May 2020 + show all updates
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Added translation
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Goods exported from the European Union after midnight on Monday 25 May 2020 will no longer require an export authorisation. The export authorisation requirement for personal protective equipment expired on 25 May 2020 and will not be extended.
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A Welsh translation has been added.
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First published.