Guidance

Managing your customs warehouse

Find out how to manage a customs warehouse, handle goods, and process, repair and move goods.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 20 January 2020
• Last updated: 7 May 2024 — See all updates

You can apply to become a warehousekeeper to operate a:

• public customs warehouse
• private customs warehouse

When you’re operating a customs warehouse, it is important that you keep accurate stock records.

You need to make sure that your customs warehouse stock records show the current stock of goods under the procedure (real time).

There are a number of things you can do with goods in your warehouse.

Handling goods in your warehouse

You can only handle goods in certain ways when they are in a customs warehouse. These are known as usual forms of handling.

This could be to:

• preserve them
• improve their presentation or marketable quality
• prepare them for distribution or resale

Processing or repairing goods

If you want to process or repair goods held in your warehouse, you’ll need to get an inward processing or authorised use and transfer the goods to one of the procedures.

Goods can remain in your warehouse and once the processing has been completed, you will need to re-enter the goods into the warehouse through your records, if authorised, or through a full import declaration.

Removing goods temporarily from your warehouse

You can remove goods from the warehouse area on a temporary basis.

This includes briefly removing single items for viewing or testing by prospective purchasers. Removals for viewing or testing must be done near to the authorised warehouse area.

Prospective purchasers must always be accompanied by warehouse employees.

You must keep records and obtain permission from HMRC before you remove the goods. The goods will remain under the customs warehouse arrangements while they are not in your warehouse area.

You cannot:

• take goods to private premises for any reason
• remove goods temporarily to any venue which allows public access
• remove goods temporarily for auction or any other activity during which the goods could be sold

Storing goods in your warehouse

Storing goods together

You can store goods together in your warehouse but you must be able to identify the status of the goods at all times. This is known as co-storage.

If you receive an order for goods, you cannot use goods of different statuses to complete the order. You must be authorised to use identical or equivalent goods.

Storing excise goods

You can store non-UK goods that you may need to pay excise duty when you release them to free circulation.

Storing goods with special requirements

You’ll need to use specially equipped facilities if you import goods that could be considered a health hazard or need to be stored in a certain way.

These could be things like:

• meat that needs to be frozen or chilled
• goods that might spoil
• products covered by the UK Agricultural Policy
• chemicals

If you use a duty management system

If you use a duty management system in support of the commercial system to form the stock records, they must be fully updated:

• as soon as the information becomes available
• no later than before midnight of the following warehouse operation day

This includes weekends and public holidays if they are warehouse operation days.

Someone else using your warehouse

When someone puts goods in your warehouse they must:

• declare goods correctly
• send goods directly to your warehouse within 5 days of them being cleared by customs
• provide you with all the details of the full import declaration
• if they are authorised for simplified customs declarations process (SCDP), provide you with the details of the simplified frontier declaration or the import declaration made in their records
• check that your warehouse is approved for the type goods they want to deposit — this includes ensuring that your warehouse can accept goods that are chilled, frozen or have special storage needs like chemicals
• declare the goods when they remove from your warehouse

Published 20 January 2020
Last updated 7 May 2024 + show all updates

1. 7 May 2024

   Information for warehousekeepers who use a duty management system and when someone else is using your warehouse has been updated.

2. 25 November 2021

   Information for users of a duty management system has bee added.

3. 21 June 2021

   Additional information added to the section 'Removing goods temporarily from your warehouse' to give more detail on removals for viewing or testing.

4. 20 January 2020

   First published.