Guidance

Operating an authorised consignee temporary storage facility

Check how you can operate an authorised consignee temporary storage facility so you can store goods for up to 6 days, including how to get authorised.

From:
HM Revenue & Customs
Published
30 June 2022

When you can operate an authorised consignee temporary storage facility

If you are an authorised consignee, you can store goods at an authorised consignee temporary storage facility (after you have ended a transit movement) for up to 6 days, before you do any of the following:

An authorised consignee temporary storage facility does not require an inventory-linked system (a computerised system connected to a Community System Provider).

When you cannot operate an authorised consignee temporary storage facility

You cannot operate an authorised consignee temporary storage facility if any of the following apply:

  • you already offer external temporary storage as a service
  • you are bringing goods into the UK that are not ending a transit movement
  • you are moving goods that are not under transit to or from another temporary storage facility — this is known as ‘movements in temporary storage’
  • you are ending a goods movement under Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR), which you can read about in the UK Trade Tariff in the section ‘TIR Carnets’ — for example, if you have the same premises authorised for TIR and common transit then it will only be the goods ending under common transit that can use the authorised consignee temporary storage

How to end movements

There are 2 ways you can end transit movements at an authorised consignee temporary storage facility.

You can end the movement either:

  • when the goods have arrived, at the same time as an arrived (and accepted) import declaration that covers the goods on the Transit Accompanying Document
  • by moving the goods to the authorised consignee temporary storage facility, even if an arrived import declaration is not available when the goods arrive

If an arrived import declaration is unavailable, the Transit Accompanying Document serves as the temporary storage declaration. You must keep this in your temporary storage stock account records.

Individual consignments on the Transit Accompanying Document will need separate temporary storage declarations. Each import declaration for the onward movement of the goods (for example, in free circulation) will need to be submitted within 6 days of the transit goods entering temporary storage.

What conditions you’ll need to meet

To end transit movements in an authorised consignee temporary storage facility, you must meet certain conditions.

Your authorised consignee temporary storage facility must:

  • only keep goods for up to 6 days after the transit movement has ended — if you think they will be kept for longer, tell the Central Community Transit Office by day 5
  • be marked internally and externally so your goods can be easily found — all other goods arriving, leaving or being stored that are not subject to temporary storage controls should also be easily identifiable
  • not be:
    • used for the purposes of retail sales
    • an external temporary storage facility
    • an internal temporary storage facility

You must also:

  • contact the Central Community Transit Office if you make a change to your approved area or move your facility
  • maintain a record of when you use your ullage cage (a secure lockable facility for seized or detained goods which has restricted access) and provide this to your local HMRC or Border Force officer when asked — you may be asked by your local officer to have an extra cage for the storage of valuable cargo

You’ll also need to follow the same rules as you would for operating an external temporary storage facility for:

Site facilities

Your facility must:

  • have parking areas for vehicles under the control of HMRC or Border Force officers

  • have furnished office accommodation to make sure interviews carried out by officers can be conducted

  • have basic amenities (for example, lavatory facilities, electricity, gas, water and drainage)
  • be clean, clear of waste, well lit, ventilated, at an adequate temperature and in a state of repair reflecting fair use
  • have professionally calibrated weighing machinery capable of measuring the tare, net and gross weights of goods and their packaging

Storing goods that are not banned or restricted

Your facility must be located in an appropriate place and be the right size for the goods you wish to store. There must be a separate area for hazardous goods if you plan to allow them at your facility.

There must also be space for:

  • officers to unload, examine and count goods properly, both without and with any specialised equipment

  • officers to examine vehicles properly, both without and with any specialised equipment
  • goods to be stored securely that are subject to investigation by HMRC — you must have a secure lockable facility for seized or detained goods which has restricted access

Storing banned or restricted goods

You must tell customs authorities immediately when you find any:

  • banned goods
  • goods that you’re suspicious about
  • goods not listed on a Transit Accompanying Document

You must provide a secure area or lockable compartment within your authorised consignee temporary storage facility to keep any prohibited or restricted goods you discover during unloading.

Goods not listed on a Transit Accompanying Document must also stay there until the paperwork supporting the goods being in the UK arrives.

Check if goods are banned or restricted goods or email: classification.enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk.

You must not store goods that are not in temporary storage within your approved authorised consignee temporary storage facility, unless approved by HMRC.

You must also make sure that all poisonous and hazardous or dangerous goods are clearly marked and are separated from all other goods in your premises.

Removing goods from your facility

You must make sure that goods are not removed from the approved area until the goods have been declared and released by customs and clearance has been given. You can do this through either:

  • applying to remove goods from a transit shed
  • making a Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) declaration, with either:
    • the relevant CHIEF Display Entry Version Detail, showing the date and time the customs declaration cleared
    • an equivalent print for goods declared through the Customs Declaration Service — this could be documents attached to an email sent from the declarant, or manual storage of a printed copy
  • presenting a Transit Accompanying Document for onward transit movements

You must make sure that all customs cleared goods are removed from the temporary storage designated area of your premises within 3 days of the date of customs clearance. The goods can be moved to an appropriate area within your facility whilst awaiting pick up for onward delivery.

If requested, you will need to provide your UK customs authority control officer with a written explanation about why goods have not been removed from the temporary storage area of your facility within 3 days or another agreed time limit.

Destroying goods

If you need to destroy any goods (for example, if they’re damaged or out of date) you should write to your supervising office giving details of the:

  • goods

  • intended place and the way you’re going to destroy them

  • reason you’re destroying them

Your supervising office will tell if you need to do it under customs (or other authority) control, and whether they’ll attend. There’ll be no liability to a customs debt if you’ve destroyed the goods.

You’ll need to keep evidence and a C21 form audit trail on the temporary storage stock account record for the goods.

Records you’ll need to keep

You’ll need to keep records for a minimum of 4 years of:

  • the date and details of goods and their description including:
    • identifying numbers
    • the amount and kind of packages
    • the identification marks of the container necessary to identify the goods
    • if the goods are domestic or chargeable goods
  • any customs documents about the goods stored
  • the location of the goods including their storage position inside the facility
  • any handling of the goods while they are in the facility, including details of any handling needed to preserve the goods
  • any movement of the goods into or out of the facility, including the times and dates of the arrival and departure, the name and address of the person receiving or taking the goods and the time and the date the recipient receives the goods
  • the Transit Accompanying Document (which will serve as the temporary storage declaration) for any goods stored in the facility
  • the customs procedure into which any goods stored in the facility are released
  • the master reference number of the transit procedure
  • the unique consignment reference for the declaration to the customs procedure, and evidence that the declaration has been cleared (for example, confirmation of a CHIEF display entry versions details)

How to get authorised consignee status

You will need to apply for authorised consignee status. As part of the application process, you will be able to apply for authorised consignee temporary storage. You may also need to apply for a customs comprehensive guarantee before we can give approval for the temporary storage.

As part of the approval process to become authorised, we may visit your facility. This may be after your authorisation has been granted. If this visit identifies that your premises is unsuitable, your approval may be removed.

If you want to change the type of facility you operate

If you already operate a temporary storage facility, and you want to change that facility to an authorised consignee temporary storage facility, you’ll need to:

  1. Email the Border Force National Frontier Approvals Unit at: nationalfrontierapprovalsunit@homeoffice.gov.uk, asking them to withdraw your temporary storage facility approval.
  2. Make sure your temporary storage facility approval is in the process of being withdrawn, because your authorised consignee temporary storage facility cannot be approved before this.
  3. Email: national-simplifications.ccto@hmrc.gov.uk, who will send you the form for applying to operate an authorised consignee temporary storage facility.

Border Force will check that there are not any:

  • outstanding liability issues about historical outstanding inventory records
  • liability issues from uncleared goods still in the temporary storage facility
  • seized or detained goods in your temporary storage facility

Updates to this page

Published 30 June 2022

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