Guidance

Transfer the rights and obligations of a customs special procedure to someone else

Find out what rights and obligations you can transfer, if you can transfer or receive them and what to do after authorisation.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 21 January 2020
• Last updated: 6 April 2023 — See all updates

You can transfer some or all of the rights and obligations of the procedure to someone else if you have an authorisation for one of the following:

• inward processing
• outward processing
• authorised use
• temporary admission
• a Freeport customs special procedure

Before you can transfer

Before you make the transfer you’ll need to:

1. Apply to transfer — tell us the rights and obligations you wish to transfer or receive.

2. Get a guarantee or guarantee waiver — agree who will hold this, and make any payment, with the person you’re transferring to.

3. Get our approval — this is a transfer of rights and obligations (TORO) and you must be able to show an economic need for it.

There are 2 types of transfer of rights and obligations from the holder of a special procedure authorisation to someone who has either:

• no authorisation of any type
• a transfer of rights and obligations authorisation

You must tell us the rights and obligations you wish to transfer when you apply under either of these options.

If you transfer to someone who does not hold an authorisation of any type

We will check that they can meet and maintain the rights and obligations being transferred.

You cannot make a transfer in either direction if it’s between operators in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland.

Rights and obligations you can transfer

If the person you’re transferring to has:

• no authorisation of any type — either some or all of the rights and obligations can be transferred
• a transfer of rights and rights obligations authorisation — all rights and obligations must be transferred

To transfer rights and obligations you’ll need to hold a special procedure authorisation. You do not need to hold this to receive the transfer but you will still need to meet the eligibility criteria for the authorisation.

Rights

You can transfer the following rights:

• process or use non-UK goods in the UK or to export UK goods for processing outside the UK
• move goods to the office of exit from the UK under the authorisation which placed those goods in a special procedure
• re-export goods from the UK or to export goods under outward processing and to benefit from the import duty calculations on their return

Obligations

You can transfer the following obligations:

• process the goods within the time limit specified in the authorisation
• keep records
• keep goods available for customs supervision
• correctly declare the goods at import and export
• outward processing ― if you’re transferring between Northern Ireland operators you’ll need to add details of any standardised exchange of information using the EU Trader Portal
• lodge a guarantee if needed
• pay any duty due

What you need

When making a transfer you must make sure that:

• the person you’re transferring to can meet the conditions for the customs procedure set out by your supervising office and can comply with our requirements for using a transfer of rights and obligations authorisation
• you transfer rights for the same special procedure, not between different ones

If the person you’re transferring to has a transfer of rights and obligations authorisation, they have to provide information about:

• ending the customs procedure
• any further transfer

Applying for a guarantee

You may need a customs comprehensive guarantee in place before you transfer your rights and obligations. You should agree who will have the guarantee and make any payments with the person you’re transferring to before the transfer takes place.

If the person you are transferring to:

• already has a guarantee or guarantee waiver — they can use it to cover any debt payments
• does not have a guarantee or guarantee waiver — then you must have one or hold an authorisation which includes a guarantee waiver (such as Authorised Economic Operator status)

Records you need to keep

You must tell the person receiving the goods:

• names and addresses of both parties and their EORI numbers
• details of special procedures authorisations held and any transfer of rights and obligations authorisation approvals
• description of the goods
• commodity codes for the goods
• type and number of packages
• shipping marks and numbers on goods (for example, package numbers and container numbers)
• gross mass
• net mass
• supplementary units (any appropriate alternative units of measurement for the goods such as litres and cubic metres)
• details of any processing or changes already made to the goods
• the Movement Reference Number (MRN) of the declaration
• the supervising office of the authorisation holder and any other customs office involved
• date and time of the transfer of rights and obligations authorisation
• rate of yield to be used
• date by which the procedure must be discharged
• details of any standardised exchange of information using the EU Trader Portal if you’re a Northern Ireland operator

How to apply

There are 2 ways to apply for authorisation to transfer your rights and obligations. You can either apply:

• when you apply for your special procedure authorisation
• after you have been authorised for a special procedure

To apply after you’ve been authorised, you’ll need to:

1. Download and save the form ‘Transfer of rights and obligations (SP6)’ on your computer.

2. Print and fill in the form.

3. Send it to the supervising office for the special procedure authorisation — you can either post the form or scan and attach it to an email.

Check the section ‘what to do now’ on the form for contact details. If you’re attaching the form to an email you’ll need to add ‘SP6: Application for TORO’ in the subject.

The SP6 form is also used to support the transfer of goods. You should complete this to include all the necessary information that is required between yourself and the person receiving the goods.

Transfer of rights and obligations (SP6)

PDF, 284 KB, 5 pages

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After you’re authorised

Inward processing

You can move goods entered into inward processing under transfer of rights and obligations — if the person you’re transferring to has our approval.

If you move goods to another inward processing authorisation holder and discharge your inward processing liability, see the guidance on moving processed or repaired goods into free circulation or re-exporting them.

Transfers to those with authorisation — inward processing

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to another person with a transfer of rights and obligations authorisation you must send the bill of discharge form with the details of the transfer to your supervising office.

The person who receives the goods will also need to:

1. Complete a bill of discharge form.

2. Send it to the supervising office.

Transfers to those without authorisation — inward processing

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to someone who does not hold an authorisation, you’ll need to:

1. Get evidence that the goods have been removed from inward processing.

2. Submit a bill of discharge form.

Your records must identify the location of the goods at all times.

Outward processing

You can transfer your rights and obligations to another person, but if someone other than the authorisation holder is importing the processed goods you’ll need authorisation from your supervising office.

Temporary admission

You can discharge your liability by moving the goods to another temporary admission authorisation holder if you wish.

The other person must:

1. Submit a customs declaration — using procedure code 5353, with an appropriate Additional Procedure code.

2. Give you evidence of that customs declaration being accepted.

You’ll need to:

1. Receive the evidence that the customs declaration was accepted.

2. Note your commercial records.

3. Then move the goods.

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to someone who does not have an authorisation, the responsibility for the goods will remain with you as the holder of the authorisation. The transfer will end when the person you transferred to disposes of the goods.

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to another person with a transfer of rights and obligations authorisation, your responsibility for the goods will end once the transfer is complete.

Authorised use

Authorised use is called end use in Northern Ireland.

You can transfer your obligations to:

• assign the goods to the prescribed authorised use, within the discharge period
• keep records
• keep the goods available for customs supervision
• pay the import duty for any customs debt incurred

You can transfer your rights to use, move or export goods to end a customs debt as long as we approve it.

You cannot transfer goods from authorised use to inward processing. If you want to move goods from inward processing to authorised use, you need to declare them to free circulation at the authorised use duty rate.

You cannot transfer rights and obligations if you’re using equivalent goods under authorised use.

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to someone who does not hold an authorisation, you must submit a bill of discharge form when you receive evidence that the goods have been put to the authorised use or the procedure has been discharged.

If you’ve transferred your rights and obligations to another person with a transfer of rights and authorisation, you must send the supervising office the details of the transfer on your bill of discharge form. The person who received the goods must complete a bill of discharge form when the goods are put to the authorised use and send it to their supervising office.

Freeport customs special procedure

You can transfer your rights and obligations, but the person you’re transferring to must process the goods within the period set out in your authorisation conditions.

If you’re the person receiving the transfer you must:

• keep the goods available for customs supervision or examination, if relevant
• keep records for a minimum of 5 years after the discharge of the goods from the Freeport customs special procedure
• make these records available to the supervising office upon request
• declare the goods appropriately out of the Freeport customs special procedure — for example, re-export and free circulation
• have a guarantee to cover any potential debt ― unless we have told you that you do not need one
• work out any duties that may be payable on discharge
• pay import duty where there is a customs debt on discharge from the Freeport customs special procedure
• follow all other customs rules for the movement of goods, storage of goods, and processing of goods in a Freeport customs site

Published 21 January 2020
Last updated 6 April 2023 + show all updates

1. 6 April 2023

   We have updated form SP6 with information about communicating by email.

2. 13 January 2023

   We have updated the section 'How to apply' to include the application form 'Transfer of rights and obligations (SP6)' to get authorisation to transfer your rights and obligations.

3. 31 December 2020

   This page has been updated because the Brexit transition period has ended.

4. 21 January 2020

   First published.