SPE13325 - Equivalence: determining whether goods are equivalent

Note: This manual is under review following Brexit and is likely to be withdrawn. If there is anything within this manual you use regularly, please email hmrcmanualsteam@hmrc.gov.uk to let us know. Please check the other guidance available on GOV.UK from HMRC.

To be equivalent the free circulation goods must:

  • share the same first 8 digits of the commodity code
  • be of the same commercial quality, and
  • have the same technical characteristics.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-similar-goods-to-replace-customs-speci….

Equivalence should be sufficient to establish if goods are equivalent without the need for costly and time-consuming analysis of goods. However, trade or independent analysis should be provided for agricultural goods or bulk goods such as chemicals and oils. If there are any doubts that the goods are equivalent, samples for laboratory analysis should be taken. Further samples should be taken on a risk basis, at periodic intervals to confirm that the equivalence criteria continue to be met. Equivalence cannot be used where goods are subject to Anti-dumping duty (ADD).

(NI ONLY) Council Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Article 223; Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, Article 169 and Annex 71.02; Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447, Article 268.

There may also be situations where the non-Union and Union goods are the same and could be mixed but other regulations prevent such mixing taking place. For example, third country dried milk powder and UK sourced dried milk powder, although identical, cannot be mixed because of health restrictions placed by DEFRA. Although these goods cannot be mixed or stored together, this should not be taken as an indication that the goods are not equivalent. In such cases, provided the other equivalence criteria are met, equivalence should only be refused if the non UK customer states that they are only prepared to accept the third country goods and not the UK equivalent or vice versa.

Note - Northern Ireland (NI) Customs Authorisations will continue to fall within the provisions of the Union Customs Code (UCC), as retained by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and CEMA 1979