HCOTEG51000 - Imports of mineral oil: authorisation and approvals
Wharf Approval
Before being used for the importation of oil, the wharf at which the ship is to discharge must be formally approved.
The National Approval Unit (NAU) are responsible for the processing of applications and the maintenance of all authorisations for making ‘entry’ of those locations where goods may be imported and exported, such as ‘wharf’ approvals
The NAU may be contacted at:
National Approval Unit
1st Floor Admin Block, Cargo Centre, Birmingham International Airport
B26 3QN
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
Tank approval and temporary storage approval *
The storage tanks in which the import account of oils is to be taken are to be approved as a temporary storage facility under CEMA, Section 25. Application should be made at the same time as for wharf approval to the NAU.
Such storage tank approvals are to include those requirements in Notice 179 relating to:
- Safety measures
- The provision of facilities; and
- Production of records
The tank approval may be granted to terminate (and be renewed) at the same date as the formal approval of the associated wharf.
(* Please see the Note on Wharf, temporary storage and pipeline approval below.)
Pipeline approval
On-shore pipelines connecting the approved wharf and the approved storage tanks are to be included in the wharf approval as appropriate.
(For further information on the approval of pipelines, please see HCOTEG111750 and Table C HCOTEG210750).
* Note on Wharf, temporary storage and pipeline approval
In most cases, at wharves/jetties where hydrocarbon oil is imported or exported in bulk via pipelines, the pipelines are usually connected to a duty suspended oil installation, i.e. an approved excise warehouse. When this is the case, the wharf is approved but the approval is limited to the jetty heads and the berthing manifold terminal connections of the pipeline, while the remainder of the pipelines from this point are part of the bonded oil installation.
In these cases, generally speaking the goods are entered to warehousing immediately on arrival and they are then discharged into the tanks which constitute the bonded oil installation. In effect this means that the goods never have the status of goods in temporary storage as they are presented to customs and assigned to a customs approved treatment or use at the same time, and you only need a temporary storage approval if you are storing non-community goods prior to their being assigned to a customs approved treatment or use.
If however, the goods are of T1 status, and the tanks are not part of an approved duty- suspended oil installation, and the product is being stored in them for any length of time then the tanks in which the import account of mineral oils is to be taken should be approved as temporary storage under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, section 25, and the approval will be issued by the NAU. In most cases, the wharf and temporary storage would be approved in one document and renewed at the same time. The renewal of the approval also deals with measures such as safety, the provision of facilities and the production of records.