Brexit import and export

EU demands that EU exporters must be REX registered to issue a statement of origin to their customers in the EU. In this way, EU produced goods with a value of more than 6,000 EUR can be imported free of customs into the UK.

If your company is already registered in the REX system, it does not have to be registered again.

Read more about REX registration at The Danish Customs Agency and Danish Customs and Tax Administration (in Danish).

The UK does not operate with the REX system in connection to the trade agreement with the EU. This means that companies in the UK wishing to export goods with reduced customs duty to the EU must apply an identification number.

The UK has decided to apply the EORI-number as identification number, and the number must appear from the statement of origin regardless of the shipment’s value.

The identification number is granted in accordance with laws and rules applying in force in the UK.

Even though Ireland continues to be a member of the EU, transport hereto is also affected by Brexit. Goods to Ireland are transited through the EU. This means that a transit document (NCTS) must be issued on goods to Ireland. For this reason, Blue Water must also receive a trade invoice from our customers on bookings to Ireland containing country of origin, HS codes, number of packages as well as gross and net weight.

As a part of the resignation agreement between the UK and the EU, a special protocol is included concerning Ireland and Northern Ireland regulating the direct trade with Northern Ireland. The primary constituent is that trade between Northern Ireland and the EU continues to be considered as internal EU trade after 1 January 2021. This means that customs clearance is not necessary, and the VAT declaration and payment follows the EU standards. In this way, the same requirements as for Irish trades are in force.

Importers can retroactively claim preferential customs duty treatment for up to three years after the date of the import – as long as all necessary information documenting the origin of preference is stored.

• The English authorities has tightened the required contents of invoices. This means that pro forma invoices are no longer accepted as foundation for customs clearance in England.
• When shipping to the UK, it is required to state 10-digit HS-code(s) on the invoice. Thereby, it is no longer enough to state 8 digits from the HS-code in question.
• Further, the invoice must contain additionally correct information. Read more in Blue Water’s Brexit Quickguide.
• If your shipment contains more than three HS-codes, we must receive a customs specification as Excel-file.

Since the turn of the year 2021/2022, the rules of Declaration of origin have changed.

This means that as from 1 January 2022 full border control comes into place between the EU and the UK. This may affect your shipments to the UK.

In this guide you can find information on how to handle the new rules.