Hertfordshire Global

Icannot believe where this

year has gone and already, we have reached our November/December issue of INSPIRE. It certainly has been a busy year, with not just issues from previous years still causing difficulties, but the Ukrainian war, economic and energy situations are affecting pretty much everyone. Let us hope the New Year brings some respite to what, currently, seems to be a never-ending litany of doom and gloom.

That said, and moving forward, you will have seen the article in this magazine on the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), which Herts Chamber is delighted to be leading across the county. May I also take this opportunity to stress how important the role of business is in this project.

Please do take the time to engage in both the survey and the forthcoming meetings within your sectors. Time spent now will be hugely beneficial to you going forward, as you help shape the future of skills education.

Any questions on the LSIP do please let me know as I am also co-ordinating this on behalf of the Chamber.

Temporary export of goods

Since leaving the single market there have been many examples of businesses struggling to understand how to send material within passenger luggage where they are, for example, sending an engineer to carry out repairs along with their equipment. A ‘Duplicate List’ can be used to avoid the need to pay Duty and VAT. We can assist you with this. The ‘owner’ of the goods must be travelling with the items and all the goods must return to the country of original export. This avoids the need for customs declarations as the ‘Duplicate List’ replaces that requirement. Most EU countries recognise this temporary form of import where all the goods passing through customs will be taken out of that country in the same state as they enter. HMRC guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/taking-goods-out-uktemporarily/duplicate-list

Instructions for using a Duplicate List

You must list all the goods being transported on company letterhead paper, descriptions and identifying serial numbers, if possible, on 2 lists. Form C&E 1246 should be completed.

TRAINING COURSES

We successfully held our first revised export/import training course at the beginning of October, Understanding Export. It was well attended, and the participants are on their way to obtaining the nationally recognised BCC Foundation Award in International Trade.

We have several courses coming up namely:

Inward and Outward Processing - HMRC

Friday 25th November, 09:30 - 12:30

Import Documentation & Procedure - A Practical Guide

Friday 2nd December, 10:00 - 16:00

Agents and Distributors

Friday 9th December, 09:30 - 12:30

Understanding Commodity Codes

Friday 13th January 2023, 09:30 - 12:30

For further details please refer to our website:

www.Hertschamber.com

When passing through UK Customs you should present the form to customs, they may check the goods, but they must stamp, date and sign the form. When entering the country of destination, you should go through the red channel and declare the goods to customs there, again check, stamp sign and date. When leaving the country, again declare and get a signature and stamp and the same when entering the UK. We would advise that care should be taken in planning the use of Duplicate Lists. The passenger carrying the goods should have clear instructions on what to do, should have two sets of duplicate lists carrying 2 for UK customs and 2 for the country of arrival and departure. If you are travelling to a third or fourth country, then you need duplicate lists for each regime. It would be good practice to carry a schedule of the dates of entry/exit and the names and addresses of the companies that will be visited.

As with all things, nothing is by any means perfect. The Duplicate Lists can add a degree of risk if, for example, the Customs of a particular country are not au fait with it. The fool proof system is still an ATA Carnet, which is internationally recognised and remains the most recognised and reliable method for moving goods through multiple jurisdictions whether accompanied or not. We can assist with a Duplicate List. The Chambers most local to us for issuing of ATA carnets are London and Birmingham.

Customs

Customs have reminded us that the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF), has now closed for import declaration transactions and has been transferred to the new Customs Declaration Service. Any traders who make their own declarations, or if someone submits import and export declarations on their behalf must use this new system. The second stage, full closure of CHIEF will take place on 31 March 2023, by which time all export declarations must be moved over.

Businesses must make sure they have a customs agent who is ready to make their declarations on the Customs Declaration Service or set themselves up to make their own declarations.

Also, if your business is registered for VAT, you must follow the Making Tax Digital rules, whatever the size of your taxable turnover. This means you must keep your VAT records digitally and submit your VAT returns to HMRC using compatible software.

If you need any assistance you can also watch this short video, ‘How do I sign up for Making Tax Digital for VAT?’ on HMRC’s YouTube channel.

All that remains is, admittedly very early, for Frances and me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and all best including much better trading conditions in the New Year.

John Woodruffe Head of International Trade & Policy Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce