Northern Ireland: When are goods "not at risk" for duty-free trade?
When GB goods are declared "not at risk", they enter NI duty-free. Understand the fine print argues Arne Mielken of Customs Manager Ltd
Contents
When you cannot declare goods ‘not at risk’
When you can declare goods ‘not at risk’
Check the additional requirements for goods subject to processing
How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’
Find out what supporting evidence you need to make a ‘not at risk’ declaration
‘At risk’ goods will be charged the applicable EU duty. ‘Not at risk’ goods will be charged:
no duty if entering Northern Ireland from free circulation in Great Britain
UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from outside of both the EU and the UK
UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain and the good was not in free circulation in Great Britain
Whether goods are ‘at risk’ or ‘not at risk’ is determined by the applicable duties and trader certainty of the final destination of the good.
When you cannot declare goods ‘not at risk’
There are some goods that cannot be declared ‘not at risk’. These goods will be automatically ‘at at risk’ and the EU duty will be payable.
Goods that are subject to commercial processing, where the additional requirements to declare these goods ‘not at risk’ are not met, cannot be declared ‘not at risk’, and are therefore automatically ‘at risk’.
Goods that enter Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and UK, where the applicable EU duty is greater than the applicable UK duty by 3 percentage points or more, cannot be declared ‘not at risk’ and are therefore automatically ‘at risk’.
When you can declare goods ‘not at risk’
If goods you bring into Northern Ireland are not automatically ‘at risk’, they can be declared ‘not at risk’ when they are either:
‘not at risk’ due to the applicable duties
‘not at risk’ under the UK Trader Scheme
When goods you bring into Northern Ireland are ‘not at risk’ due to the applicable duties
Goods brought into Northern Ireland from Great Britain are ‘not at risk’ if the applicable EU duty is zero. This is unless the goods are subject to processing and you do not meet the additional criteria to declare goods for processing ‘not at risk’.
Goods brought into Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and the UK are ‘not at risk’ where the applicable UK duty is equal to or higher than the applicable EU duty. This is unless the goods are subject to processing and you do not meet the additional criteria to declare goods for processing ‘not at risk’.
To work out what the applicable UK duty and EU duty would be, you need to take account of the customs duty and any other applicable measures that apply to your goods. This includes preferential rates where goods meet rules of origin requirements under relevant Free Trade Agreements.
You do not need to be authorised under the UK Trader Scheme to declare goods ‘not at risk’ based on the applicable duties. Find out how to make a ‘not at risk’ declaration.
When goods you bring into Northern Ireland can be declared ‘not at risk’ under the UK Trader Scheme
Where the applicable EU duties are higher than the applicable UK duties (which are zero in the case of movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland), goods brought into Northern Ireland can still be declared ‘not at risk’ when they are all of the following:
for sale to, or final use by, end consumers located in Northern Ireland (and England, Wales and Scotland in the case of movements from Great Britain)
declared by a trader authorised under the UK Trader Scheme
not subject to an EU trade remedy
Goods brought into Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and UK cannot be declared ‘not at risk’ if the applicable EU duty is greater than the applicable UK duty by 3 percentage points or more.
If the goods you bring into Northern Ireland will be subject to processing, you must meet additional criteria when applying for UK Trader Scheme authorisation before you can declare these goods ‘not at risk’.
In declaring goods ‘not at risk’ under the UK Trader Scheme, you must be satisfied that these goods entered Northern Ireland for the purpose of being sold or used by end consumers located in Northern Ireland (and England, Wales and Scotland in the case of movements from Great Britain). You’ll need to keep evidence to demonstrate this.
Some examples include:
selling goods in a shop in Northern Ireland
buying stationery for use in Northern Ireland
a farmer buying a tractor for their own use in Northern Ireland
selling furniture from a wholesale outlet to shops, or to businesses for their own use, in Northern Ireland
bringing goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, storing them in a warehouse in Northern Ireland before selling to other parts of the UK
If you’re a wholesaler, your customer must sell or use the good in the appropriate territory according to the declaration you’ve made – for example, you could sell a chair which was declared ‘not at risk’ if it will be used at an office location in Northern Ireland.
If you did not declare your goods ‘not at risk’, and this was a mistake, you may be able to apply for repayment. If you apply for repayment, you must provide proof you’re authorised under the UK Trader Scheme. This proof should be the letter or the email you received confirming your authorisation.
Check the additional requirements for goods subject to processing
If you bring goods into Northern Ireland which will be subject to processing and wish to declare these goods ‘not at risk’, you will need to meet additional criteria. When applying for UK Trader Scheme authorisation you will need to tell us that either your:
annual turnover is less than £500,000
goods are for one of the approved purposes
The approved purposes are:
food for sale to end consumers in the UK
construction — where the processed goods form a permanent part of a structure that is constructed and located in Northern Ireland by the importer
directly providing health or care services by the importer in Northern Ireland
non-profit activities in Northern Ireland, where there is no subsequent sale of the processed goods by the importer
the final use of animal feed on-premises located in Northern Ireland by the importer
Once authorised, you’ll then be able to declare your goods for processing as ‘not at risk’ in line with the treatment of other goods.
These additional requirements for declaring goods ‘not at risk’ apply only to goods that will be processed in Northern Ireland.
If you also move goods that are not to be processed, you can still apply for authorisation under the UK Trader Scheme and declare those goods ‘not at risk’ under the usual process, regardless of whether your business meets the processing criteria.
How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’
You do not need to complete these declarations yourself, you can:
sign up for the free Trader Support Service if you’re moving goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain
get a specialist to complete declarations for you by using a customs intermediary or a Customs Declaration Service enabled software provider
move goods in parcels via a courier
How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ in the Customs Declaration Service
If you are submitting declarations in the Customs Declaration Service, you will need to use the Additional Information code ‘NIREM’ in Data Element 2/2 of your import declaration to declare your goods ‘not at risk’.
If you want to declare a proportion of a single line item ‘not at risk’, you must submit those goods as a separate line item using this Additional Information code. The remaining proportion which is ‘at risk’ must be a separate line item for which no code is necessary.
If you are using a specialist to complete declarations, then you will need to make them aware that the goods you intend to bring into Northern Ireland are ‘not at risk’. You will also need to confirm whether you are authorised for the UK Trader Scheme.
How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ in CHIEF for goods entering Northern Ireland from outside of the UK and EU
The Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) service can still be used for declaring goods entering Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU.
In due course, all declarations in to and out of Northern Ireland will need to be made using the Customs Declaration Service. Using the CHIEF system for Northern Ireland declarations will be reviewed by HMRC and you will be told when to stop using it.
Find out what supporting evidence you need to make a ‘not at risk’ declaration
If you are declaring your goods ‘not at risk’ under the UK Trader Scheme, you will need to keep supporting evidence for each consignment you move into Northern Ireland and this evidence will need to be accessible in Northern Ireland for 5 years.
The types of evidence to support a ‘not at risk’ declaration include:
commercial receipts and invoices
VAT invoices
commercial contracts and purchase orders
delivery receipts
consignment notes
proof of installation
electronic records
proof that goods comply with rules of origin (if you have claimed a preferential rate of duty, you can check what proof you should hold)
You will not need to provide this evidence to HMRC on a routine basis, only when asked to do so.
About Customs Manager Ltd.
We are on a mission to empower people with import, export and transport responsibilities with helpful advice, insightful training and relevant trade intelligence services. We offer consultancy and expert advice, training (live, in-house and on-demand), support for your import and export business and customs clearance/broker services into the UK (Great Britain) and Northern Ireland. We devote all our passion and energy to helping businesses grow faster cross-border. Working with us means having your own multilingual Customs Manager on standby to help you trade effectively, efficiently and, of course, compliantly, wherever you want to go in the world. We even file customs declarations for you.
Join us on social media
· YouTube
· LEAVE us a POSITIVE REVIEW ON GOOGLE
Hey, I got told I need to subscribe and pay to ready your expert blogs! Where is my free stuff?
Well, remember the old saying, there is no such thing as a free lunch! Expert content creation takes time and effort, not even mentioning the years of learning and studying the geeky subjects of customs, export controls and free trade agreements. So, if you like what we are doing, please help out and subscribe to our annual plan, allowing you to access expert content for a low price affordable to any business and any customs manager / global trade professional.
As a Premium Subscriber, you get VIP treatment and access to new, fresh content every week. You also get access to the entire library of advice, more than 400 blog entries and counting. We also monitor legislation for you and let you know of all the changes, so you never miss an important legal change. At the same time, you save valuable time by engaging our dedicated trade specialists to carry the monitoring out for them. Premium subscribers also unlock all other content on the Customs Manager’s Ltd. website, including our hubs and resources helping you to stay compliant in daily tasks. Being a paying subscriber provides you with vital thought leadership development to empower you to trade effectively, efficiently and, of course, compliantly, across borders. And if you want us to cover other countries than the EU, UK and a bit of the US, then just ask. Reach out in the chat or by email.
Important Notice
Customs Manager Ltd. owns the copyright in this information.
You are not allowed to use this information in any way that infringes the intellectual property rights in it. You may have to hold a valid licence to use this information. A licence can be obtained by becoming a Premium subscriber to the Customs Managers’ Trade Intelligence service. As a Premium subscriber, you may download and print this information which you may then use, copy or reproduce for your own internal non-profit-making purposes.
However, under no circumstances are you permitted to use, copy or reproduce this information with a view to profit or gain.
In addition, you must not sell or distribute this information to third parties who are not members of your organization, whether for monetary payment or otherwise.
This information is intended to serve as general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. The application and impact of laws can vary widely based on the specific facts involved. This information should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a Customs Manager Ltd. professional.
In no circumstances will Customs Manager Ltd, be liable for any decision made or action was taken in reliance on the information contained within this document or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.