Transit: Become Authorised consignee or consignor to move goods from or to your business
Using your premises to start or end the movement of transit goods is possible when you set authorised consignor or consignee status, argues Arne Mielken of Customs Manager Ltd.
If you’re regularly moving goods using transit procedures, you can apply for authorised consignor or consignee status, which will allow you to start or end the movement of goods under the Common Transit Convention or EU Union Transit at your own premises rather than at a customs office.
Your premises
Your own premises may include locations that are not owned or operated by you, but you must have permission to use each location.
Outward: Start moving goods from your premises or a customs facility
You’ll need to get authorised consignor status to start a movement of your goods from your premises, or an approved customs facility, where available, such as:
a warehouse
a designated export place
an external temporary storage facility
a temporary storage facility
Benefits of being an authorised consignor
As an authorised consignor, you’ll be able to:
declare goods without presenting them at the customs office
print the transit accompanying document and (where applicable) the list of items, at the consignor’s premises
remove goods under customs control directly from their authorised location
You can also apply to add locations to your authorisation.
Inward: Finish moving goods at your premises
You’ll need to get authorised consignee status to end the movement of goods at your own premises.
Benefits of being an authorised consignee
As an authorised consignee, you’ll be able to:
receive goods without needing to present the goods and transit accompanying document to customs at the customs office
send your arrival notification message to the relevant office electronically
receive automatic permission to unload the goods (if the goods are not subject to further controls or inspections by the customs office)
NOTE: You can apply for both authorised consignor and consignee status at the same time.
Getting authorised
You’ll need:
to be established in one of the Contracting Parties to the Common Transit Convention
your Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number
your VAT registration number
name and date of birth of the nominated person in your organisation who will account for your company’s compliance with customs regulations
details of any offences committed against customs or tax legislation in the EU, UK or any other countries
details of the custom systems used to control the movement of goods under transit and the accompanying record-keeping systems for these movements
If you’re applying to use Union Transit authorisation, Proof of Union Status or Transport TIR authorised consignee, you’ll need to provide:
the date you started using the transit procedure
evidence of how often you send or receive goods
the number of operations you carry out each year
Guarantee
To apply for authorised consignor status, you will need a customs comprehensive guarantee. If you have AEO C or F status, you can get approval for a customs comprehensive guarantee (for transit and other customs procedures) with a 100% guarantee waiver.
To apply for authorised consignee status, you will need to have, or have access to, an approved temporary storage facility. Authorised consignees must deliver goods under transit to temporary storage premises.
Alternative 1: Using an agent
If your application for the authorised consignor or consignee status is unsuccessful, you could use a customs agent to make customs declarations at authorised premises.
Alternative 2: Start and end transit at a customs office
If your application is unsuccessful, and you still want to make declarations yourself, you will need to start or end transit at a customs office.
How to apply
If you use a transport carrier or intermediary bound to a carrier, you may have to send to your customs authorities copies of your contracts or other evidence of the contractual relationship. You may also need a completed hard copy specimen of your manifest if you’re going to use the simplified procedure for air or sea traffic, either the paper manifest or the electronic transport document.
Example
Download and view the application by HMRC for authorised consignee or consignor
Example of the application form in the U
.
Download • 89KB
In the EU, you can usually make your application for authorised consignor electronically using the Customs Decision System (CDS).