TPD10020 - Electronic Removal: Introduction

You should also read section 9 of Notice 476.

The term ‘electronic removal’ refers to the facility whereby a manufacturer may remove product from duty suspense without physically removing it from the confines of the store. This enables the manufacturer to hold both duty-suspended and duty paid in the same registered store.

All tobacco products entering the store do so without payment of tobacco products duty. The product may be removed from duty suspense and the duty paid or deferred in the usual way, but the goods themselves may remain in duty-paid storage for as long as the manufacturer wishes. Once the product has been “electronically removed” from a registered store, it may be sold by the manufacturer, even though the product remains in the same physical location within the store. However, such sales or third party access to the store must not compromise the security of the store or the integrity of the approved electronic accounting system.

“Electronic removal”, as defined in regulations 3(1) and 10, extends the concept of “removal” to incorporate an irreversible change of status on a computer record, equating to a move across a duty line, which itself triggers the requirement to pay duty.

“Electronic removal” allows a manufacturer to make the most economic or practical use of a suitably approved store. It also requires careful consideration of the risks as well as the traders’ own procedures and computer systems. The following advice is offered for the registration and control of ‘mixed status’ stores.