GOV.UK
Duty relief for imports and exports
Duty relief schemes allow you to pay less or no duty on imports and exports from and to non-EU countries.
If you are importing or exporting in the EU, you won’t have to pay any duty.
Trading outside the EU
Where the EU has a Free Trade Agreement in place with another country you can claim relief through a ‘trade preference’ to pay less or no duty.
There are rules around eligibility for trade preferences.
The rate of duty and the relief depends on the:
- type of goods
- country the goods are being exported to
- country the goods originate in as set by the ‘rules of origin’
To claim a trade preference you need to:
- get the correct commodity code for your goods
- make sure your goods comply with the rules of origin
- be able to provide proof of where your goods came from
- make sure you comply with transport rules
HM Revenue & Customs helpline
0300 200 3700
Find out about call charges.
Other duty relief schemes
If you’re importing from or exporting to a country where there is no Free Trade Agreement in place with the EU, you might be able to apply for one of these relief schemes:
- temporary admission if you import goods for a specific use for a limited time - for an exhibition, for example
- Inward Processing for goods imported from outside the EU, processed in the EU and then exported to another non-EU country - or exported within the EU if you’ve already paid duty
- Outward Processing (including textiles) for goods that are temporarily exported to a non-EU country - for repair or processing, for example
- customs warehousing when you wish to store goods duty and VAT free
- the community system of duty relief for goods that promote culture and science
- duty suspensions and tariff quotas for raw materials, parts or half-finished products
- returned goods relief for goods you reimport
- end-use relief for certain goods like fish or cheese