Acting as a guarantor for a person using common or union transit
What you need to know if you are providing a guarantee for a customer undertaking transit movements.
If you are providing a guarantee for a customer who will be using it to make transit movements, in addition to your own internal process, you will need to know:
- the type of guarantee they are requesting - Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG) or individual guarantee
- what your guarantee will cover
- in which territories the liability may occur
- the period you may be liable for the amount of the guarantee
- how you would tell HMRC that you have ended your relationship with that customer
- how and when you would be told of any outstanding potential liability against the guarantee
Type of guarantee
Your customer may ask you to provide a guarantee for movements they are making using transit. This could be because they regularly move goods under transit or intend to move a specific good using transit. Find details of when a CCG or individual guarantee could be used.
What your guarantee will cover
Transit guarantees differ from some other types of customs guarantees, such as duty deferment guarantees. This is because the guarantee covers a potential debt rather than actual debt.
As the exporter, your customer will not normally be liable to any customs debt. Instead, any import duties, excise and VAT will be paid for by the importer, so if the transit procedure is followed correctly, no debt should arise.
A debt will only arise if, after an investigation by the relevant customs authorities:
-
goods that entered transit using the guarantee did not reach their intended destination - were not discharged
-
it is found that customs duties, VAT or excise were due and not paid
Your customer will be asked to settle the debt themselves, but if they do not for any reason then HMRC may make a claim against the guarantee you have issued.
When applying to HMRC for a transit guarantee, your customer will need to assess the total amount of potential debt that could arise, at any one time, on the goods they are moving. Check the amount of guarantee needed. This will be the maximum amount of customer debt that they will need the guarantee to cover.
The territories where the liability may occur
The guarantee needs to cover all countries which your exporter wants to move goods through. This does not need to be all CTC countries, but any exemptions must be agreed in advance and stated in the guarantee.
If you are providing a guarantee to an exporter based in the UK, claims on the guarantee are likely to be made through HMRC, no matter which customs territory the transit journey goods may have gone missing from.
How long you could be liable for an amount of debt once you have agreed to act as the guarantor
This will start from the day the guarantee begins until all movements associated with that guarantee have been closed and any debts settled.
As the guarantor, you can choose to terminate a guarantee in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed with your customer. You must also tell HMRC that you have done so. HMRC will then take reasonable steps to make sure new transit movements are not permitted to start using your guarantee after this date.
However, the guarantee will remain legally enforceable until 16 days after notice is given. If any new movements are started using your guarantee between the date you tell HMRC and 16 days after that, you would be liable for any claims that are then made against your guarantee for these movements.
How to let HMRC know you are ending your relationship with the customer
You must contact the Central Community Transit Office.
How and when you will be told what potential liability remains against that guarantee
HMRC has 9 months from the date that the goods should have arrived at the office of destination and been presented to customs to inform the guarantor that the procedure has not been discharged correctly. Movements are normally expected to finish within a maximum of 21 days from leaving the office of departure (that is, the date the transit procedure starts).
You will therefore be potentially liable for a debt arising from any movement started within the period of validity of the guarantee, but this potential liability will expire if HMRC have not notified you that you are at risk within 9 months from the expected end date of the movement. The period of validity includes any time before the expiry of the guarantee or 16 days after you tell HMRC that the guarantee has been terminated.
All potential liabilities will therefore end no later than 9 months from the final expiry of the guarantee if no such notice has been given to you.
However if HMRC tell you that you are at risk within 9 months, the customs authority where any debt arises must also tell you within 3 years from the date of the movement starting that you may be required to pay a debt and the amount of this debt. If you are not told, your potential liability will expire.
If you receive both notices within the appropriate time frames, the guarantee will remain in force. You may still be liable to make a payment up to the amount notified to you by the customs authority where the debt arose.
This will make sure that any legal proceedings associated with that debt are permitted to reach their conclusion.