SPE01010 - Introduction: scope of manual

Note: This manual is under review and is likely to be withdrawn. If there is anything within this manual you use regularly, please email hmrcmanualsteam@hmrc.gov.uk to let us know. Please check the other guidance available on GOV.UK from HMRC.

Our books of guidance are the main reference material for people in the Department. This guidance manual sets out the department’s objectives on the customs ‘Special Procedures’. It explains the conditions and process for the authorisation of traders, the requirements of the procedure and what to do when these requirements are not met.

All HMRC formal procedures and work systems are outlined in these books which are designed to give managers and staff the department’s rules and guidelines and general advice on interpreting them. In addition it gives guidance on the framework of control and supervision to ensure that decisions taken at a local level comply with the law and are consistent across the department.

The manual is aimed at HMRC staff and should not be relied upon by businesses to calculate their taxes and/or duties.

Special Procedures: is the collective term applied in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, Schedule 2 for the following procedures:

  • Transit, including internal and external transit
  • Storage, comprising of Customs Warehousing and Free Zones
  • Specific use, comprising of Temporary Admission and Authorised Use
  • Processing, comprising of Inward Processing (that is, processing under customs control procedures) and Outward Processing

The customs special procedures covered in this manual are as follows:

  • Inward Processing
  • Outward Processing
  • Customs Warehousing
  • Temporary Admission
  • Authorised Use

It includes a number of generic sections (which cover all special procedures) and separate sections for each procedure (see SPE01030 for details).

Note - Northern Ireland (NI) Customs Authorisations will continue to fall within the provisions of the Union Customs Code (UCC), as retained by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and CEMA 1979.