SPE15165 - Receipt into warehouse: goods on which a tariff preference is to be claimed

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A claim to a preferential rate of duty on import can only be made at the time goods are entered into free circulation by the production of a GSP Form A, an EUR1 certificate or an invoice declaration. If the warehouse keeper receives a tariff preference certificate on entry of the goods to the warehouse, they should endorse it with the stock reference number allocated to the consignment and the date of warehousing of the goods and along with the preference certificate number, be noted in the customs warehouse records. The certificate number will be required on the declaration removing the goods from the customs warehousing arrangements, further information on making a claim to preference on removal of the goods to free circulation can be found in SPE15700.

The tariff preference certificate will only be valid for a limited period of time (generally between 4 and 10 months dependent on the certificate type) and the warehouse keeper needs to be aware that they may risk not being able to claim a preferential rate of duty on the goods if the certificate’s time limit expires before the details are entered into the stock records. The warehouse keeper should also be aware that HMRC cannot accept a preference certificate (for a claim for a preferential rate of duty on release of the goods to free circulation) that is presented more than 2 years after the date of issue of the preference certificate. For further information on Import Preferences see our guidance page (link is external)

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.