DFS7010 - Glossary: Glossary of terms

Term	Explanation
Advice Centre	The Excise and Inland Customs Advice Centre
Alcohol	Ethyl alcohol or ethanol.
Art or manufacture	Not defined in law, but is interpreted as including manufacturing and related processes, scientific or medical research and teaching.
Authorised User	A person authorised to receive and use spirits under section78 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2023.
CEMA	The Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
Compound	To combine or mix spirits with any other substance so as to produce British Compounded Spirits (BCS), without distilling.
DEB	Alcohol denatured with Bitrex and Tertiary Butyl Alcohol - it can be used in cosmetics and perfume.
Denatured Alcohol	Ethanol with agreed formula of chemicals added to deter use as alcoholic beverages, yet allow the alcohol to be used for various industrial uses. See Notice 473 (HMRC web)
Denaturant	An approved substance that is added to spirits to make them unpalatable.
Distiller	A person holding a licence to manufacture spirits whether or not the process used is actually distillation.
Duty Free Spirits (DFS)	Spirits delivered free of excise duty under section 78 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2023
EC	The European Community.
Ester	An organic compound produced when an alcohol (ethyl, methyl, etc) reacts chemically with an acid.
Ether	An organic compound in which 2 hydrocarbon radicals are joined by an atom of oxygen.
Excise duty	A charge levied for fiscal purposes, at the same rate on home-produced and imported spirits.
HMWR	The Excise Goods (Holding, Movement Warehousing and REDS) Regulations 1992.
Marker	A chemical compound with properties similar to ethanol, which is difficult to remove after mixing with spirits, and which therefore remains in the mixture as a ‘tracer’ or ‘policeman’.
Methylated spirits	Old term for Denatured Alcohol
Plain British Spirits	Spirits in their original state, manufactured in the United Kingdom, and without artificial flavour.
Potable	Fit to drink.
RTR	The Revenue Traders (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1992.
Spirits	Ethanol (otherwise known as ethyl alcohol).
Tax warehouse	A premises approved for the production, processing, holding, receipt or dispatch of excise goods under duty-suspension arrangements.