As lockdown ends and businesses start to reopen, traders in the South West are being encouraged to watch HMRC’s new webinar on Rules of Origin. This webinar will help traders ensure they’re taking advantage of the preferential tariff rates available to them since 1 January, for goods they trade with the EU.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has developed an easy to follow Rules of Origin webinar, guiding traders through the process step-by-step to enable them to claim preferential tariffs.

To maximise opportunities in trade, all businesses who import and export with the EU need to understand the process. The recorded webinar, which traders can work through at their own pace, uses practical examples and case studies to outline:

• How to classify goods by finding the correct commodity code
• How to check if goods meet the Rules of Origin
• How to get proof that goods meet the Rules of Origin

Those importers who are making supplementary declarations for the first time at the end of June will especially benefit from watching the webinar, as they will need provide proof that their goods meet the rules of origin in their declaration.

Traders can watch the webinar now on HMRC’s YouTube channel.

Since 1 January, under the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement, traders don’t have to pay customs duty to import EU originating goods from the EU or export UK originating goods to the EU as long as they meet the Rules of Origin requirements under the agreement.

Rules of Origin are used to determine the country where materials, parts or ingredients of the goods have come from and specify the minimum amounts of EU/ UK content that is required to be considered originating in either market. Once the origin of the goods is known it can then be determined whether they qualify for a preferential tariff.

Further information, help and support is available here:

Claiming preferential duty rates between the UK and the EU

Importing from and re-exporting union goods to the EU

Traders making use of delayed declarations for imports into Great Britain from the EU, up to 31 December 2021, are required to complete a summary declaration at the time of import, which must later be followed up by a supplementary declaration. These declarations are required within 175 calendar days of import, so a trader who imported goods on 1 January 2021 will need to complete their first supplementary declaration by 25 June 2021.

The YouTube webinar is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOFrLn5RpZE