The UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) eliminates all customs duties on goods which originate in the UK or EU – representing the most extensive trade agreement on tariffs the EU has ever made.
Like all EU ‘Free Trade Agreements’, the TCA provides comprehensive Rules of Origin to determine when and how goods originate in the UK or the EU. Other good news comes in the form of ‘full’ bilateral cumulation of origin. This will allow traders to include the value of components originating and processed, in either the UK or the EU, when determining origin for the purposes of the TCA, thereby increasing the likelihood of qualification. In brief, these measures will allow companies to realise substantial duty savings by implementing sustainable and reliable customs procedures. The time to act is now!
But what does this mean for your business? A Customs border (“Hard Border”) is established between the UK and the EU, excepting Northern Ireland whose arrangements between the EU and Great Britain are dealt with in the Northern Ireland protocol. A hard border means, regardless of the tariff position, border control procedures will be in place and therefore traders will now need to make customs declarations, ensuring that they have classified and valued their goods, evidenced whether they have EU/UK origin and have prepared all the consequent paperwork to document their procedures.Movement of goods between the EU and the UK will be tariff and quota free as long as those goods are of EU/UK origin. Therefore, a key factor will be what constitutes EU/UK origin and this is governed by Rules of Origin.
How should non-UK origin goods moving to the EU be treated? Is it possible to meet the rules of origin criteria for goods in a supply chain from the EU to the UK back to the EU?
What are we seeing in practice? How should you document or evidence the movement of goods from a VAT and customs perspective? What do your indirect tax teams or customs brokers or logistics companies need to do to ensure that goods have been classified and valued appropriately and that you have the correct paperwork to document their procedures?
At this webcast we will be joined by customs and VAT specialists from the UK, EU, Turkey and Switzerland for a live, interactive Q&A session. Please register here. And should you wish to submit a question beforehand please contact christine.omalley@pwc.com. A recording will be made available post-event. We hope you can join us for what should be a lively and informative debate.
Image Source: http://unsplash.com
Michaela Merz 