Exporting from UK BOND to France

We have goods currently in UK BONDED warehouse which we imported from China. We now need to export these goods from BONDED WAREHOUSE to France. Will importer be liable to pay Duty on shipment? If goods were importer direct from China to France then no duty would be applied. As goods have been stored in Bonded warehouse, have not be customs cleared and have not been in free circulation in the UK will importer avoid duty? Effectively the goods have gone from China to France via UK in transit Please advise Many thanks

Hi I assume you mean these goods are in a Customs Warehouse as per the customs approval you or the warehouse keeper has been given by HMRC and these are not excise goods. If the customs warehouse authorisation permits it you will be able to export out of the UK without paying any UK customs duty. The correct export procedure must however be used. One of the primary benefits of a customs warehouse in the UK is to enable the goods to be reexported without paying uk duty. The duty status of goods in the UK makes no difference to the duty treatment in France or any other country. Since Brexit UK and EU requirements are entirely separate. All goods arriving at their border will be treated as duty unpaid. That country will then apply the appropriate duty rates. So yes the importer will pay import duties on Chinese goods. The fact they are shipped via the uk makes no difference. If the goods were sent directly to France from China there would be exactly the same duty treatment in France. The only reason the China origin goods would not have duty applied would be if they had a zero MFN duty rate or the goods were declared for a special customs procedure that relieved the import duty. Eg a French customs warehouse.

Thank you for the response. Will above apply if goods originated in KOREA? We import goods into UK from Korea under KRP so no duty applied. I believe goods exported direct into France from Korea can also have KRP so no duty applied. If goods are imported into UK BOND under KRP and then exported to France will importer in France be liable for duty?

Yes, it doesn’t matter where the goods were originally sourced, they will always be treated as a fresh import into the EU. You have to remember that although both the EU and UK have trade agreements with S. Korea they are entirely separate agreements with their own rules and proofs of origin. The two agreements are not interchangeable. The trade agreement that the UK has with S. Korea only permits goods duty free entry into the UK when the exporter in S. Korea provides the correct proof of preferential origin. The trade agreement that the EU has with S. Korea only permits duty free entry to the EU if the exporter in S. Korea provides the correct proof of preferential origin. You therefore cannot send goods of S. Korea preferential origin that have been entered to the UK with proof of origin under the UK agreement and expect duty free entry to the EU . It is not possible for a UK exporter to provide the correct proof of origin. If you hold the goods in CW ie not customs cleared in the UK and you can provide proof of preferential origin issued by the exporter in S . Korea under the EU trade agreement then the goods can potentially enter the EU duty free. In practice this is unlikely. If goods were shipped direct from S. Korea to France with the appropriate proof of preferential origin under the EU agreement then the importer could claim reduced duties. If no proof of preferential origin is available then the standard MFN rate would apply.

Hi,

You will need to check this with French customs who can advise if the goods can still qualify for the China-France preference.

Thank you.