Import textiles product from Germany to UK - preferential tariff?

We import a textile product (sail) made in the EU to the UK - at present we're paying 12% duty when it arrives. HS code is 6306 30 00 00 The product is wholly made in the EU - the thread thread spun, the cloth woven, the sail manufactured, everything. The manufacturing takes place in a factory in Croatia, it's shipped to us by the manufacturer's head office in Germany, so I believe it meets the Rules of Origin. The product price varies from around £2000 to upwards of £25000 I believe that under the TCA there is a preferential tariff of 0% which we could claim - is this correct? I understand that the exporter/manufacturer would have to make a declaration on the commercial invoice that accompanies the sail when it's shipped, stating that it meets the RoO - is this correct? Do they need to include a REX number? Please help me understand this - if we can claim the Preferential tariff it will make the product much more affordable to our UK customers.

Under the TCA goods manufactured in the EU meeting the product specific origin rules and supported with the correct proof of origin can benefit from duty free entry to the UK. You / your supplier first needs to check the rule of origin for heading 6306 and check that the products meet that criteria. There isn’t a general rule . Textiles in general have quite unusual rules and there is a whole section in the TCA about textiles. The supplier will need to provide a specifically worded statement on origin showing their REX number if the shipment is over €6000. A REX number isn’t needed in the statement below that value. If they don’t have a REX number they will need to apply to their own customs authority. Once you get the statement which can be on any commercial document you need to ask your customs agent to ‘ claim’ the preferential duty rate. In essence they need to put some specific codes on the declaration to get the reduced duty. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-to-rules-of-origin-and-claiming-duties-when-trading-between-the-uk-and-eu

Hi OldTimer Thank you for your help - it sounds as though it's worth my time to continue investigating this! I will reach out to our supplier to see if believe that the products meet the RoO criteria and that they're happy to declare this. We don't generally use an agent - we raise the collection ourselves on our own courier account (DHL) and they handle the customs side of things for us - I guess I need to reach out to them to ask how they would want us to handle it. Many thanks once again.

Hi DHL still make the, customs declaration as part of their service so are in effect the customs agent / intermediary . Ie the 3rd party making a customs declaration on your behalf. As I say preferential duty rates are not applied automatically so DHL will need to use the appropriate codings in their declaration . Unless you notify them in some way when booking the shipment they will proceed in the normal manner and full duty will be applied .

Also to add that the origin rules are contained in annex 3 of the TCA. Check out the actual text of the agreement there is a link in the HMRC guidance I referred to in yesterday’s post.

Hi Janey,
You can use trade tariff UK to find a commodity code for goods you are  importing to or exporting from the UK.
You can also use the service to check if there’s duty or VAT to pay and find out about suspensions or reductions.
You can check the type of preference available, rules of origin applicable and proof of origin required to claim preference.
Please use below link to access trade tariff.
Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
Thank you. 
 

Hi again - an update - I have spoken to the relevant manufacturer, and they've confirmed that they can declare the goods to be of Preferential EU Origin - in fact this declaration is already on their invoice. - They don't currently have a REX number, so they have now applied for one and will let us know when this is in place. - I've written to our usual couriers to ask what they need from us to ensure that we complete the declarations correctly so that they apply the the 0% tariff available under the TCA, rather than the default 3rd Country tariff being used at present. Hopefully this means that we will shortly be able to use this tariff, Thank you so much to @customs oldtimer and @HMRC Admin25 for all your help - we wouldn't have got this far without you!

Pear to Pear .