Reclaiming duty on exports?

Good afternoon, Our business imports medical products that we manufacture in the Far East and they carry a 6-12% tariff on entry. We mainly sell within the U.K. however we now have EU customers looking to buy large volumes of our products. They wish us to provide the products on DDP incoterms to France so we will therefore go down as importer of record and pay 6-12% duty again in France (as well as VAT which is postponed and reclaimable). My question, is are we able to claim back the U.K. import duty on the products we exported and if so do we need to sign up to any scheme in advance? The route would be import -> U.K. warehouse -> export to EU. Thank you for any assistance

Hi There is not automatic right to reclaim import duty on goods you reexport. We don’t have such a scheme in the UK. We do have duty suspension schemes such as a customs’bonded’ warehouse or inward processing relief. If you are a regular shipper then prior authorisation is required from HMRC. There are also what are known as public customs warehouses where businesses offer their approved premises for customers who are not authorised themselves.

Hi,

Please contact to our International Trade team:

Imports and exports: general enquiries

Thank you.

Hi Isol8, To clarify the idea of a customs warehouse mentioned in the Customs oldtimer's post - I believe it was meant to split your UK consignment in a customs warehouse into a part destined for the UK market (cleared into free circulation) and a part intended for further re-export to the EU (cleared into transit for onwards delivery). This solution saves you paying taxes for the EU-destined goods in the UK. You may wish to consider finding an indirect representative in the EU to act as an Importer of Record if your company is not established there. You could also check out a drop-shipment option (delivery directly from the Far East to the EU) if the volumes justify it.