1.1 Introduction

The terms ‘community status’ or ‘community goods’ are applied to goods originating in the UK or an EU member state, and goods imported into the UK or an EU member state, on which any Customs Duty has already been paid and has not been refunded. Goods that have benefited from a total or partial relief of Customs Duty are not community goods. Goods of community status are also described as being ‘in free circulation’. ‘Non-community status’ applies to goods not in free circulation in the community.

The vast majority of goods moving within the UK or EU are deemed to be community goods unless it is established that they do not have community status. However, there are circumstances when, in spite of this rule, it will be necessary to prove the status of community goods.

Further details of the circumstances under which proof of the community status of goods is required is given in the Transit Manual.

Further information on the status of the goods can be found in the Transit Manual Supplement.

1.2 Proof of the community status of goods

A full list of documents and rules used for proving community status and guidance on the use of community status documents can be found in the Transit Manual but these include:

• a T2L or T2LF (copy 4 or 4/5 of the Single Administrative Document (SAD))
• a properly completed commercial document (invoice or transport document or shipping company’s manifest)
• if the community status of goods is required to be proved for goods travelling from the UK under an ATA or TIR carnet the symbol ‘T2L’ can be entered in the space reserved for the description of the goods – this must be accompanied by the declarant’s signature, if the carnet includes both community and non-community goods they must be listed separately and ‘T2L’ entered alongside the UK or EU goods
• the ship’s logbook is used to provide evidence of community status for catches made by fishing vessels registered in the UK or one of the EU member states and landed in another EU member state

1.3 Authentication of community status documents

The most efficient way for users to authenticate community status documents is to become an authorised consignor for community status purposes.

This avoids the need for the goods or community status documents to be presented to customs.

Authorised consignors can either use pre-authenticated T2Ls, which have the customs stamp pre-printed on copy 4 of the SAD, or authenticate their own T2Ls or community status declarations on commercial documents.

Traders who wish to be approved as authorised consignors for community status purposes can apply on form C1343 to:

Telephone: 03000 575982
Fax: 03000 575992

For traders who are not authorised consignors T2L/T2LF documents (ie copy 4 or 4/5 of the SAD) can be sent to the National Clearance Hub for authentication. These documents, together with supporting documents and a stamped self-addressed envelope for return of the documents should be sent to:

There is no public counter facility at this address, so these documents will need to be sent by post. Processing will be done Monday to Friday during normal office hours.

The National Clearance Hub can also authenticate commercial documents. Authentication of commercial documents is not necessary where the value of the community goods does not exceed 10,000 euro but the name of the competent customs office must be written on the document in addition to the information set out above.

1.4 Use of the SAD as a community status document

The boxes to be completed when the SAD is used to provide evidence of status are Boxes 1, 2, 3¹, 4², 5, 14, 31, 32¹, 33, 35, 38, 40², 44² and 54.

Read the detailed guidance on the completion of individual boxes.

1.5 Completion of the boxes on the SAD when used as a community status document

Detailed information about how to complete the boxes on a SAD as a T2L community status document is provided in this section. It is arranged on a box by box basis and also applies to completion of continuation sheets.

Box 1 – declaration

Subdivision	Action
First subdivision	Leave blank.
Second subdivision	Leave blank.
Third subdivision	Where community status documents are being completed enter 1 of the following codes: – T2L – goods in free circulation not moving under the full CT procedure but the document is being used to provide evidence of community status of the goods – T2LF – goods in free circulation not moving under the full CT procedure but the document is being used to provide evidence of community status and the goods are moving to, from or between the UK or special territories of the EU – T2LSM – goods in free circulation not moving under the full CT procedure but the document is being used to provide evidence of community status and the goods are moving to San Marino

Box 2 – consignor/exporter

The consignor’s EORI number and their name and address are to be provided.

The full name and address (name, street, city, postcode and country) is to be entered.

Box 3 – forms

If continuation sheets are not used, this box should be left blank. Otherwise, enter the number of sets being used (for example, if there are 2 continuation sheets, enter 1/3 on the SAD itself, 2/3 on the first continuation sheet and 3/3 on the second continuation sheet). The first figure should appear in the first subdivision and the second figure should be entered in the second subdivision.

Box 4 – Loading Lists

If loading lists are not used, this box should be left blank. Otherwise, enter the number of loading lists attached to the SAD

Box 5: Items

Enter the total number of items declared on all the SAD and SAD continuation sheets or loading lists used for the consignment. The number of items must correspond to the number of ‘description of goods’ boxes (Box 31) or lines on the loading list(s) being completed.

Any description of goods boxes on SAD continuation sheets or lines on loading lists which are not used must be crossed through.

Box 6

Leave blank

Box 7 – reference number

For optional use by the principal and/or the agent to insert a commercial reference number for the consignment.

Boxes 8 to 13

Leave blank

Box 14 – declarant/representative.

If the type of representation is entered as ‘1’ (eg if the declarant and the consignor are the same person) enter ‘exporter’ or ‘consignor’. The declarant’s type of representation and their EORI number and full name and address are to be provided.

Code	Type of representation
1	Self representation.
2	Direct representation.
3	Indirect representation.

Boxes 15 to 30

Leave blank.

Box 31 – packages and description of goods.

Complete as described in Part 1.8.

Box 32 – item number

Enter the number of the item in question in relation to the total number of items declared on the SAD and SAD continuation sheets used.

For declarations consisting of a single item: Leave blank.

Box 33 – commodity code

Completion of the first sub division of this box is compulsory for community status purposes.

Enter the appropriate commodity code as listed in Volume 2 of the Tariff applicable to the goods described in Box 31. The first 8 digits are to be entered in the first subdivision.

Any Binding Tariff Information Reference Number held for the goods described is to be entered in Box 44 against document code C626

Read more about document codes for harmonised declarations.

Box 34

Leave blank.

Box 35 – gross mass

Enter the gross mass in kg as given in commercial documents for the goods declared in Box 31. The gross mass is the total weight of the goods and packaging but excluding containers.

Where a gross mass is greater than 1 kg and includes a fraction of a unit (kg) it may be rounded off in the following manner:

• from 0.001 to 0.499 rounding down to the nearest kg
• from 0.5 to 0.999 rounding up to the nearest kg

A gross mass of less than 1kg should be entered as 0.xyz (eg 0.654 for a package of 654 grams).

This box is to be struck through where loading lists are used, or the first item is declared on a continuation sheet.

Boxes 36 to 37

Leave blank.

Box 38 – net mass

Enter, up to 3 decimal places, the net mass in kilograms of the goods described in the corresponding Box 31. The net mass is the weight of the goods themselves without any packaging.

This box is to be struck through where loading lists are used, or the first item is declared on a continuation sheet.

Box 39

Leave blank.

Box 40

A previous declaration, or document, is identified by class, type and reference.

1) Class

The codes for the possible classes of document are:

Document class	Code
Summary declaration	X
Initial declaration of goods under simplified procedures	Y
Previous document	Z

2) Type

Find a list of document codes that may be input against each document class.

3) Reference

Enter the reference (eg identity number) of the declaration or document.

Where more than one reference is to be entered, the word ‘various’ can be entered in this box and a list of the references concerned can accompany the transit declaration.

Boxes 41 to 43

Leave blank.

Box 44 – additional information, documents produced

When the document is being used for community status purposes enter details as specified by community regulations. If an accompanying control copy T5 is present, insert the phrase ‘Control Copy T5’.

This box is to be struck through where loading lists are used, or the first item is declared as a continuation sheet.

If the space is not sufficient to include all the names and addresses that should be included, Box B may also be used for this purpose.

Boxes 45 to 53

Leave blank.

Box 54 – place and date, signature, and name of the declarant or representative

The declarant can either complete the declaration himself or alternatively appoint a representative to do so on his behalf. Representation may either be direct, where the representative acts in the name of and on behalf of the declarant, or indirect where the representative acts in his own name but on behalf of the declarant.

If the representative is acting under direct representation, enter:

• the place at which the declaration was made and the date
• the name of the declarant
• ‘pp’ or ‘by’ the name of the agent
• the handwritten signature (or approved electronic equivalent) of the person completing the form
• the full name of the person completing the form
• the status of the person completing the form (eg director, clerk)

If the representative is acting under indirect representation, enter:

• the place at which the declaration was made and the date
• the name of the representative/agent
• the handwritten signature (or approved electronic equivalent) of the person completing the form
• the full name of the person completing the form
• the status of the person completing the form (eg director, clerk)

In signing Box 54 a legal declaration is being made that the details entered on the form and any continuation sheets or loading lists, are true and complete and that the requirements of any national or UK or EU legislation have been met.

It is important that the telephone number of the signatory is inserted as well. Some enquiries can be resolved by a telephone call which otherwise could involve delays in document processing.

Boxes 55 and 56

Leave blank

2. ATA Carnets

An ATA carnet is an international customs document. It can be used in place of normal customs documents to temporarily export certain goods for use outside the UK or EU. It can also be used to temporarily import certain non-community goods for use in the UK.

Each carnet consists of a cover with vouchers and counterfoils for use during each movement of goods covered by the carnet. The carnet must be presented to customs each time goods enter or leave a country for the relevant voucher to be stamped and detached and for the corresponding counterfoil to be certified.

For further information see Notice 104 ATA and CPD carnets or contact:

Telephone: +44 (0)207 248 4444
Fax: +44 (0)207 203 1921/489 0391

3. TIR Carnets

TIR carnets are used to accompany goods travelling in sealed road vehicles or containers across several different countries, as long as those countries are signatories to the UN’s TIR Convention. Their use avoids the need to use national transit procedures for each country through which the goods pass. They do not replace standard import declarations.

The UK and EU is considered a single territory for TIR purposes. When TIR consignments are in transit through the UK or EU the carnet must be presented to customs at the place of arrival in and departure from the UK or EU. When a TIR movement ends in the UK the carnet must be submitted with the import declaration.

Traders who move goods under the cover of a TIR carnet are also required to submit a TIR declaration to the NCTS for that part of the journey within the territory of the UK and EU. The NCTS generates the Transit Accompanying Document (TAD) which is affixed to the TIR carnet.

It is important to note that the paper TIR carnet remains the legal instrument and is required to be presented along with any accompanying documents, the vehicle and the goods.

Further information about the TIR carnet system can be found in the Transit Manual and Transit Manual Supplement (see section 2.1).

With effect from 1 October 2005, traders can apply for authorisation as authorised consignees to receive goods transported under the TIR procedure at their premises or any other specified place. Applications for authorized consignee for TIR should be made on form C1343:

Telephone: 03000 575 982
Fax: 03000 575 992

4. Control copy

The paper form T5 additional control document has been abolished.

Some UK government departments have introduced their own replacement procedures, and may no longer refer to the T5 procedure.

Further guidance can be found in section 7 of the Transit Manual Supplement.