Planning for Brexit – some essentials

Revenue’s objective is to facilitate legitimate trade in moving goods as speedily and efficiently as possible. Below are some essential preparation steps for businesses that:

• import or export products from or to the United Kingdom (UK)
• or
• move products through the UK landbridge to or from the European mainland.

We recommend that you carry out a Brexit impact assessment to understand where and how in your supply chain you may be impacted. Enterprise Ireland has an online tool, the Brexit Scorecard which may help you with this.

Key essentials in planning for Brexit

Register for customs

If you are moving goods to, from or through the UK you need to register for Customs. You can do this by getting an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number.

Decide who will submit your customs declarations

Customs formalities will apply post-Brexit when trading in goods with the UK. This means you will have to  submit customs declarations. You, or an agent acting on your behalf, must have the facility to lodge electronic customs declarations to Revenue.

Know the key data required for a customs declaration

Commodity code

This code is determined by your specific product. It is used to determine the import duties you will be liable to pay. It is important you have your products correctly classified.

Customs value of your goods

The customs value of your goods must be entered on your customs declaration. It is made up of the invoice price plus the cost of transport and insurance.

Origin of your goods

You need to know where the product you are importing originates from. The country of origin of the goods is used to determine the amount of duty payable. This information should be provided by your supplier.

Note

The country of origin may not be the same country that you are importing from.

These are some of the key data you will need for a customs declaration. You should ensure you are familiar with the other information you will need. You will find further information in AEP trader guides and appendices.

You may need to provide supplementary documentation to support your declaration

You may be asked to provide any of the following, depending on your type of products:

• commercial invoice
• bill of lading or airway bill
• packing list
• veterinary or plant health certificates
• licences.

Making payments

Once you have completed your EORI customs registration you will be automatically assigned a Trader Account Number (TAN). You can then make payments to this TAN using the following payment methods:

• Cash – To lodge credit to this account you must transfer funds from your bank account to Revenue’s bank account.
• Deferred – A Deferred Payment Authorisation allows you to import goods in one month and defer payment of duties until the fifteenth of the following month.

There are additional customs simplifications and procedures available under the Union Customs Code (UCC). These can help to further minimise the potential negative impacts of Brexit and support the efficient and timely flow of trade.