Transit Simplifications and Data – Brexit

Transit Simplifications

The customs authorities may authorise simplifications. An application must be made and granted for the simplification. Traders or carriers who regularly use the transit arrangement and can show compliance an ongoing basis may be permitted simplification. They are required to keep records and customs authorities are entitled to control and supervise the procedures.

The simplifications may apply to various aspects of the arrangements including

use of a comprehensive guarantee
guarantee waiver in certain cases
special loading lists
required itinerary details
seals
authorised consignor consignee status

An authorised consignor may be authorised to carry out the transit operations at its premises rather than the goods at the customs office of departure. An authorised consignee may be authorised to receive the goods as premises for another specified place instead of the customs office of destination

The goods or means of transport are generally to be sealed during the transport in order to preserve their identity. Application to be made for authorisation to use certain types of seal rather than having them fixed by customs.

Much the same information as is required for an import and export declaration is required. There is a simplification for transit declarations with reduced data.

Transit Data Requirements

The following is the dataset required for transit movements. This data must be provided by the holder of the procedure. As set out above, it may be traders or probably better placed, traders’ logistics provider.

The data required to be returned to the revenue authority for a transit declaration is very similar to that required for an import and export declaration. Almost all the same information set out in the previous chapter about customs data applies to a transit declaration.

Formerly, an identical carbonised copy of an import or export declaration was used for transit purposes as export or import was often combined with transit where goods moved through the EU under customs control, before reaching the EU customs office of destination on imports or the office exit on exports.

Transit declarations are electronic in the same way as other customs declarations. They are based on completing a menu of entries and obtaining messages from the NCT, the EU wide computer system.

In order to complete an export transit, the trader at the office of departure submits electronic data message to the office of departure. The messages are automatically validated by the NCT system. They are rejected if they contain incorrect data or required data is missing.