Maximising Profits: How Customs Warehousing can Benefit your Business

It really depends on your setup and many different factors. Things you should consider: Do you have fiscal representation in the EU or not? Where are your customers based? What are your logistical routes? Where you are registered for VAT and EORI numbers. All of these things will drive where you locate a Customs Warehouse. In theory, you shouldn't have a problem setting one up anywhere in the EU, but some countries may be more flexible or easier to deal with than others.

There was an allowance in the UK as HMRC allowed some flexibility for goods that were coming in through the EU. HMRC was accepting GSP forms that were originally made out in the EU until the end of the first year of Brexit, which may have been discontinued now. You could get a certificate of non-alteration from the Dutch authorities, however, this can be quite tricky, and you would need to look into the specific goods and the specific countries involved. They should either reissue the certificates in the UK by the relevant body or they need to be made out to the intended end destination in the EU, which can be difficult if selling to end consumers or you are not sure which customer it will end up with. In theory, the law allows for this in the EU legislation, but there are practicalities in how you maintain and demonstrate that paper trail.

We would need to look at the specifics as there may be some reasons why they aren't accepting it. In theory they should, but the best starting point would be to ask what will they accept, where do you want it made out to, which party etc. There may be an element if you are moving the goods yourself or straight to the customer. It's not straight forward but you may need to tease it out of them. Keep in mind that your proof or certificate of origin that is valid between the UK and Vietnam may not be the right one between Vietnam and the EU. The first step is to check and talk to customs authorities and ask what they need. 

Transit is one way to move goods between locations. It would be similar to an import or export declaration but needs to be sent to the CTC system in the UK or NCTS in Europe. There are extra checks on releasing goods, permission to offload before you can say the load has conformed. There are an extra couple of handlings and messages required, but it's very similar to a declaration. It can work easily through an application like CAS as a pure declaration can.

We would advise checking with the French authorities. In theory, you should be able to, but in practice, there are discrepancies between different countries and what they will accept. There may be practical ways of trying to issue the certificates directly to EU entities or EU nations if you know where the goods will end up.

No. A Customs Warehouse has no minimum or maximum time frame for storage.

Excise is specifically to suspend excise duty. There are more possibilities in terms of blending and processing. Some things may naturally change tax type as they may go from raw material to the process of fermentation because they have been there for so long. 

Yes, they can. We frequently see information being passed out of CAS to hauliers. For example, a customer is using CAS with a Customs Warehouse, declarations are being filed through CAS and are automatically sent to the haulier, so they don't need to wait for documentation.

Yes, all of those declarations can be done in CAS. We also have Returned Goods Relief for example, where we have an agreement with Irish customs that they will accept the CAS proof of traceability so you don't need an INF3 on import immediately, you can do it purely with CAS, but it needs to be done consecutively. 

Yes, this typically falls under Usual Forms of Handling. For example, you import garden tables and chairs individually. In Customs Warehousing you can create a set of one table and four chairs. This would typically be done in CAS by using a movement order or a formula that will know if the complete set is exported it will take the one table and four chairs.

Yes, we can set up a full CFSP procedure in CAS. CAS will provide a simplified frontier declaration followed by either an EIDR to put it into the warehouse or a direct H2, including a final summary declaration at the appropriate time.

Yes, we do but it depends on the port. If you have a non-inventory linked port, we have our own badge that can be used. If you go to an inventory linked port you will need to provide your own badge details so we can confirm with HMRC what the connection is.

Temporary storage is not a customs Special Procedure under the UCC. All goods are in temporary storage before they are presented to customs. You can store goods for a maximum of 90 days in a temporary storage location, for which a licence is also needed.