Commercial importers, certified traders and tax representatives — EU trade in duty paid excise goods (Excise Notice 204b)
This notice explains the UK's requirements for the commercial importation of excise goods already released for consumption in an EU member state. The approval type that this notice relates to will continue to operate post transition, but only in relation to EU imports into Northern Ireland.
Documents
Update history
2024-11-20 10:00
The notice has been updated to add guidance in section 13.6 for EU consignors who choose not to use a tax representative for distance sales to private individuals in Northern Ireland. This follows amendments made to excise holding and movement legislation applicable in Northern Ireland effective from 1 October 2024.
2024-08-19 10:00
This notice has been updated to remove references to the commercial importers scheme which was replaced by the certified trader schemes on 13 February 2023. It has also been updated to provide more details of how goods need to be moved in line with these changes to the duty-paid process, including the use of the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS).
2023-12-31 06:00
Section 11 has been updated to include details of an end date for the current transitional arrangements for moving duty-paid goods, with the introduction of the Excise Movement and Control System. Link to information on rules for non-EU sales in section 12.1 has been updated.
2023-08-01 00:15
This notice has been updated due to the changes in Alcohol Duty which came into effect on 1 August 2023, including changing all references of ‘made-wine’ to ‘other fermented products’ and replacing the duty calculation examples in section 18 with a link to the new guidance.
2023-07-21 15:46
The address has been updated at section 17 for HMRC Duty-paid Movements Team.
2023-02-10 09:44
Sections 11.7 and 11.8 of the notice have been updated, as it is no longer possible to fax HMRC a ‘Notification of Movement starting in Fallback’ form or ‘Fallback change of destination’ form.
2023-01-12 16:47
This notice has been amended to include details of how to gain approval as a Certified Consignee or Certified Consignor, as well as how goods need to be moved in line with changes to the duty-paid process from 13 February 2023.
2022-06-08 08:55
The telephone number for movement queries has been updated.
2022-06-06 12:51
The address to contact the Duty-paid Movements team about movement queries has been updated.