BREXIT MEANS BETTER TRADE
Summary:
The UK has rolled out an Advance Valuation Ruling Service (AVRS), giving importers legal certainty that their chosen customs valuation method are correct, and “reducing their administrative burden”. This would not be possible inside the EU Customs Union.
Explanation:
Legislation was introduced as part of the Spring Finance Bill 2023, to allow businesses to request a judgement in advance on the import cost of a particular good – a service known as an Advance Valuation Ruling (AVR or AVRS).
This service allows businesses to receive a legally binding judgement on the tariff classification of a given type of goods that they wish to import, and so alongside it a known cost for importation that they can rely upon as being accurate. The AVR lasts for three years, so provides businesses with peace of mind that they are fully aware of the costs at the border for their importation, before they commence the import.
HMRC expected this change to have a positive impact on reducing resourcing and costs for over 250,000 UK businesses.
As the UK government outlined in its introduction to AVRS publication, the UK did not previously offer this service as an EU member, “because customs valuation rulings were not provided for in the EU”. This implementation was also one of the changes required to accede to the CPTPP.
Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-service-launched-to-make-importing-easier-for-uk traders