HMRC is extending arrangements already announced for traders to use Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP) which will make importing easier. This includes:

• an extension of the date when the first supplementary customs declarations must be submitted, and any import duties must be paid, to 4 October 2019, with subsequent declarations submitted monthly
• making TSP available at all UK ports if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

TSP is designed for businesses importing goods to the UK from the EU that may be new to import declarations. Once they have registered for an EORI number they can take the simple next step and register for TSP. Both are free and quick to do.

HMRC is urging all importers to make the necessary preparations should we leave the EU without a deal.

Once a business is registered for TSP, it will be able to transport goods from the EU into the UK without having to make full customs declarations at the border or pay import duties straight away, to allow businesses time to prepare for usual import processes. To support businesses, HMRC today announced that it is giving them more time to adjust to these new requirements.

For most goods imported using TSP, traders will be able to delay putting in customs declarations for the first 6 months after EU exit. Businesses will have until 4 October 2019 to submit declarations and pay any import duty for goods imported up to 30 September 2019. After that, customs declarations and payments will need to be made on the fourth working day of the following month.

HMRC is also giving importing businesses until 30 September 2019 to provide a guarantee that is required to cover any customs duties that they wish to defer. This will apply for all importers, not just those who have registered for TSP.

TSP will now be available for any port or airport, where goods are being brought in from the EU following discussions with stakeholders from across the ports industry. This was originally available for priority Roll-on-Roll-off locations like Dover or the Channel Tunnel. The department will continue to work with ports, including airports, and other key stakeholders on TSP implementation, recognising that circumstances will be different from port to port.

These measures will not change the UK’s commitment to ensuring our borders remain secure in the event of leaving without a deal, and Border Force will continue to carry out intelligence-led checks. In preparation for EU exit, a Readiness Task Force has been recruited and Border Force is on track to increase staff by around 900 by the end of March 2019.

Forklift trucks and other equipment will help quickly unload aid from planes and cut the time it takes to get relief items to those in need.

Forklift trucks and other equipment will help quickly unload aid from planes and cut the time it takes to get relief items to those in need.

The UK is due to send forklift trucks and other cargo handling equipment to cyclone-hit Mozambique, to help quickly unload aid from planes and cut the time it takes to get relief items to those in need, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced today (22 March).

The flight, which is scheduled to leave from Doncaster-Sheffield airport for Maputo on Sunday (24 March), is in addition to a flight containing over 7,500 shelter kits and 100 family tents which arrived in Mozambique earlier this week.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

We are only just beginning to see the true impact of this devastating cyclone. Sadly, much of the infrastructure at airports and other buildings has either been destroyed or washed away.

UK aid is now in the region worst hit by the cyclone. A plane is due to leave from the UK over the weekend to support the relief operation. It will contain forklifts, lifting platforms and other airfield equipment to help aid workers move supplies from the airport to the worst-hit towns and villages.

It is right that the UK, the biggest global donor and one of the first to respond to the crisis, does all it can to provide life-saving assistance to those desperately in need. Other countries must now step up to relieve the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless or without food.

The flight is expected to contain:

• forklift trucks, floodlights, lifting platforms and other airfield equipment; and
• other relief items for those in need, including water purifiers and shelter kits.

A flight containing 80 family tents which can each accommodate a family of five, arrived into Beira last night (21 March). The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will distribute these to affected communities.

Following the British public’s generosity to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal, which has now raised £8 million for Cyclone Idai victims, the UK will match pound-for-pound a further £2 million of donations. This new support, in addition the previous £2 million the UK agreed to aid match, will double the impact of the public’s own donations. This takes the UK’s support for the DEC appeal to £4 million, and total response to the crisis to £22 million.

DFID has also sent additional humanitarian experts from the UK to support the UK’s response on the ground. They will help the teams in the region to assess needs and coordinate relief efforts.

UK aid has also supported the World Food Programme to deliver airdrops of high-energy biscuits to isolated pockets of people stranded by floodwaters in Beira. UK support is also delivering easy-to-prepare fortified food to displaced families sheltering in schools and other public buildings in the town of Dondo.

ENDS

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