1 July 2009 is a day of changes for UK traders as they start to use their new Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers and include safety and security data in their export declarations under the latest Export Control System (ECS) provisions.
Traders will have to use their EORI number for all communications with European Customs Authorities from 1 July. A business’s EORI number will act as their Trader Identification Number recognised across the EU and will replace their TURN number (if they have one). UK EORI numbers will take the format of GB followed by a 12 digit number based on the TURN. Each legal entity can only have one EORI number - individual branches or divisions cannot have their own number. Economic operators who have used their TURN in the last two years should have been automatically assigned an EORI number from early April.
In order to comply with the additional requirements under ECS, traders will have to make a 'combined' declaration, which will include all the usual fiscal (SAD) data plus the extra safety and security information. All export declarations will be issued with a Movement Reference Number (MRN), which will be automatically generated by CHIEF at the same time as the entry number. This is the key reference identifying individual movements.
There is further information about all these issues at http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_029507&propertyType=document&columns=1, including details about the time limits for lodging your declarations and about exit results for indirect exports.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 68, Spring 2009
