The U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs recently published a list of customs agents and fast parcel operators that can help importers and exporters submit customs declarations in the event of a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31. Customs agents can also be searched for on the British International Freight Association website, HMRC said.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs on Oct. 10 issued new guidance documents outlining procedures for importing and exporting excise goods between the U.K. and the European Union after Brexit. “After Brexit, imports of excise goods from the EU will be treated the same as imports from the rest of the world. This includes moving imported excise goods within the UK,” the guidance said. The Simplified Accompanying Administrative Document (SAAD) and EU distance-selling arrangements will no longer be used, and a customs declaration will have to be completed, though a full declaration may not be necessary if transitional simplified procedures are used, it said.

EU exporters will no longer be able to claim value-added tax (VAT) refunds on goods exported to the United Kingdom after Brexit, the U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs said in an Oct. 9 guidance document. Instead, they must follow manual processes for companies outside the U.K., it said. The main differences are that the repayment period runs July 1 to June 30 instead of the calendar year, and that the deadline for submitting a claim is the following Dec. 31 (six months from the end of the claim period), HMRC said. Claimants will also have to provide a certificate confirming their taxable status, as well as all original invoices and receipts to support the claim, it said.

In the Oct. 10 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade on Oct. 10 posted guidance documents on the U.K.’s respective export licensing policies for Senegal, Guinea -Bissau and Benin. Each of the three members of the Economic Community of West African States, and as such the U.K. “will not issue an export license for small arms ad light weapons, components or ammunition,” the three guidances all said. The U.K. “will only consider issuing license applications where the ECOWAS Commission has issued an exception to its moratorium,” UKDIT said. The guidances note that military items transiting the U.K. “are still regarded as being exported when they leave the country and are therefore subject to control.” There’s an exception to that policy on transit when “certain military goods destined for Senegal, meaning that a licence is required to transit goods through the UK or to tranship them in the UK with a view to re-exportation to Senegal,” UKDIT said.

The European Commission is referring Hungary to the European Union Court of Justice for failing to apply the minimum EU threshold for excise duties on cigarettes, the commission said in an Oct. 10 press release. Hungary’s low duty rate creates “distortions of competition with other Member States and is at odds with EU health protection policy,” the commission said. Hungary has been given a “long transitional period” to comply with the EU’s minimum 60 percent excise duty, the press release said.

In the Oct. 9 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union is imposing a final “definitive” antidumping duty of €29.48 per kilogram ($32.35/kg) on its imports of U.S. urea and ammonium nitrate, it said in a notice in the Oct. 9 Official Journal. That rate will apply individually to the sole respondent to the EU’s investigation, CF Industries Holdings, Inc., as well as to all other U.S. exporters, the notice said. Duties will be assessed on entries on or after April 11, the date that the EU imposed preliminary interim measures (see 1904150062). No duties will be collected on entries before that date (including on or after March 22, when the EU imposed "registration" requirements.) The duty will remain in effect for a period of five years, and may be renewed for another five years in an expiry review at the end of that period. Duty rates will remain unchanged unless an interim review of the duties is requested.

European Customs Data Model Version 5.0 (EUCDM) is now available on the European Commission’s Tax and Customs Union EUCDM website, the commission said. The new version includes changes implemented in December on VAT collections and anti-fraud, as well as changes to the Union Customs Code from a September regulation (see 1909110069). EUCDM is the model for trans-European customs systems, as well as the national customs clearance systems of EU member states.

In the Oct. 8 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: