The United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) is in discussion with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in an attempt to clarify HMRC’s policy on Customs Warehousing status.

It appears that HMRC is aggressively targeting bonded warehouse operators and revoking the authorisation to store duty suspended goods in instances where operators have been found not to have held goods under bond for a relatively short period of time.

“It seems, from feedback we have had from our members, that HMRC is now applying a ‘use it or lose it’ policy to storage facilities that have been granted Customs or Bonded Warehouse status,” said Roger Williams, Chief Executive Officer of UKWA. “In one particular instance, a UKWA member company received a letter from HMRC threatening to revoke its authorisation as a Customs Warehouse and, despite producing evidence of future potential contracts, is having great difficulty in persuading HMRC that it should be allowed to maintain its customs warehouse authorisation.” 

“We are asking if it is now HMRC policy to adopt a more aggressive and rigid approach to bonded warehousing status,” he continued.  “Given that such a policy is unlikely to raise revenue for the exchequer but would limit a company’s operational flexibility, it is hard to understand the motivation for such an approach. Before a company is granted customs warehousing status by HMRC, it has to make a significant investment in processes, procedures, systems and staff training. It would be very harsh if this investment were to be wasted because HMRC has decided to adopt a new stance.”

Photo: Roger Williams, chief executive officer of UKWA.