All of the information shown below has been taken from the Public Notice: 235 Outward Processing Relief (March 2002). ukimports.org

Please note: Goods being brought re-imported into the UK following being exported on a temporary basis,under OPR, for a process, can usually claim relief from import duties and VAT. However, conditions DO apply, so please ensure that you read through this section thoroughly and email us, should you have any questions.

Anyone who makes a false declaration, or gives untrue information about goods
temporarily exported or re-imported under these arrangements may be liable to
penalties under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.

Non compliance with the conditions of any authorisations may lead to a Civil Penalty being issued under The Customs (Contravention of a relevant Rule) Regulations 2003(SI2003/3113) or Exports (Penalty) Regulation 2003 (SI2003/3102). ukimports.org

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The purpose of OPR

OPR provides duty relief on imports from third countries of goods which have been produced from previously exported Community goods. It enables businesses to take advantage of cheaper labour costs outside the EC, while encouraging the use of EC produced raw materials to manufacture the finished products. Goods may be also temporarily exported to undergo processes not available within the Community.

The procedure also enables faulty goods to be returned to a third country for repair, or for replacement with equivalent goods under the Standard Exchange System (SES). ukimports.org

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How OPR works

When you import goods from outside the Community you normally have to pay duty on the full customs value of the goods. When Community goods are exported outside the customs territory of the EC, they lose their Community status, and if they are later re-imported they are treated in the same way as non- Community goods, and are liable to duty on the full customs value.

When you use the OPR procedure it will enable you to claim relief from duty on the Community goods which have been exported for process, as long as you can show that the exported goods were used to produce, or are incorporated into, the products you are importing. Before you can claim duty relief under OPR, however, you must be authorised to use the arrangements. ukimports.org

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Eligible persons

To qualify: ukimports.org

you must ...	and is ...	which means ...
be authorised by us	'natural' person	Cannot be removed from an Customs Warehouse any person normally resident in one of the Member states. ukimports.org
	'legal' person	a business, for example a partnership or limited company, which has a permanent business establishment in the Community. ukimports.org
normally be the person arranging the processing operation to be carried out, but see paragraph 3.8 for details of specific authorisations.
apply in writing to the customs authority in the Member State in which you maintain your main customs records and accounts, or from which the goods are exported. It is not necessary for you to be established in that Member State.

ukimports.org

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Eligible goods

To qualify for duty relief under OPR arrangements, the exported goods must be
Community goods, or Turkish goods that have free circulation status in the EC.
Community goods are goods, which either originate in the EC, or have been imported to free circulation within the Community with all customs formalities completed and customs charges having been paid. You can find more information about using Turkish goods in paragraph 2.2. There are also special arrangements for putting goods held under the Inward Processing Relief (IPR) arrangements, into OPR.

When you export goods under the OPR arrangements you may not claim any refund or remission of import duties, or any refunds or other financial benefits under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). You must also pay any export levies or other amounts in full.

OPR relief does not extend to excise duties. Any excise duty due on OPR
compensating products must be paid in full at importation. Agricultural component (EA) additional charges can be relieved under OPR. They are covered by the term 'import duties' under Article 4 (10) of the Customs Code. However anti dumping duties and countervailing duties, whilst not to be included in the notional duty deductible on the exported goods (if using the duty differential method) must be included in any duty calculations if they apply to the compensating products. ukimports.org

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When to apply for authorisation

Normally you must apply for authorisation at least one month before you are going to export your first consignment. Exceptions to this are:

- SES with prior importation a full UK or "Community" authorisation is required. Normally you should apply before you import the replacements but if this has not been possible you may apply at the time of importing the replacement goods and

- non-commercial goods - authorisation is not required before you export the goods. You need to apply only when the repaired or replacement goods are imported

- Simplified authorisations, which are applied for at export

ukimports.org

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Re-importing goods after process

When you import compensating products produced from Community (or Turkish)
goods which have previously been exported under the OPR arrangements, you must present an import declaration to us on Form C 88 (SAD). You may claim relief only for compensating products falling under Tariff commodity codes for which you hold an OPR authorisation.

You must present sufficient documentation to prove that the goods being imported were exported under the OPR arrangements, and to allow customs to identify the exported goods and check the rate of yield and your duty calculations. The following documents may be required as appropriate:

Form	Details
A copy of the export declaration and / or a copy of the departure message	To prove that the goods for process were exported under the OPR arrangements you should present a copy of the export declaration(s). If you export using an agent you should ask them to give you a copy of the export declaration and / or copy of the departure message. ukimports.org
C&E 1154	This form is always required when OPR products are imported. It is used to make a declaration as to the exact status of the re-imported goods. It may also be used to show the calculation of the relief claimed and the net duty payable. You can find further information about the completion of Form C&E 1154 in paragraph 7.9 and some examples of duty calculations are given in Section 14. ukimports.org
Split Consignments and Triangulation Information Sheet INF 2 C & E 1155	When you use triangulation, that is when you import goods which were exported from another Member State, the information sheet INF 2 proves that you were authorised for OPR in the Member State of export. It specifies the type and quantity of the exported goods and contains information on the rate of yield. You can find full details of the use of the INF 2 in paragraph 9.4 of Public Notice 235. If your compensating products are being imported in multiple "split" consignments, you will also need to present forms INF 2 covering the exported goods. We will certify these as a replacement for the export declaration. You can find more information on handling of split consignments and using INF 2 documents in paragraph 9.3 of the Public Notice. ukimports.org
International Information Document C1055	You can use this form to identify the exported goods in the compensating products when the standard methods of identification are not enough, such as chemicals, for example, which may be difficult to identify after processing. It requires customs in the country where the processing is done, to certify that your compensating products were produced from the actual goods you imported to the processing country, paragraph 9.7 explains how to use the form. The number of countries which recognise this document is, however, very limited (see Section 12 of Public Notice 235). Difficulties have been reported even in some of the countries which have signed the agreement to recognise it. If you intend to rely on this information document alone to provide identification of the exported goods, you should first check that customs in the processing country would be prepared to accept and complete it. ukimports.org
Guarantee or warranty	If you are claiming total relief from import duties because the exported goods have been repaired or replaced free of charge under a guarantee or warranty, you must provide a copy of the guarantee or warranty document, or other contractual evidence to prove that no charge was, or will be, made for the repair or replacement. ukimports.org
Service contracts or "bought" warranties	Some companies have arrangements with a repairer outside the Community which allow them, for payment of a regular service charge, to send goods for repair. When such goods are returned after repair, the accompanying documentation may not indicate that any payment has been made for the repair facility. However, for our purposes these service charges are regarded as part of the value of the goods when they were originally supplied, and are therefore liable to import duties. Similarly, an extended warranty for which a "one off" payment is made, is liable to duty as the charge for this type of warranty is regarded as part of the original price of the goods. If you have goods repaired under arrangements similar to these, you will not be able to account for the customs charges on individual consignments. You must however, declare to us that you are being charged for the repair facilities, and make arrangements with your supervising office to pay the duty and VAT charges when you make payments to the repairer for the service facilities. ukimports.org
Commercial documents Globalised INF2's	If you have prior approval you may use commercial documents as evidence to support the claim for relief of duty under OPR. See paragraphs 6.11 and 9.6. ukimports.org
Other supporting documents	You must also produce any other documents necessary to support your claim to relief for example invoices for processing costs, freight and insurance charges. Full details of the documents needed to support the import SAD are given in the Tariff, Volume 3, Part 3. ukimports.org

ukimports.org

Note: This information contained on this page is only a brief section of the information that can be found in Public Notice 235. Please ensure that you read the full document and discuss the criteria with your preferred clearing agent to ensure that your goods are eligible for relief.

Click here to read / download Public Notice 235

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