Common User Charge rates and how the charge will apply to imports entering Great Britain through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel from 30 April 2024 have been announced by the Government.
As part of changes to import controls under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), from 30 April 2024 the common user charge will apply to commercial imports entering or transiting through Great Britain through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel from all countries.
From 30 April 2024, you will need to pay the common user charge if you are a UK business importing a consignment of goods that:
- enters or transits through Great Britain through the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel
- is eligible for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks at a government-run border control post (BCP) in England
The charge will apply even if the authorities do not select your consignment for SPS checks.
Participants of the Accredited Trusted Trader Scheme (ATTS) pilot will need to pay the common user charge on imports which are eligible for SPS checks at a government-run BCP. We will review the position as the scheme is developed further.
You will not need to pay the common user charge for:
- low-risk plants and plant products – if these goods are pre-notified on IPAFFS, you may still be charged
- plants and plant products checked at an inland control point instead of a government-run BCP
- plants and plant products moving from one country to another and transiting through Great Britain (this is known as ‘using Great Britain as a landbridge’) – if these goods are pre-notified on IPAFFS, you may still be charged
- goods for personal use you’re bringing on Eurostar or Dover Ferry passenger services
Participants of the Authorised Operator Status (AOS) pilot for plants and plant products will not need to pay the common user charge provided SPS checks take place at an inland control point.
James Barnes, HTA Chairman, said: “Whilst it is welcome that it has at last been published, the Common User Charge (CUC) announcement at the eleventh hour confirms our fears that in just one month, UK horticulture’s competitiveness will be again hit by a cost hike for no material gain. 90% of our growers import plants at some stage of the growing cycle. Nearly 100% are SMEs and, in theory, subject to 100% checks and charges. Today, they have near 0% access to the easements or alternatives to BCP usage.
“The CUC will levy a fee for every consignment eligible for inspection that enters Great Britain via the short straits route, regardless of whether the consignment is inspected at the Sevington Border Control Point (BCP). The fee is a user fee and will be charged at a rate of £29 per commodity line, capped at £145 per IPAFFS prenotification for all high and medium-risk goods (i.e. plants, seeds, bulbs & cut flowers). Our sector typically has multiple commodity lines per consignment, meaning, in reality, businesses in our sector will be paying the £145 maximum charge. This will be a huge new cost burden for many, hitting SMEs hard, particularly those using groupage. We are now working with our members to understand the details and impacts of the announcement. In due course, we expect to see port operators running commercial BCPs, who have also been awaiting this announcement, to share more information on their charges.
“While it is a relief that we at last have the headlines of the CUC, we await further detail and guidance. Developed without a full year of robust data set to determine true cost-recovery calculations, it is a policy that feels like it is constructed on the back of an envelope at best. Anyone who understands the seasons and the basics of nature will know what and how much we import differs throughout the year, hence the criticality of an annual data set on which to base this policy. As a sector expecting to be the highest user of BCPs, a majority of which are SMEs already experiencing wider increased cost pressures, we had sought an early announcement for business planning and certainty, a simple and proportionate approach per phytosanitary certificate.
“The CUC, whilst critical, is just one part of the jigsaw of the April border changes, a puzzle that is far from solved. BCPs do not have the capability to handle many of our loads, let alone the volumes, and we have no details on the so-called pragmatic approach. The pragmatic approach lacks any public detail or communication to give confidence or certainty that the lack of capacity or capability of BCPs to handle plants will not cause irreparable damage to an industry hit by extraordinary cost hikes this spring. This CUC announcement and border changes come at the worst time. The charges will undoubtedly increase costs, potentially reduce consumer choice, and increase the likelihood of empty shelves, thereby impacting biodiversity and meeting our nation's environmental targets.”
