Bristol firms that have imported goods from countries in the EU this year are being urged to complete their full declarations or face a possible fine or prosecution as the final deadline approaches.
Regional business group Business West, which is authorised by HMRC to process supplementary customs declarations, said companies needed to submit their ‘supplementary declarations’ if they did not do so at the time of import. 
The deadline for making a full declaration for EU imports that arrived after December 31 is next Friday, June 25.
Business West head of international trade services Catherine Stephens, pictured, said: “It is crucial that companies that chose to delay their important declarations act now to ensure that they do not incur fines or face prosecution.
“If businesses need support they should get in touch with us without delay. Our expert team with years of experience in completing export documentation will ensure that all paperwork is completed accurately.”
A supplementary declaration is an electronic message submitted to HMRC using the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight system (CHIEF) or Customs Declaration Service (CDS). 
Businesses need to make a supplementary declaration after they have made an entry in their own declarations – known as ‘entry in declarant’s records’ or EIDR – or if they have made a simplified frontier declaration, or simplified declaration procedure.
Firms make these declarations into their commercial records and delay sending HMRC the full information about their goods by up to 175 days from the date of import.
More information on the process and what the declarations must include can be found here.
Business West is authorised by HMRC to process supplementary customs declarations and will ensure that all the correct information is submitted.
Any mistakes or errors in declarations could incur penalties or fines. Companies can find more information on Business West’s customs declarations service here
For firms wishing to complete customs declarations themselves, Business West, which runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce, is also hosting customs declaration training. Find out more here
