EXS - FAQ
1. What is the purpose of an Exit Summary Declaration (EXS)?
It is to provide details to Customs for Safety & Security (S&S) risk assessment of goods exiting from the Community when the necessary data is not provided in any other way.
2. I am exporting goods from the UK and am making an export declaration to CHIEF. Do I also need an EXS?
No – your CHIEF export declaration will contain the data to enable us to carry out an exit risk assessment. Additional S&S fields were inserted in to the CHIEF export declaration format in July 2009for this purpose and you are reminded that the completion of these fields is almost always required.
3. Does this also apply if my export goods are exiting the Community via another MemberState?
Yes - unless a request has been made for goods to be treated as travelling under Single Transport Contract terms, your goods should be moving under the Export Control System (ECS) with an Export Accompanying Document (EAD) which confirms to the Member State where the goods will be exiting the Community that risk assessment has already been carried out in the UK.
4. What are Single Transport Contract (STC) terms?
Commission Regulation 2454/93 also referred to as the Community Customs Code Implementing Provisions (CCCIP) Article 793.2.b applies - this is where a carrier (e.g. shipping line or airline) takes the goods under their control and is guaranteeing delivery to the final destination outside of the Community. This would normally be indicated by the existence of a Through Bill of Lading or Through Air Waybill and goods are considered to have exited the Community at the point when the STC starts. However, it should be noted that STC treatment for Customs purposes must be requested at the point at which it commences - see also Q16.
5. So, all goods not requiring an export declaration now need an EXS. Aren’t there some exceptions to this general rule?
Yes. Aside from the scenarios listed at section 2C of the main body of this CIP, where an EXS is not required, there is also a long list of general exemptions from the need to supply safety and security data at all, or to comply with the export declaration lodgement time limits laid down in Article 592b of the CCCIP. These are laid down in Articles 592a and 842a of the CCIP.
6. Which are?
This list of exemptions includes post, energy, military goods, parts for offshore installations and goods for consumption on vessels or aircraft. Unless identified below, these remain as exemptions.
7. So what areas have been identified that don’t need a CHIEF export declaration but are not otherwise exempted?
In very simple terms, shipper owned empty containers and some very specific transhipment traffic.
8. Do I need an EXS for all empty containers leaving the EU?
No, only where the carrier is being paid to move the container belonging to a customer (i.e. a container they themselves do not own or lease) and for which they will be issuing a Bill of Lading. This is comparatively rare.
9. What do you mean by transhipments?
In this context, transhipment means goods moving between one means of transport and another at the same place – e.g. arriving at Felixstowe by sea from the USA, waiting on the port for a short period, then leaving Felixstowe onto another vessel for South Africa.It can also include goods being transhipped within the Community more than once.
10.You are interested in S&S risks. Surely goods of this type will have been risk assessed by the Import Control System (ICS) when they arrived from the USA?
Correct – so it is only necessary to consider carrying out a further risk assessment if the transhipment in any way appears different. This has been adjudged as when a transhipping consignment stays at an EU port or airport (effectively in temporary storage) for more than 14 days or when the carrier moving the goods onwards either does not know the content of the original ICS declaration or knows that these details have now been changed. An EXS would then be necessary.
11. So is an EXS always required for non-Community goods being transhipped under the above conditions?
Not necessarily. If transhipment involves a move between berths/sheds and is covered by an NCTS declaration to an Office of Destination which is also the Office of Exit, an EXS is not required.
Transhipment goods destined to a country subject to restrictive measures under an EU Sanction Regulations, shall be subject to an EXS in accordance with relevant provisions under the sanctions legislation.
(i.e. Restrictive measures against Iran Regulation 961/2010 Article 27)
12. Does the EXS transhipment requirement only apply to goods arriving from non-Community countries such as the USA?
No. If Community goods under export control move to another Member State for transhipment on a means of transport that is not authorised (i.e. under CCCIP Articles 313a (air) or 313b (sea)), they lose their Community status and will be placed into Temporary Storage when arriving at the next Community port of call. These may also need an EXS if they remain in that port for more than 14 days or if the carrier cannot prove their previous history.
13. How can the carrier prove their history?
Recent amendments to the CCCIP have introduced new requirements for goods being transhipped that may also apply to EU goods moving under export control.
CCCIP Article 796d.1.a states that in such instances, the holder of the goods (first carrier) must advise the next holder of the goods (temporary storage operator and/or next carrier) of sufficient details to prove the status of the goods before they can be loaded. These details includedata items to aid identification such as UCRs, transport document reference numbers (e.g. Bills of Lading/TAWBs), container numbers and if issued, a previous MemberState’s MRN.
14. Will UK Customs be introducing additional control or data requirements for transhipping traffic?
Therecent amendments referred to in Q13 also included the introduction of a ‘re-export notification’ where an EXS is not required and also that this notification process can be satisfied by the use of existing commercial port or transport systems (CCCIP Article 841a.1).
UK Customs are content that existing port and airport systems currently have functionality that satisfactorily allows the tracking of re-export goods and, aside from the need for EXS as advised in this CIP, intend to introduce no additional requirements at this time.
15. Are there any other scenarios when an EXS is required for Community status goods?
One more – Community status goods (e.g. from the UK) moving to another MemberState (e.g. Cyprus) but being transhipped in anon-Community country (e.g. by sea at Port Said in Egypt). Clearly no export declaration is required but the goods are going to be temporarily exiting the EU so it is necessary to assess any risks involved in this movement.
16. Does the proper use of STC remove the need for an EXS for transhipments?
Yes – CCCIP Article 842.a.1 refers to lodging the EXS at the Office of Exit. Where STC treatment has been requested at that point, the Office of Exit is where the STC starts and subsequent Community transhipment ports normally need to take no further action. However a re-export notification(as mentioned at Q13) will almost certainly be required at these subsequent ports.
17. So when necessary, how do I make an EXS declaration in the UK?
In common with all other UK export declaration processing, a new IEXS transaction has been included within CHIEF. The CPC to be used is 1000046 and the UK UCR for any such declarations must be linked into inventory transhipment or empty container processing.
18. Who should I contact after 1st January 2011 if I have any further questions?
You should contact our export help desk, whose contact details are shown at section 5 of the main text of this CIP.