In the April 5 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom will give U.S. companies an additional 60 days to submit documentation for value-added tax (VAT) refund claims covering 2017-18 in light of disruptions caused by the recent U.S. federal government shutdown, the U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs said in an updated guidance document. As a result of the partial shutdown, U.S. companies may not have been able to obtain a valid certificate of status proving their U.S. business registration, HMRC said. The revised deadline for the certificates for 2017-18 refund claims is now May 30. The deadline for claimants from all other countries remains March 31, 2019. “In all cases, all other documentary evidence required to process the 2017 to 2018 claims must have been submitted by 31 December 2018,” HMRC said. Under the Overseas Refund Scheme, companies not based in the U.K. or European Union may “reclaim VAT charged on imports into the UK or purchases of goods and services used in the UK for business purposes.”

In the April 3 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

In the April 3 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom on April 2 signed a trade continuity agreement with Norway and Iceland, the U.K. Department for International Trade said in a press release. The agreement, which takes effect in the event the U.K. leaves the European Union with no transition deal in place -- currently scheduled for April 12 -- “maintains the same level of tariffs on goods traded between the UK, Iceland and Norway,” the release said. “Trading on these preferential terms in a no deal scenario, rather than on World Trade Organization terms, will deliver significant savings and help to safeguard British jobs.”

In the April 2 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs on April 2 updated its notice on deferring duty, value-added tax (VAT) and other import charges. Updated sections include what can be deferred, payments, guarantees, deferment approval, procedure, statements and duty deferment approval criteria. The information in the notice had not been updated substantively since it was first issued in March 2009.

The European Union on March 29 published a new, overhauled version of its regulations on mutual recognition of goods. Under EU rules, any good lawfully marketed in one member state may be marketed in all other member states, and can’t be denied entry for not meeting regulatory requirements except in certain special cases. The new regulation clarifies the application of the rule, specifying that it also applies to agricultural and fisheries products. It also sets requirements for an optional “mutual recognition declaration” that may be used to demonstrate to an EU member state government that a product is already legally marketed elsewhere in the EU and must be allowed to be marketed in that EU member state. Also, among other things, the regulation sets requirements for each EU member state to have “Product Contact Points” that may be contacted by industry to get information on regulations and technical standards in any EU member state. The regulation is effective April 19, 2020.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs issued a guidance document March 29 detailing value-added tax procedures for imports from Ireland should the U.K. leave the EU with no deal on April 12, as scheduled. Once the U.K. leaves the EU, import VAT will be due on goods moving from Ireland to Northern Ireland, whether those goods are ending their journey in Northern Ireland or are only moving through on the way to Great Britain, HMRC said.

The European Union published a new edition of its Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature tariff schedule in the March 29 Official Journal. “The Explanatory Notes to the CN are considered to be an important aid for interpreting the scope of the various tariff headings but do not have legally binding force,” the EU Commission said in an emailed press release. “The latest version is now available from EU Official Journal C 119 of 29 March 2019. It includes and, where appropriate, replaces those published in the EU Official Journal, C series, up to 4 January 2019.”