PVA Imports & Exports

PVA Imports

All shipments of both new and serviced items will be dispatched to customers from QED’s USA facility under DAP Incoterms® 2020. In this arrangement, goods will be delivered to the customer's premises with QED covering the freight costs. Customers will be declared as the Importers of Record in their country and are responsible for the payment of customs charges at import such as Import VAT and Duty.  This is why all customers require an EORI number in order to both ship and receive goods.

Gas Analysers are exempt from Duty in the UK, whether they are imported following repair or purchased as new units. This also applies to most (but not all) spare parts supplied by QED. Import VAT will be applicable to all items regardless of the reason for import. However, for VAT-registered customers, the requirement to pay this VAT upfront at the point of import can be alleviated by employing the Postponed VAT Accounting (PVA) process.

This is a financial term that relates to the ability to account for import VAT on your VAT return and avoid inbound shipments to the UK getting stuck in customs, etc. Your Finance team or external accountant will be able to provide specific additional detail, if required.  Government guidance can also be found here: Check when you can account for import VAT on your VAT Return - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The rules also state you must be the owner of the goods or be the ‘person/business with the right to dispose of goods as owner at importation’ i.e., if you are a distributor who then re-sells the item domestically.

We strongly recommend the use of PVA for all imports, ensuring the swift delivery of goods without the need for upfront payment of VAT. If you opt for this procedure, we require you to tick the ‘YES’ box below and sign this document.

We will then send this document to our freight partner, Independent Freight Solutions. They will in turn advise all couriers of your requirements when goods are being imported.  Prior authorisation from HMRC is not required to make use of this procedure, only this written agreement.

Regarding shipments for service/calibration of units, there are a number of special customs procedures that exist for carrying out temporary exports, such as Outward Processing.  However, due to the fact that Gas Analysers are duty free and the ability to use PVA as described above, use of such procedures is not required and so unless we are specifically notified, all shipments will be imported into free circulation on CPC 40 00 000.

Exports

When exporting Gas Analysers from the UK, commodity code 9027101000 is used.  Goods covered by this code are highlighted as potentially requiring an export control licence from the UK government.  This does not mean that QED’s gas analysers require a licence, only that similar goods in that classification may.  It is a requirement of customs that the exporter confirms whether an export licence is required or not dependent on the specifications of the item.  More information on export control licences can be found here if required: UK strategic export controls - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As the manufacturer of the goods, we have compared the criteria in the UK for export control licences to the specifications of our gas analysers and do not believe that a licence is required.  However, as QED is not the exporter of the goods from the UK, this confirmation cannot be made on behalf of customers.  For that reason, we ask that you confirm to us here that your goods do not require a licence so that we can keep this on file and pass the information on to our freight partner for customs clearance purposes.