Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any international agreement obliges them to require importers to complete full customs declarations, other than declarations of origin, for goods coming from other countries within a free trade area in which there are no tariffs or quotas.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK is party to a number of international agreements that provide for obligations and recommended practices around customs procedures and declarations, such as the Revised Kyoto Convention.
Obligations as to the precise form of the UK customs declarations for imports are established by the UK’s domestic legislation. There is no general exemption regarding the contents of customs declarations for goods being imported under a free trade agreement, including imports that are tariff free and quota free.