SPE15250 - Destruction: requests to destroy goods
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-24)


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Any requests to send goods for destruction must be made to the supervising office so that authority can be given for the destruction to take place.

The request should be received 5 working day before the intended destruction is to take place in order to allow the supervising office to supervise the destruction if necessary.

The request should contain (at least) the following information:
- date and time of intended destruction
- description and quantity of goods to be destroyed
- stock rotation or reference number
- name of the company undertaking the destruction (if not the warehouse keeper)
- address of premises where the destruction will take place
- the method and process used to destroy the goods, also refer to SPE15255 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/customs-special-procedures/spe15255), and the
- signature of an authorised signatory.
The requirements detailed above should have been included in the trader's customs warehouse authorisation letter (at SPE15235 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/customs-special-procedures/spe15235)), for a private warehouse, but the request may come from a depositor in a public warehouse. The authorisation, if granted to the depositor (or where a warehouse keeper does not have the appropriate paragraphs in their authorisation letter) should also include the requirement to:
- provide the warehouse keeper (or have in the case of a warehouse keeper) a copy of the certificate of destruction from the disposal company used or, in the event of destruction on site, a self-certificate signed by the authorised signatory to the customs warehouse authorisation (in order to discharge the customs warehouse procedure)
- advise the warehouse keeper to record the destruction in the stock records (refer to SPE15265 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/customs-special-procedures/spe15265) for information to be included).
If as a result of destruction the goods have a residual commercial value (whether or not they have an economic use to the warehouse keeper, depositor or third party) and are not re-exported from the UK, duty is payable based on the description, value and duty rate applicable to those goods at the time of their entry to free circulation.

Note: If the original request does not contain sufficient information you should ensure that the applicant is asked to provide additional information.

Note: Northern Ireland (NI) customs authorisations will continue to fall within the provisions of the Union Customs Code (UCC), as retained by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and CEMA 1979.