Destruction
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-30)

How to destroy goods held under customs warehousing procedure.

Types of destruction allowed in a customs warehouse

Destruction can be split into two areas:

total destruction, where the goods are rendered totally unusable

destruction which creates a secondary or residual product, for example the cutting up into rags of textile goods

Because of the ever-increasing environmental issues, more and more companies are seeking ways in which goods intended for destruction can be recycled to generate a residual product, for example paper, glass or tyres. Where a secondary or residual product is created, the goods must be declared to free circulation and any customs debt applicable to the secondary or residual product is accounted for. There is no customs duty liability when the goods have been totally destroyed.

Requests to destroy goods

Before goods can be destroyed, a request must be made to the supervising office so that authority can be given for the destruction to take place.

The request should be sent a minimum of 5 working days before the intended destruction takes place, to allow the supervising office to supervise the destruction if required. Details of the supervising office can be found in the customs warehousing authorisation letter.

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 warehousekeeper)
- address of premises where the destruction will take place
- the method and process used to destroy the goods
- signature of an authorised signatory
These requirements should be included in the customs warehousing authorisation letter, 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 warehousekeeper does not have the appropriate paragraphs in their authorisation letter) should also include the requirement to:
- provide the warehousekeeper (or have in the case of a warehousekeeper) 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 (to discharge the customs warehousing procedure) and send the post-destruction certificate to the supervising office
- advise the warehousekeeper to record the destruction in the stock records — more information can be found at how to record destruction in a customs warehouse
If the goods have a residual commercial value because of the destruction (whether or not they have an economic use to the warehousekeeper, 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.

After the authorised destruction, a certificate confirming the destruction will need to be sent to the supervising office.

Allowable methods of destruction

Once a request has been submitted to the supervising office, they will determine if the method of destruction is allowed.

In general, operations to change the nature of the original import goods cannot be undertaken whilst the goods are under the customs warehousing arrangements. In most cases, the operations can be carried out under cover of an authorisation for inward processing.

Recording destruction in a customs warehouse

All destructions should be noted in the customs warehousing records and be adequately evidenced. For example, the destroyed goods must be able to be linked through the records to the original import entry and to its subsequent disposal to either another customs procedure (when there’s a residual product) or by reference to a certificate of destruction (in the case of total destruction) for the goods.

Unauthorised destruction

A customs debt will be incurred where destruction is undertaken without permission from the supervising office allowing the destruction to take place.