Temporary storage, customs warehousing and Spain's non-customs warehouse: where your goods are before clearance

A situation and a procedure

Temporary storage and customs warehousing sound alike, but the customs code treats them differently. Temporary storage is the situation non-Union goods are in between their presentation to customs and their placement under a procedure or re-export. Customs warehousing is one of those procedures: it is chosen, declared and allows the goods to be stored with no time limit.

Temporary storage: the 90-day clock

Under Regulation (EU) 952/2013, non-Union goods are in temporary storage from the moment they are presented to customs (Art. 144). The temporary storage declaration is lodged at the latest at that moment and may be the manifest or transport document itself (Art. 145).

• Goods are kept in authorised temporary storage facilities or, where justified, in other places designated by customs (Art. 147).
• Only handling to preserve them unchanged is allowed, without altering their appearance or technical characteristics.
• Within 90 days they must be placed under a customs procedure or re-exported (Art. 149).
• If the time limit runs out, customs may sell or destroy them at the declarant's expense, or accept their abandonment, as the European Commission explains.

Operating a temporary storage facility requires authorisation: being established in the Union, offering the necessary assurance and providing a guarantee (Art. 148). The holder keeps records in the form approved by customs. Delegated Regulation 2015/2446 sets out their content: the reference to the temporary storage declaration, packages, quantities and description, the container, location and movements, customs status and handling.

Customs warehousing: no time limit

Under customs warehousing, goods are not subject to import duties, other charges or commercial policy measures (Art. 237), and may remain there with no time limit (Art. 238), unless customs sets one because of health or environmental risks. Usual forms of handling to preserve them or improve their presentation are allowed.

There are public warehouses, open to anyone, and private ones, for the authorisation holder itself (Art. 240). In Spain, the Tax Agency distinguishes:

• Public type I: both the authorisation holder and the procedure holder are liable.
• Public type II: only the procedure holder is liable.
• Public type III: operated by customs itself.
• Private: the authorisation holder and the procedure holder are the same person, who need not own the goods.

Goods are placed under the procedure with a warehouse placement declaration (DVD). The holder of a customs warehouse also needs a comprehensive guarantee authorisation, and stock records are kept in gross mass by default, although another unit can be chosen.

Spain's non-customs warehouse: VAT on hold

The non-customs warehouse (DDA) is a Spanish VAT instrument. The VAT Act, Law 37/1992, exempts supplies of goods placed in this warehouse and related services while they remain placed and are not used for final consumption (Art. 24). It mainly serves Union goods, which cannot enter customs warehousing, and the raw materials and products listed in Article 65.

• When goods leave the warehouse, the owner settles the VAT with form 380.
• The warehouse holder is jointly liable for that debt.
• The authorisation is only valid in Spain, and otherwise the warehouse follows customs warehousing rules.
• The application describes the main accounts and records, including the software used (Tax Agency instructions).

Excise tax warehouses

For alcohol, alcoholic drinks, tobacco or mineral oils there is the tax warehouse under Law 38/1992: an authorised establishment where products are stored, received, dispatched and processed under duty suspension. The Excise Regulation requires a prior guarantee and stock records that these establishments keep through the Tax Agency's online services.

Free zones

Free zones are enclosed areas with supervised access, designated by Member States (Arts. 243 to 249 of the 2013 code). Inside them, non-Union goods pay no duties while they remain, Union goods can enter without being placed under the procedure, and goods can be released for free circulation without leaving the zone.

The Canary Islands

VAT does not apply in the Canary Islands: IGIC and AIEM replace it. Law 20/1991 exempts from IGIC supplies of goods in temporary storage, free zones, customs warehousing and other suspension arrangements while they remain there, and from AIEM supplies of goods in free zones and warehouses. AIEM on these goods becomes due when they leave.

What is expected of a warehouse

Whatever the situation, customs expects the same: to know at any moment which goods are there, in which situation, where they are and what movements they have had. In practice, that means:

• Identifying each lot with its customs reference, packages, quantity and, if containerised, its container number.
• Recording location and every transfer, including within the same building.
• Tracking the customs or tax status of each stock item, not just of the zone it sits in.
• Controlling time limits: 90 days in temporary storage and 30 days to complete movements between warehouses under the Delegated Regulation.