Guides / Excise goods GB–EU · Updated 30 September 2026

Shipping alcohol and tobacco between GB and the EU: excise guide for businesses

Commercial loads of wine, spirits, beer or tobacco move under two regimes at once: customs and excise. Here is how duty suspension, excise warehouses and EMCS fit together for trade between Great Britain and the EU.

This guide is also available in Polish.

Why excise goods are different

Alcohol and tobacco carry a tax that ordinary goods do not: excise duty. For a commercial shipment between Great Britain and the EU, that means you are running two regimes at once. Customs formalities (declarations, tariff classification, origin, import VAT) sit on one side; excise control (who holds the goods, whether duty has been paid, and how the movement is recorded) sits on the other. HMRC guidance is explicit that when you export duty-suspended goods you must comply with all excise requirements "as well as any separate customs export declaration requirements". Treating a pallet of wine like a pallet of furniture is the fastest way to end up with an unexpected duty bill.

Duty suspension in plain terms

Duty suspension lets excise goods be stored and moved without the duty being paid straight away, as long as they stay inside the approved system. HMRC's Excise Notice 196 describes the main roles:

• Authorised warehousekeeper – a person approved to run an excise warehouse where duty-suspended goods are produced or stored. They must be fit and proper, keep detailed records and meet storage conditions.
• Registered consignor – a person approved to dispatch imported excise goods under duty suspension on their release to free circulation, for example to a tax warehouse or to a place of export.
• Owner of goods – the business whose stock is held in the warehouse, which has its own obligations to HMRC.

Guarantees underpin the whole arrangement. HMRC distinguishes premises guarantees (covering stock held in a warehouse) from movement guarantees (covering goods in transit), and warns that your liability is not limited to the size of the guarantee.

Importing alcohol or tobacco from the EU into Great Britain

On import, excise duty becomes payable when the goods are released for consumption in the UK. If you want to delay paying excise duty, HMRC's guidance says the goods must be placed in an approved excise warehouse; the customs import formalities still have to be completed first. In practice there are two routes:

1. Duty paid on import – the goods are declared for free circulation and home use, and customs duty, excise duty and import VAT are accounted for together on the CDS import declaration.
2. Released to duty suspension – the goods are cleared through customs and then moved under excise duty suspension to a warehouse. HMRC states that non-UK goods imported through a UK port or airport may only move in duty suspension to allowable destinations when a registered consignor has started the movement. The registered consignor must have a valid guarantee in place and include the customs import entry number on the electronic administrative document.

Whichever route you choose, you still need an EORI number, the correct commodity code and the right customs procedure code, which our guide to customs procedure codes explains.

EMCS: how duty-suspended movements are recorded

The Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) is the online system used to record movements of excise goods within the UK and the EU. The consignor submits an electronic administrative document (e-AD) and the system issues a unique Administrative Reference Code (ARC) that must accompany the goods. The receiving business must submit a report of receipt through EMCS no later than 5 business days after the goods arrive, recording any shortages or surpluses.

Exporting from a GB excise warehouse to the EU

So how do goods leave a GB warehouse for an EU buyer? Under Excise Notice 197, a movement from a UK tax warehouse to the place where the goods leave UK territory must still use EMCS. The warehousekeeper raises the e-AD, the goods travel with the ARC, and duty suspension is discharged when a report of export confirms the goods have left the UK. If no report of export is generated, the notice points to alternative evidence of export.

Running in parallel is the customs export declaration, which is a separate obligation. If the load travels under a transit procedure through the short straits, that is a customs matter too; see our guide to T1 transit from the UK to the EU. On arrival, the EU consignee deals with import and excise formalities under the rules of the destination country, which are outside HMRC guidance.

Duty stamps and fiscal marks: what has changed

Many older guides still say certain spirits need UK duty stamps. That is out of date. HMRC's Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2025) confirms that the Alcohol Duty Stamps Scheme ended on 1 May 2025. It had covered larger retail containers of high-strength spirits, wine and other fermented products. From that date both legacy stamped products and unstamped products may be sold, and businesses must keep existing stamp records for at least three years from when each record was made.

Tobacco is different. HMRC guidance says you must include a fiscal mark if you import or manufacture certain tobacco products in the UK, so tobacco importers should check the fiscal marking rules before goods are packed.

Importer checklist

• Decide early whether goods will be duty paid on import or released to duty suspension.
• If using suspension, confirm who is the registered consignor and that a guarantee is in place.
• Check the receiving warehouse is approved and can accept the goods on EMCS.
• Make sure the e-AD quotes the customs import entry number where required.
• For exports from GB, plan both the EMCS movement to the place of exit and the separate customs export declaration.
• Keep the report of export or alternative evidence of export on file.
• Do not budget or plan around alcohol duty stamps; check tobacco fiscal mark rules instead.

For a short overview of the charges that apply when bringing wine and spirits in, including how excise sits alongside customs duty and VAT, see Plutos' guide to wine and spirits import duty explained. If you are unsure whether you need outside help with the declarations, read do you need a broker?.

Related guides

• Exporting UK gin, whisky and beer to Poland: excise, stamps and duty

• Customs warehousing in the UK: storing imports with duty and VAT suspended

• Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework: a guide for traders

Sources

• Registration and approval of excise goods held in duty suspension (Excise Notice 196) (GOV.UK)
• Receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197) (GOV.UK)
• How to register and use the Excise Movement and Control System (GOV.UK)
• Receiving, storing and moving excise goods (GOV.UK)
• Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2025): Ending the Alcohol Duty Stamp Scheme (GOV.UK)

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.