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Brexit help

International Orders Post Brexit

The UK is no longer part of the EU or the single market. There are many changes to consider if you import our products. If you have any questions or need further information please email internationalsales@suma.coop and the team will do their best to help.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland (NI) is part of the UK, however the open border between north and south means that NI trade must now adhere to the same customs requirements as those between the UK and EU/3rd countries, and a customs border has been created between GB and NI.

Customers in NI are responsible for processing their own customs declarations and can do this by registering with the Trades Support Service (TSS). If products attract import tariffs, the customer is responsible for covering the cost.

At present we can’t supply chilled, frozen or body care products to our customers in NI, we are looking for alternatives and will update you as soon as we can. Suma would be able to supply chilled and frozen goods only if the customer arranges and covers the transport and processes their own customs declarations.

Please note that there are no changes to VAT for NI customers.

Brexit FAQs

Our GB EORI is GB313417003000 and our Northern Ireland EORI is XI313417003000.

It is easy to apply for an EORI number, just search on your government website for more information.
For NI customers you will need NI (starting with XI) and GB EORI numbers. You can apply for those here.

Yes. Our reference number is GBEIR313417003000120190301113622

Yes. Our Duty Deferment Account number is 9092375.

Our VAT number is GB 313 417 003

Organic products cannot move from the UK to NI*, EU or some 3rd countries without a Certificate of Inspection (COI). Your business must hold a valid organic license, and you must be registered as an organic operator on TRACESNT.
We can produce the COI for you (for an additional cost which we can discuss with you) or you can complete this yourself.

*Please note there is a grace period relating to organic specific checks at borders for goods travelling from GB to NI, but only for goods intended to be sold in NI. This grace period ends 30/09/21.

An Export Health Certificate (EHC) is needed to accompany any dairy or product of animal origin (POAO) – including honey, eggs and beeswax – from the UK to the EU or other 3rd countries. This includes products where the POAO is an ingredient (known as composite products).
We, unfortunately, cannot produce EHCs so the only food products we can export to you are vegan only.

If you import products from the UK (Suma), you must be aware that, depending on where they originate from, you will be responsible for paying any tariffs that potentially could apply.

Under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), goods that are imported into the EU will be eligible for zero tariffs if they have UK-originating status. The originating status is the ‘economic nationality’ of each product and will be shown on your invoice. Please note that it must be either wholly obtained in the UK for a product to be assigned UK-originating status, produced from exclusively the UK or EU originating materials, or sufficiently processed in the UK according to product-specific rules. To highlight, products that are shipped from the UK may not necessarily be UK-originating. This applies to the movement of goods from the UK to Northern Ireland.

Either Suma as an exporter or you as importer can claim preference on our UK-originating goods, based on our origin declaration statement on the invoice or through ‘importer’s knowledge’.
Goods that do not meet the rules of origin can still be imported into the EU but they will not be able to benefit from preference under the TCA and may have to pay the standard (“Most Favoured Nation”) tariffs that the EU apply to imports.

Incoterms are important as they show who is responsible for paying customs clearances, duties and VAT. Incoterms will be clearly displayed on our invoices. We currently offer EXWORKS, FCA and DAP incoterms. We regrettably cannot offer DDP.

Currently, we are unable to ship body care/cosmetic items to the EU and NI, as there are several strict requirements for these types of products. In terms of cleaning products/detergents, we advise that you check this as each country differs from the importing requirements for these.

Additional ordering information

Once your order has been placed, we cannot accept additional items. This is due to strict invoicing requirements to which Suma now must adhere.
We are experiencing issues with temperature-controlled deliveries, and cannot offer this service at this time.
The time between ordering and delivery will increase. There is a lot of extra paperwork and documentation involved now which has an impact on the order turnaround.