ATRs or Advanced Tariff Rulings, are classification decisions by the UK Customs Authorities. If you are unsure about the correct classification of a commodity, or if you would like certainty on how customs would classify a product, you can contact UK Customs and apply for an ATR. Note that you will need a UK EORI number.
ATRs have been issued by UK Customs since Brexit, that is, from January 1st, 2021. Before that date, the UK, like other EU member states, issued similar classification decisions, called BTIs (Binding Tariff Information).
A BTI is a decission by EU customs authorities on the applicable Combined Nomenclature (CN) commodity code for the goods. Until Brexit, BTIs were also used in the UK. Since then, the UK uses Advance Tariff Rulings.
New ATRs and historical ATRs in Taric Support
Taric Support has added all iATRs issued by UK Cusotms to its database. In addition to being the only platform where you can find all BTIs from 2009 onwards, Taric Support now also includes all ATRs. This makes it even easier to look back at previous decisions by customs authorities on the classification of goods. This is a great help in determining the correct commodity codes.
Disclaimer
Please note that the abbreviation ATR has two meanings: it is an abbreviation for Advance Tariff Ruling, the UK’s replacement for BTI, but also a certificate (Admission Temporaire Roulette) proving that industrial products have been in free circulation in the EU or Turkey. As Turkey and the EU form a customs union, these goods can therefore be imported from Turkey and exported to Turkey duty free.