CustomsClear
Prices
|
CustomsClear
+370 664 26393info@customsclear.net

Company

  • About company
  • Team members
  • Authors
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy policy

Knowledge platform

  • About the platform
  • Articles
  • Journal
  • Videos
  • Courses
  • Events
  • Platform news
  • Glossary

AI assistants

  • Start free trial
  • Explore assistants
  • Classify AI
  • Smart Taric AI
  • Sanctions AI
  • News agent
  • Learning companion
  • About CustomsClear AI

Newsletter

Subscribe for the latest news, top reads, and handy resources

LinkedInFacebookYouTubeX

© 2026 CC Learning, UAB, All rights reserved.

Cookie preferences

We use essential cookies to ensure our website functions properly. We would also like to use analytics cookies to help us understand how visitors interact with our website, enabling us to improve your experience.

Until you choose, and if you decline, Google gets only basic visit information without cookies, so we can still count visits.

  1. Home
  2. Articles

What does it mean to have a direct or indirect representative for customs clearance in the UK?

Jessica Yang
Director, JY XBorder Consulting LLC, Switzerland
Toby Spink
Director, BKR Consultants Limited, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Published 21 Jul 2021
What does it mean to have a direct or indirect representative for customs clearance in the UK?
Photo by Alice Yamamura on Unsplash
Case law
When goods cross a border, customs formalities need to be completed. The trader has the option to complete the formalities themselves, or engage someone else to do this for them. Generally, traders find someone, such as a customs agent, to complete the formalities for them. In this case, the customs agent would act as either a direct or an indirect representative. This article explains the difference between these two types of representations and what the responsibilities and liabilities are for both the trader and the customs agent.

Member access

Register on the platform and enjoy complimentary access to an article of your choice!

The article is available exclusively to our members.

Members have access to all videos, articles and online events! See membership plans

Already have an account?

Related content

View glossary entry

EORI number in the UK: GB and XI

13 Aug 2026

What a UK EORI number is, the difference between GB and XI numbers, who needs one, how to apply, and how to validate it.

Procedures
Customs clearance in UK in 2022: what could possibly go wrong?

Customs clearance in UK in 2022: what could possibly go wrong?

Jessica Yang
Jessica Yang
06 Feb 2022

Being aware of the many things that could go wrong with customs in 2022 will make you think about how to minimise risks.

Procedures
Country update
Three pitfalls to avoid in 2022 when moving goods between the EU and the UK

Three pitfalls to avoid in 2022 when moving goods between the EU and the UK

Jessica Yang
Jessica Yang
23 Nov 2021

It has almost been a year since the end of the Brexit transition period, meaning most businesses will have started settling comfortably into their new routine. However, it is important…

Procedures
Topic spotlight
View glossary entry

Digital product passport (DPP): the product record customs will check

20 Oct 2026

What the digital product passport is, which products must have one and from when, how the EU registry works, and what customs will check in the declaration.

Procedures
CJEU: placed at the wrong office, relief lost

CJEU: placed at the wrong office, relief lost

Editorial Board
Editorial Board
16 Jul 2026

Outward processing is a procedure many practitioners treat as routine: Union goods leave the EU temporarily, are worked on abroad, and return with import duty charged on only part of…

Procedures
News in focus
Changes to trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain as a result of the Windsor Framework

Changes to trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain as a result of the Windsor Framework

Michael Lux
Michael Lux
11 Jun 2023

!!! Updated article with adjustments made to the UCC !!! On 24 March 2023, the EU and the United Kingdom (UK) agreed to settle their dispute over the Northern Ireland…

Procedures
Country update
Customs Compliance & Risk Management, Issue 9, June / July 2021
Jessica Yang
Toby Spink
Procedures
Sanctions AI
Classify AI
Smart Taric AI