Exporting Books & Paper from UK to EU

Cost-effective exports from the UK and across the Globe

The publishing industry in the United Kingdom is thriving, with books, electronic publishing, journals, newspapers publishing industries growing 1% each year on average.

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Exporting Books & Paper from UK to EU

You may be a publisher receiving manuscripts or an institution sending paperwork for a patent in a European country. The good news is that exporting books & paper from the UK to the EU is relatively easy compared to most other goods. Here is what you need to do to get your manuscript, magazines, patent documents and other paperwork to the EU from the UK.

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EORI Numbers and VAT registration

Before the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into place, UK businesses were allowed to operate with EU Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers. This arrangement has now changed. To import into the United Kingdom, you need an EORI number corresponding to the respective region. For instance, a GB EORI number to import into England, Scotland or Wales and an IX EORI number to import into Northern Ireland.

REQUIREMENTS

Export Requirements

Classify your Books

Books and papers generally fall under chapter 49 of the HS classification system. For example:

  • When exporting books from the UK to the EU including, brochures, and similar printed matter, use the code 490110,
  • when shipping encyclopaedias and dictionaries, use the code 490191,
  • When shipping newspapers and journals, use the code 490210,
  • If you are exporting children’s picture, drawing or colouring books, use the code 490300
  • For music, printed or in a manuscript, you will use the code 490400, and
  • When exporting globe i9n form of books, use the code 490510.

When exporting cardboard from the UK to the EU use the code 481910

Preferential VAT and Duty Rates

The VAT tax act of 1994 lists books that are sold to consumers at 0%VAT as zero-rated. However, you must still record your exported books and paper in your VAT accounting and report them on your VAT return. Some of the items that you can export under zero-rating are:

  • The first category consists of books (literacy, reference, and antique books), pamphlets, and brochures.
  • The second category is journals, newspapers and periodicals.
  • Children’s picture and painting books are also zero-rated.
  • Musical text, as a manuscript, printed or duplicated, is also under group 3 items in schedule 8
  • Under the same group are topographical plans, maps and charts.

School workbooks, exam papers and other educational text in question and answer format is zero-rated. Questionnaires also fall under this category because the space given for filling in the response qualifies questionnaires to be a book, booklet or brochure.

Declare Your Export

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and UK requires that all goods moving between the two markets be accompanied by a customs declaration document. Before starting the export process, ensure that you have all necessary licenses and permits and comply with all quotas.

Any mistakes in the customs declarations document can cause delays at the border and serious legal consequences. Therefore, you might want to entrust this part of the process to a specialist freight forwarder.

We are friendly, easy to work with, honest and we do not charge the earth.

Here at Barrington Freight, we are experts in providing convenient and cost-effective export services to the EU and the rest of the world. Our capable freight forwarding team offers international deliveries by road, sea and air and has the necessary knowledge to handle the customs process. Choose our dedicated next day delivery service, and we will send our express vehicles along with a two-person team to ensure your export gets to its destination in time. Find us at the Bowden Terminal in Essex or contact us today for a quote!

Sophie Benge
Sophie Benge
2024-02-06
Joshua at Barrington Freight is friendly and patient. Their service hassle-free and affordable compared to other freight forwarders.
Alex Burton
Alex Burton
2024-02-04
Fantastic service from Barrington Freight. It was our first time exporting goods from the UK and it was very reassuring to have them manage the shipment. The process was made easy and hassle free and Simon was always quick to respond to any queries. I would highly recommend.
Mat Wilkinson
Mat Wilkinson
2024-01-22
these guys are excellent. Incredibly helpful, flexible and friendly- i cant recommend them highly enough- genuinely a brilliant team.
Top Tips
Top Tips
2023-11-14
The guys at Barrington are brilliant! I've used them for my shipments for around 12 years now and they never let you down. Always happy to help with anything!
David Darrock
David Darrock
2023-11-10
Barrington Freight are extremely helpful and professional, promptly answering any questions or queries. Communication from them has been great and they have taken the difficulty out of importing freight.
Scott Glazebrook
Scott Glazebrook
2023-11-01
Our business is the supply of high end luxury furniture and as such we rely on Barrington Freight to provide a 5* delivery service which they have done time and time again. Reliable, friendly and efficient sums up this great approachable freight forwarding business.
Krishan Dhillon
Krishan Dhillon
2023-11-01
10/10, dealt with everything start to finish. Customer service was friendly and helpful
Sharmane Barrett
Sharmane Barrett
2023-10-20
We had a last minute request and Lee was fantastic in helping us to arrange transportation and facilitate delivery from Europe, very quickly with no hiccups. I would highly recommend.
Simon Edgecombe
Simon Edgecombe
2023-10-16
HAVING USED MANY SHIPPERS TO IMPORT OUR GOODS FROM THE USA (NONE OUTSTANDING) I DECIDED THIS TIME TO HAVE A SEARCH AROUND TO SEE IF I COULD FIND A BETTER OPTION. I FOUND BARRINGTON FREIGHT AFTER EMAILING MANY OTHERS, SOME OF THEM (UPS,DHL,FEDEX) SIMPLY TOOK SO LONG TO CONTACT ME, THAT IT BECAME STUPID, SIMON AT BARRINGTON CAME BACK TO ME VIRTUALLY STRAIGHT AWAY WITH A VERY GOOD PRICE, ALSO GOOD SHIPPING TIMES. NOW A SERVICE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE RESULTS, AND THEY WERE AS GOOD AS THEIR WORD. HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND THEM AND SIMON AT BARRINGTON FREIGHT WILL BE THE FIRST PERSON WE GO TO NEXT TIME, WELL DONE!!