BTI
Also known as: Binding Tariff Information, bindende tariefinlichting
A BTI is binding tariff information: a written decision of Customs on the goods code of a concrete product. It is valid for three years across the EU, for holder and Customs.
What is a BTI and what does it fix?
A BTI is a decision in which Customs records under which code a specific product falls in the nomenclature. The decision is binding on the holder and on the customs authorities in all member states, for three years, as long as the nomenclature and the product do not change in substance. It fixes the classification, not the origin and not the value. A BTI does not say whether there is preference on it, not which rate you pay tomorrow, and not whether an inspection is needed. Those consequences follow from the code, and the code follows from the BTI. You apply for a BTI when the classification is doubtful and the financial or compliance interest is large. Two plausible headings with ten percentage points difference on an annual volume of millions is the classic reason. Apply for the BTI on the product as it crosses the border, not on the catalogue name. A set, a kit or a machine with accessories is what Customs sees. The BTI must describe that, or it does not cover the consignment.
How do you apply for a BTI in the Netherlands?
The application runs electronically via the European BTI system, with Dutch Customs as the handling authority if you are established here. You supply the product description, composition, function, photos or samples, and the classification you yourself advocate with the reasoning from the heading text and the notes. Customs checks against the nomenclature, against existing BTIs and against classification regulations. A BTI that would conflict with an existing one is not issued. The Commission watches uniformity between member states. Handling takes months, not days. Anyone who needs the BTI for the next container is too late. Anyone who needs it for a product line that runs for years is on time. File the application before the discussion with Customs is a recovery. Supply samples or clear photos, and the composition in percentages if that chooses the heading. An application without those facts comes back with questions, and the months count again. Filing incomplete is being ready later.
When must you use a BTI on the declaration?
If you are the holder, you must invoke the BTI. It is not optional for as long as it is valid. The BTI reference number belongs on the import declaration. Without that number you declare outside the decision, and that is a finding. The BTI only applies to the product described in it. A variant with a different composition, a different function or an extra component is another product. The BTI does not apply there, even if it looks like the same article in the catalogue. Other declarants may not use the BTI. It is personal to the holder. It is visible in the public BTI database, and that database is a source when substantiating your own classification, without the binding force. Put the BTI number in the article master data, mandatory on every IMA. A declarant who sometimes leaves the number off turns a binding decision into an optional annex. That is the reverse of what the BTI is.
What if the nomenclature changes or Customs changes its mind?
If the nomenclature changes so that the code lapses or splits, the BTI in principle ends. The holder must classify again, and can apply for a new BTI. The year turn of the GN is the moment to walk existing BTIs. Customs can withdraw or amend a BTI if it turns out to be wrong, or if a classification regulation cuts across it. A transition then applies, so that running contracts do not carry the wrong rate from one day to the next. A BTI does not protect against a measure. Anti-dumping on the recorded code applies as normal. The BTI says which code, TARIC says what sits on it. Anyone who has a BTI on a heading with dumping pays dumping. Report a withdrawal internally the same day. A BTI that no longer applies and still stands on the IMA is a finding. The code may still happen to be right. The reference then is not.
How does a BTI relate to your own classification?
Without a BTI you classify yourself, according to the six rules, the heading text and the notes. That classification is your responsibility. At a check you must be able to explain it. A BTI takes that discussion away for the described product. The BTI is not a free pass for the whole range. Every article that differs in substance falls back on your own classification. An importer with five hundred SKUs does not apply for five hundred BTIs. He applies for them for the headings where the doubt costs money. In DMS the BTI is a document reference, not a replacement of the ten-digit code. The code must still stand on the item line. The BTI substantiates why that code is the right one. Use the public database as a source, not as a free pass. A BTI of another holder on a similar product is a pointer. Your classification remains yours until you have a BTI yourself, or until Customs follows it.
What goes wrong with BTIs in practice?
The first error is a BTI that lies in a drawer and not on the declaration. The holder is bound, the IMA does not name it, and Customs sees a classification without the decision that already exists. The second is applying a BTI to a variant. The sample was a steel frame, the consignment is the same frame with a motor. That is another essential character, another heading, and the BTI does not cover it. The third is waiting until the recovery. A BTI works forward. It does not make yesterday's classification right with retroactive effect, except where the rules expressly allow that. When in doubt apply first, then run volume. Applying for a BTI during a check is damage limitation, not a strategy. Customs judges the consignments already in on the rules of then. The BTI, when it comes, covers the line going forward.