In response to pressure from the RYA, the UK Border Agency has revised the notification process for the submission of Customs Form C1331 to a more practical level.

Yachts engaging on non-EU voyages will no longer be required to submit Form C1331 in order that it is received by Customs prior to their departure, which the original revision to the form had stated.

The redrafted form now says that as long as the form has been sent prior to departure, it is not necessary for it to be received before departure.

The RYA’s chief legal officer, Gus Lewis, had pointed out to the Agency that the process, as it stood, was impractical for the many yachts engaging on non-EU voyages. The most common of these recreational trips is to the Channel Islands.

‘It may seem like a small thing to have got this changed but it would otherwise have had significant implications for those yachts travelling from the UK to non-EU destinations,’ he said. ‘We are therefore pleased that the Agency has responded positively to the RYA’s concerns’.

Form C1331 relates to ‘pleasure craft on non-EU voyages’ and Part 1 is required as notification of departure.

The UK Border Agency had made an unannounced revision to the notification process in June that required the form to be received by their office in Dover prior to departure.