Guides / Customs comprehensive guarantee (CCG) · Updated 19 October 2026

Customs comprehensive guarantee (CCG): what it covers and how to apply

A customs comprehensive guarantee (CCG) lets one guarantee cover many UK customs debts: transit movements, deferred duty or goods under special procedures. Whether you need one depends on what you do and where: transit usually needs one, GB customs warehousing usually does not. Here is how the CCG works, what reductions are possible and how to apply.

This guide is also available in Polish.

What a customs comprehensive guarantee (CCG) is

A guarantee is a promise from a guarantor to HMRC to cover duty that is not paid. HMRC notes that the guarantor is normally a bank or financial institution. A customs comprehensive guarantee is the reusable version: one authorisation and one guarantee that sit behind many declarations, instead of a fresh guarantee for each movement.

HMRC's guidance says a CCG can cover Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT, and is aimed at businesses that regularly import goods or use common and Union transit. It can support three kinds of activity:

• Duty deferment: paying import duties and VAT later through a deferment account.
• Common and Union transit: moving goods under duty suspension, for example a T1 movement from Great Britain to the EU.
• Special procedures and temporary storage: such as inward processing, temporary admission and customs warehousing, where the guarantee covers Customs Duty and excise duty.

When you actually need a CCG

This is where most confusion comes from. A CCG is not required for every duty-suspension procedure, and the rules differ between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. HMRC's guarantee requirements break down like this:

So a GB business running a customs warehouse may never need a CCG, while a haulier or forwarder lodging regular transit declarations almost certainly will. HMRC also says that occasional users, such as businesses making no more than three common transit movements a year, would normally use a single (individual) guarantee instead. For how a guarantee is referenced on each transit declaration, see transit guarantees and NCTS explained.

How much the guarantee must cover

When you apply, you estimate the maximum amount the guarantee needs to cover. HMRC calls this the reference amount, and it is worked out differently depending on the use:

• Duty deferment: the maximum monthly amount of Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT you expect to defer. HMRC calls this "actual debt", because it will become payable.
• Transit: the maximum amount that could become due on movements open at any one time. This is "potential debt": it is not chargeable if every movement is discharged correctly.
• Special procedures and temporary storage: the maximum Customs Duty and excise duty on goods under the procedure, also potential debt.

Your estimate becomes your guarantee limit. HMRC warns that if you go over it you must increase your guarantee, and that goods could be stopped at the border if you do not.

Reductions and waivers

The guarantor does not always have to cover the full reference amount. HMRC describes waiver levels of 50%, 70% and 100% of the reference amount, depending on your status. Put the other way round, the amount your guarantor provides for potential debt can be reduced to 50%, 30% or 0%.

Without AEO status

You can apply for a reduction to 50% or 30% of the potential debt, or a full waiver to 0%. To do this you upload form CCG1F with supporting evidence. HMRC asks, where possible, for at least the last three years of financial statements, forecasts, management accounts, loan agreements and auditors' reports.

With AEO status

Holders of Authorised Economic Operator customs simplification status (AEOC) can include their AEO details in the application to request the full waiver for potential debt, and HMRC says they do not need to complete form CCG1F. HMRC's guarantee requirement page states that AEO(C) holders can get a 100% waiver of potential debt for transit and special procedures and of actual debt for duty deferment in GB, but only 70% of actual debt for duty deferment in Northern Ireland.

Who can apply

According to HMRC, to get a CCG you must:

• be established in the UK or the EU;
• have had no serious or repeated infringements of customs or tax rules in the past three years;
• have no record of serious criminal offences relating to your business activity in the past three years.

The application itself must be made by a company official, such as a director, company secretary, sole proprietor, trustee or partner.

How to apply for a CCG

Applications are made online through HMRC's service, signing in with a Government Gateway account (you can create one on first use). For a step-by-step walkthrough, see applying for a customs comprehensive guarantee. HMRC lists the following information:

• your EORI number with its registered name and address, plus a correspondence address;
• company registration number and VAT number, if you have them;
• AEO certificate number and duty deferment account number, if you have them;
• details of directors and officials, including dates of birth;
• details of the person responsible for customs authorisations and their practical experience;
• your estimated debt.

You must choose the part of the UK where you will use the guarantee, and Great Britain and Northern Ireland need separate applications. The exception is transit in both: one application can work if you use a single EORI on your transit declarations, choosing Great Britain for a GB EORI and Northern Ireland for an XI or other EU EORI. HMRC adds that you can apply for a duty deferment account in the same process.

HMRC then reviews the application and tells you whether any reduction applies and how much guarantee you need. You then arrange a guarantor to cover that amount.

After approval: keeping the CCG in order

• Watch the limit. One-off or unusually high-value imports can push you over. HMRC suggests using an individual guarantee for those so you do not exceed your CCG.
• Report changes. If you no longer meet the conditions for a reduced guarantee, you must tell HMRC and raise the guarantee so it covers the full estimated amount.
• Expect checks. HMRC says it regularly checks how guarantees are used and will tell you if your amount is wrong.
• Close transits properly. Potential debt only becomes real debt when movements are not discharged, so clean transit discipline protects both the guarantee and any reduction you hold.

If you are refused, or your volumes do not justify a CCG, HMRC points to individual guarantees for each customs debt.

Related guides

• Duty deferment account (DDA) in the UK explained

• Transit guarantees and NCTS explained

• T1 transit guarantees and NCTS office codes: how they're worked out

Sources

• Apply for a customs comprehensive guarantee to cover customs debts (GOV.UK)
• Customs authorisations: guarantee requirement (GOV.UK)
• Guarantees and guarantee waivers: waivers (GOV.UK)

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.