The Simplified Procedure Value (SPV) system for calculating import duty payments will change in the near future, as we have reported previously on this page. A new system is expected to be in place in April 2006.

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that there will be significant differences when compared with the current SPV system. This is our understanding of the situation in mid-November 2005, and we will keep members informed of changes.

SPVs are agreed customs valuations for a range of products, which can be used instead of one of the other available methods for calculating import duty. The replacement system will only be available for use where there is no agreed price at the point of importation, or if there is doubt about the price. If an invoice or contract value exists, that value must be used for the purposes of customs valuation and the SPV-replacement cannot be used. The new scheme will not cover all the products within the present system.

Products to be included in the SPV-replacement system (as at 15/11/05) are: new potatoes, onions, garlic, beans, asparagus - green, asparagus - other, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, pineapples, avocados, sweet oranges, clementines, monreales and satsumas, mandarins and wilkings, tangerines and other soft citrus, grapefruit - white, grapefruit - pink, limes (citrus aurantifolia, citrus latifolia), table grapes, watermelons, melons - amarillo, cuper, honeydew (including cantalene), onteniente, Piel de Sapo, (including Verde Liso, Rochet, Tendral, Futuro), other melons, pears - nashi (pyrus pyrifolia) and ya (pyrus bretscheideri), pears - other, apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums, strawberries, raspberries, kiwifruit.

The following products will not appear in the replacement system: leeks, cauliflower, white and red cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrot, radish, peas, aubergine, ribbed celery, chantarelles, cherry, fruit of the species vaccinium myrtillus (bilberries), pomegranate, kaki (including sharonfruit).

The replacement system will be more flexible than the current SPV system. A choice can be made on a consignment-by-consignment basis as to the method of customs valuation. The SPV-replacement value will be based on price information from one country only for each product, instead of a weighted average of price reports from across the EU.

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