Regulatory & Technical Services Group

At a meeting with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on 14 December 2022, attended by RATS (Regulations and Technical Services Group) on behalf of the CA and by other boating organisations, it was announced that no changes will be made to the VAT rules for boats located in the EU on 31 December 2020 that had never been in the UK under their current ownership. If such boats enter UK waters while owned by a UK resident then UK VAT will be payable.

In our August newsletter to members, we reported that the CA’s Regulations and Technical Services group (RATS) had written to Trinity House regarding the timing of the Hurst Point Sector light being extinguished for maintenance – see Notice to Mariners 27/2022.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has announced its intention to withdraw from global paper chart production by late 2026 to increase focus on its digital navigation products and services.

The UK Government, via the UK Border Force, has developed a new digital reporting service, known as ‘single Pleasure Craft Reporting (sPCR)’, which pleasure craft are asked to use as the preferred method when leaving or entering the UK on passage to EU countries, the Channel Islands or the rest of the world.

The Cruising Association (CA) and GTOA partnered to launch a new online orca reporting form in early June 2022, to investigate orcas interacting with vessels along the Iberian Peninsula, and the reports received are now published online.

Robin Baron, chair of the CA Regulations and Technical Services group (RATS), has been awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN).

The CA and Groupo Trabajo Orca Atlantica (GTOA - Atlantic Orca Working Group) have partnered to launch a new online reporting platform for sail and motor vessels to register orca interactions and sightings along the Iberian Peninsula, in order to better understand the orca’s behaviour and identify ways to help skippers avoid interactions and reduce damage to their vessels.

The EU has lifted the 25% customs tariff on the import of US-origin yachts and boats into the EU with effect from 1 January 2022. Unfortunately, at the moment the UK continues to impose the 25% customs tariff on the import of US-origin yachts and boats into the UK.

The CA announced in mid-December that the UK Government would make a positive change to the application of Returned Goods Relief (RGR) for recreational craft resulting in many boat owners no longer becoming liable to pay VAT on the return of their boats to the UK.