The HMRC's free training grant scheme is now open to companies who use third parties such as freight agents to complete their customs declarations (entries).

To be eligible, companies need to be an importer or exporter who will be new to customs as a result of the UK leaving the EU and who does not plan to complete their own declarations. Companies can claim up to £1000 per company to cover training costs.

The training grant scheme continues to cover up to £1,500 per delegate per training course for companies who complete or intend to complete their own customs declarations. This has now been extended to include companies that have been established for less than 12 months that hold AEO accreditation - either AEO(C) or AEO(S).

Companies with considerably larger training projects can apply for between 50-70% of the eligible costs of a new training project, up to €2m under the General Block Exemption Regulations (GBER) for Training Aid which is a way of moving beyond the State Aid issues.

CILT has been pressing for some time for the fourth wave of the grant scheme to be widened to include companies who do not do their own entries and companies that were newly established. Whilst this is not everything we could have wished for it is a step forward and should enable more companies to access the free training grants and courses accredited by the Institute.