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On 24 December 2020, the EU and the UK reached an agreement on the terms of their relationship following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) formally entered into force on 1 May 2021.

Therefore, if you're travelling to Great Britain (England, Wales or Scotland) from outside the UK, your personal allowances mean you can bring in a certain amount of goods without paying tax or duty.
When you're bringing in goods you must:

• transport them yourself
• use them yourself or give them away as a gift

If you go over your allowances you must declare all your goods and pay tax and duty on all the goods in that category. 

What you can bring with you depends on where you're travelling from. You must declare to customs:

• anything over your duty-free allowance
• banned or restricted goods in the UK
• goods that you plan to sell
• more than €10,000 (or its equivalent) in cash, if you're coming from outside the EU

Note that you and your baggage may be checked for anything you must declare at anytime during the arrival.

Some of the customs you are allowed to take without declaring upon arrival are:

• Alcohol allowance: How much you can bring depends on the type of alcohol.
• beer - 42 litres
• wine (not sparkling) - 18 litres
• spirits and other liquors over 22% alcohol - 4 litres
• fortified wine (for example port, sherry), sparkling wine and alcoholic drinks up to 22% alcohol - 9 litres

You can split this last allowance, for example you could bring 4.5 litres of fortified wine and 2 litres of spirits (both half of your allowance).

• Tobacco allowance. You can bring in one from the following:
• 200 cigarettes
• 100 cigarillos
• 50 cigars
• 250g tobacco
• 200 sticks of tobacco for electronic heated tobacco devices

You can split this allowance - so you could bring in 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars (both half of your allowance).

You may have to pay import VAT, customs duty and excise duty on alcohol you declare.

• Allowance for other goods

You can bring in other goods worth up to £390 (or up to £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat).
If you go over your allowance you pay tax and duty on the total value of the goods, not just the value above the allowance.

• Banned or restricted goods:
• controlled drugs
• offensive weapons, for example flick knives
• self-defence sprays, for example pepper spray and CS gas
• endangered animal and plant species
• rough diamonds
• indecent and obscene materials, such as books, magazines, films and DVDs
• personal imports of meat and dairy products from most non-EU countries
• Some food and plant products are also restricted if they:
• are not free from pests and diseases
• are not for your own use
• they were not grown in the EU

If you bring goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (for example ‘pirate' copies of movies or music) they may be seized and you could be prosecuted.

Bringing pets to the UK

If you want to bring your pet to the UK, it can be done but takes planning and preparation. Taking your pet into another country usually includes:

• Microchiping: To verify pets identity. All microchips conforming to the ISO standards are easily readable.
• Vaccination: Vaccinations range from country to country, but in general every pet older than 3 months must be vaccinated against rabies. The vaccination must be administered at least 21 days before arrival. However the vaccination cannot be older than 12 months from the date of arrival. Find more specific information regarding pets vaccination depending the country you come from HERE.
• Passport or health certificate: Issued by a vet after an exam. You will usually need to get an official form from the consulate or embassy of the country you are moving to. It is often available on-line from the customs website.

Notice that your pet may be put into quarantine for up to 4 months if you do not follow these rules - or refused entry if you travelled by sea. You're responsible for any fees or charges.

Travel with pets

Some airlines allow pets to travel in an airplane's cabin when their cage is small enough to fit under your seat. Small birds may also be able to travel in the cabin, but tropical birds such as parrots are usually not allowed.

If your pet's cage does not fit under your seat, you will have to ship it as checked baggage. Since the outside air temperature also affects the temperature in the cargo bay, airlines may restrict the transportation of pets during certain times of the year.

Make sure you get detailed information from your preferred airlines before purchasing a cage or kennel.

Before leaving, acquaint your animal with the kennel or container. Add some familiar toys or some of your clothing items, so your pet has a sense of familiarity during the transport. Sedation of your pet during the trip is generally not recommended and should only be used as a last resort.

Quarantine

Britain's tough quarantine regulations were a difficult obstacle for many pet owners. The restrictions were to keep the island nation rabies (and other diseases) free. Luckily, the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) has relaxed the rules and pet dogs, cats and ferrets from certain countries may now enter the UK without quarantine (but must have a health certificate).

Pets entering the United Kingdom from any country that does not fall under PETS are required to spend six months in quarantine in the United Kingdom.

When you DO NOT NEED to put your pet in quarantine

You do not need to put your pet cat, dog or ferret in rabies quarantine when it enters England, Scotland or Wales if one of the following applies:

• It's travelling within the UK (described above)
• It's travelling between the UK and the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
• It meets the pet travel rules

You do not have to put your pet rabbit or rodent in quarantine if it travels from an EU country and it's been living there for at least 4 months.

On the other hand, you MUST arrange for your pet to go in 4-month quarantine if one of the following applies:

• It's a cat, dog or ferret travelling from outside the UK and it doesn't meet the pet travel rules
• It's a rabbit or rodent travelling from outside the EU
• It's a rabbit or rodent travelling from an EU country and it's been living there for less than 4 months

For more information visit EasyExpat's article on "Expat Pets" and the UK government department in charge of regulating quarantine and the Pet Travel Scheme:

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF, United Kingdom
Telephone (UK only): 03459 33 55 77
Telephone (from outside the UK): +44 20 7238 6951

If you're travelling with a different pet, visit:

APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency)
Telephone: 03000 200 301
enquiries@apha.gov.uk