HM Treasury and the Department for Business and Trade have made the Customs (Tariff and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026. From 21 January 2026 the United States beef preferential quota (order number 05.4010) will be administered on a first‑come‑first‑served basis. The instrument also inserts the UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement into the 2020 preferential arrangements, with new India reference documents published. (gov.uk)
The change for 05.4010 is effected by removing the quota from the Schedule 2 licensing table in the Customs (Tariff Quotas) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. In 2025 the Rural Payments Agency ran this quota by import licence with a security and a USDA certificate; that route is now being withdrawn in favour of standard quota allocation. (gov.uk)
Under a first‑come‑first‑served system, claims are made on the import declaration and registered in the Customs Declaration Service when the declaration is accepted. HMRC confirms most tariff quotas operate this way and that claims require the correct quota order number and supporting documents to be available at the time of entry. (gov.uk)
For 2026 the published UK quota for US beef under 05.4010 is 13,000,000 kg. The quota sits in the ‘Beef Certificates of Authenticity’ category on the government’s 2026 tariff‑rate quotas page, indicating traders should continue to be ready to present the USDA certificate alongside their claim. (gov.uk)
The US side has created a matching country‑specific allocation for UK exports under its WTO beef TRQ, set at 13,000 metric tonnes from 1 January 2026, aligning with the UK’s 2026 in‑quota volume. This confirms parallel implementation under the UK–US Economic Prosperity Deal. (govinfo.gov)
Operationally, importers moving US beef at preference should switch internal processes away from licence applications and ensure CDS data elements reflect a preferential claim, including the relevant preference code and proof of origin. HMRC’s July 2025 notice explains the use of importer’s knowledge or an origin declaration and points to the 300‑series preference codes for the US arrangement. (trade-tariff.service.gov.uk)
Regulation 3 of the instrument adds the UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement to the list of arrangements under the 2020 preferential regulations, supported by two documents: the India Preferential Tariff (version 1.0, 13 January 2026) and the India Origin Reference Document (version 1.0, 13 January 2026), now published by DBT. (gov.uk)
These India provisions will take effect only when the agreement enters into force. As at 20 January 2026, DBT’s reference page records publication of the India tariff and origin texts but gives no entry‑into‑force date, so preferences are not yet live. (gov.uk)
For planning, officials and operators can draw on the government’s impact assessment published on 24 July 2025, which sets out expected sectoral and regional effects of the India deal and provides the baseline against which commencement will be managed. (gov.uk)
The statutory basis for these changes is Part 1 of the Taxation (Cross‑border Trade) Act 2018, which empowers the Treasury and Secretary of State to set preferential tariffs, operate quotas and define origin rules via secondary legislation. (legislation.gov.uk)