🌍 First Common User Charge Invoices to be Sent from Monday

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have confirmed that the first Common User Charge invoices will be issued from 10:00pm on Monday (5th August).  

These invoices will be sent to businesses and/or agents who imported Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) goods on or after 30th April 2024 which were eligible for checks at the Sevington Border Control Post. 

The first digital invoices will be issued by Shared Services Connected Limited on Monday night and will cover the period between 30th April 2024 and 31st July 2024.   Going forward, businesses will be emailed a monthly, in arrears invoice which covers the previous month.  

As mentioned the invoices are being sent by Shared Services Connected Limited and will appear in your inbox as an email from O2C.mail@gov.sscl.com with the subject line “Defra invoice”.  Each invoice will include: 

• CHED reference numbers 

• CHED risk level and commodity line charge 

• The number of commodity lines within each CHED 

• The total charge for each CHED 

• VAT (which will be shown as £0 as VAT does not apply to this charge) 

• ‘UOM’ which is the Unit of Measurement.  This will always state ‘each’ as the charge is calculated for each CHED 

• ‘QTY’ is the quantity of CHEDs per row which will always be one 

• Unit price, line amount and total cost 

DEFRA have stated that businesses will have 30 days from the date on the invoice to make payment of the Common User Charges.  For example, if you receive your invoice on 5th August 2024, payment will be due by 4th September 2024.  Once an invoice has been received, a business can make payment of the outstanding amount via a couple of different methods: 

• Online using the link on the invoice 

• By electronic bank transfer of BACS 

• By phone with your debit or credit card.  The number to call is 01633 631 800 

• By cheque 

Your invoice number and customer or organisation numbers must be given when you make the payment to ensure that the payment is correctly linked to your account.  

If you have any questions about Common User Charges, DEFRA will be hosting a webinar on 13th August where they will discuss the invoice process and who to contact if you have any queries or payment issues. You can register for the webinar here.