Customs
Duty Drawback
A refund of import duty already paid on goods that are subsequently re-exported, either unchanged or after being incorporated into an exported product.
In depth
Drawback exists so that import duty does not become an embedded cost in exports. If duty-paid inputs are re-exported, or manufactured into something that is, the importer can reclaim some or all of the duty. The schemes are administratively demanding: they require an evidential trail linking the specific import entry to the specific export, and they impose time limits that vary by country. Many eligible companies never claim because the record-keeping was not set up at the outset, and reconstructing it after the fact is usually harder than the refund is worth.
Key points
- Refunds import duty on goods that are subsequently re-exported
- Covers both unchanged re-exports and manufactured exports
- Requires a documented link between import and export entries
- Time limits apply and vary by jurisdiction