Collected documents associated with the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS)

From: Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
Published: 19 June 2023

The Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) entered into force on 19 June 2023 and replaced the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).

The DCTS is a simpler and more generous preferential trading scheme which has been designed to boost trade with developing countries in order to support their development.

The DCTS cuts tariffs, removes conditions and simplifies trading rules for developing countries and benefits UK businesses and consumers by reducing the import cost of thousands of products from around the globe.

The DCTS applies to 65 countries that fall under one of the following categories:

• Least developed countries (LDCs) as defined by the United Nations
• Low-income and lower-middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank

A list of eligible countries can be found in DBT’s preference tiers guidance.

The full DCTS legislation was published on 22 May 2023 including:

• The Trade Preference Scheme (Developing Countries Trading Scheme) Regulations 2023
• The Customs (Origin of Chargeable Goods: Developing Countries Trading Scheme) Regulations 2023

The DCTS visualisation tool is an interactive dashboard with important information on tariffs, country trade data and rules of origin.

You can also view DBT’s video on how the DCTS helps UK businesses and consumers:

Guidance

These guides explain how businesses in the UK and in developing countries can take advantage of the DCTS to bring goods into the UK.

How to export to the UK using the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

Preference tiers under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

Identify tariffs by the product under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

Understanding rules of origin under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

UK standards and regulatory import requirements

How to claim preferences under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS)

Product-specific rules schedule for least developed countries

Tariff changes under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

Legal notices