diff --git a/mdx/common-beans.xml b/mdx/common-beans.xml
index 24f22776..dd03d7db 100644
--- a/mdx/common-beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/common-beans.xml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
         Java class parent shorthand beans.
     -->
     <bean id="File" abstract="true" class="java.io.File"/>
+    <bean id="Instant" abstract="true" class="java.time.Instant"/>
     <bean id="String" abstract="true" class="java.lang.String"/>
     <bean id="QName" abstract="true" class="javax.xml.namespace.QName"/>
 
@@ -141,6 +142,34 @@
     <!-- *** Default Shibboleth component bean id property from Spring bean id *** -->
     <bean class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.config.IdentifiableBeanPostProcessor" lazy-init="false"/>
 
+    <!--
+        *******************************************************
+        ***                                                 ***
+        ***   D A T E   A N D   T I M E   H A N D L I N G   ***
+        ***                                                 ***
+        *******************************************************
+    -->
+
+    <!--
+        Approximately when the Spring context was initialised,
+        as a java.time.Instant.
+    -->
+    <bean id="now_instant_raw" parent="Instant" factory-method="now"/>
+
+    <!--
+        now_instant_raw can have any precision. To get somewhat consistent
+        output, derive a new now_instant that truncates that to the second.
+    -->
+    <bean id="now_instant" parent="Instant" factory-method="from"
+        c:_="#{ now_instant_raw.truncatedTo(T(java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit).SECONDS) }"/>
+
+    <!--
+        Strings representing now_instant as an ISO 8601 UTC date/time
+        and as an ISO 8601 date.
+    -->
+    <bean id="now_ISO" parent="String" c:_="#{ now_instant.toString() }"/>
+    <bean id="now_date_ISO" parent="String" c:_="#{ now_ISO.substring(0,10) }"/>
+
     <!--
         ***********************************************
         ***                                         ***
diff --git a/mdx/uk/import.xsl b/mdx/uk/import.xsl
index 8c557668..c1fd192d 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/import.xsl
+++ b/mdx/uk/import.xsl
@@ -37,10 +37,8 @@
     xmlns:shibmd="urn:mace:shibboleth:metadata:1.0"
     xmlns:ukfedlabel="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"
 
-    xmlns:date="http://exslt.org/dates-and-times"
-    xmlns:mdxDates="xalan://uk.ac.sdss.xalan.md.Dates"
     xmlns:mdxTextUtils="xalan://uk.ac.sdss.xalan.md.TextUtils"
-    extension-element-prefixes="date mdxDates mdxTextUtils"
+    extension-element-prefixes="mdxTextUtils"
 
     xmlns:xalan="http://xml.apache.org/xalan"
 
@@ -56,6 +54,12 @@
         indent="yes" xalan:indent-amount="4"
     />
 
+    <!--
+        Parameters passed in from verbs.xml.
+    -->
+    <xsl:param name="now_ISO"/>
+    <xsl:param name="now_date_ISO"/>
+
     <xsl:strip-space elements="md:EntityDescriptor"/>
 
     <!--
@@ -136,7 +140,7 @@
                 -->
                 <ukfedlabel:Software name="*** FILL IN ***"
                     version="*** FILL IN OR REMOVE ***" fullVersion="*** FILL IN OR REMOVE ***">
-                    <xsl:attribute name="date"><xsl:value-of select="mdxDates:date()"/></xsl:attribute>
+                    <xsl:attribute name="date"><xsl:value-of select="$now_date_ISO"/></xsl:attribute>
                 </ukfedlabel:Software>
 
                 <!--
@@ -153,7 +157,7 @@
                 <xsl:element name="mdrpi:RegistrationInfo">
                     <xsl:attribute name="registrationAuthority">http://ukfederation.org.uk</xsl:attribute>
                     <xsl:attribute name="registrationInstant">
-                        <xsl:value-of select="mdxDates:dateAdd(date:date-time(), 0)"/>
+                        <xsl:value-of select="$now_ISO"/>
                     </xsl:attribute>
                     <xsl:element name="mdrpi:RegistrationPolicy">
                         <xsl:attribute name="xml:lang">en</xsl:attribute>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/verbs.xml b/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
index a2875500..7624cada 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
@@ -294,7 +294,14 @@
 
                 <!-- transform into a fragment using our local conventions -->
                 <bean id="importTransform" parent="mda.XSLTransformationStage"
-                    p:XSLResource="classpath:uk/import.xsl"/>
+                    p:XSLResource="classpath:uk/import.xsl">
+                    <property name="transformParameters">
+                        <map>
+                            <entry key="now_ISO" value-ref="now_ISO"/>
+                            <entry key="now_date_ISO" value-ref="now_date_ISO"/>
+                        </map>
+                    </property>
+                </bean>
 
                 <!-- normalise namespaces in a specific way -->
                 <bean id="normalizeFragment" parent="mda.XSLTransformationStage"