Webinar: preparing for the next phase of the Trader Support Service - 13 August 2026
Recording of a webinar where we shared transition timelines and key dates, user feedback and new features, what different user groups should be doing, and took questions from participants.
Preparing for the next phase of the Trader Support Service (TSS)
Transcript
William Barns-Graham
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's webinar titled Preparing for the Next Phase of the Trader Support Service or TSS for short. This is the third webinar in our series focused on the transition towards the next phase of TSS and today's session is designed to give businesses practical information on what is changing, inform you of the key transition dates, give you an update on what we're hearing from you, TSS users and how this feedback is being implemented and the actions you should be taking now to prepare for the next phase. As you'll be able to see on the next slide, my name is William Barns-Graham and I'm the Head of Content at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade. I will be your host today. I won't dwell on this slide too long except to point out that I've hosted hundreds of webinars on international trade down the years, including several for the Trader Support Service. So you're hopefully in safe hands today. Just by way of housekeeping, please note that we are recording today's webinar and a recording will be circulated after the session. You can also submit questions for the webinar ahead of an audience Q&A at the end. Please submit your questions through the Q&A panel in Teams rather than the chat function. And this is important because we will only really be able to consider questions asked through the Q&A panel. So just to reiterate, please ask questions using the Q&A part of Teams, not the chat. The webinar is due to run for 45 minutes today, and we'll try to get to as many of your questions as possible. But please note that any questions we don't get to will be followed up offline. Moving on to today's agenda in more detail. As you can see, we will today be covering various topics, including transition timelines and key dates, user feedback and new features, what different user groups should be doing now, your frequently asked questions, and the aforementioned live audience Q&A at the end. To cover all of this, I'm delighted to be joined by a panel of leading experts on the next slide. So a big welcome to Simon Pettigrew, head of strategy and stakeholder engagement for Northern Ireland Customs at HMRC. Kevin Shakespeare, a director at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, and Amit Parekh, UK delivery manager at Netcompany. We'll also be drawing on expertise from colleagues supporting the programme behind the scenes. Let's get into the main content of the webinar now, though, on the next slide. And we've been asked plenty of questions about the transition, particularly questions concerning the timing, the migration and how to get ready. Kevin Shakespeare will now walk us through the latest positions and what businesses need to be doing over the coming weeks. Kevin, over to you.
Kevin Shakespeare
Thank you, Will. Good afternoon, everybody. I hope you're all well in this hot or wet weather, depending where you are. So I'm going to, in the next few slides, excuse me, talk through the TSS transition timeline. If we have a next slide, please. So in the context of where we are, we're in the private beta phase of TSS. User research has been ongoing to take learning for both a current service and a new service. And very much the new service has been designed to really take into account that user feedback. Private beta pilot went live on the 9th of July and movements are being successfully completed in the new service. We're very much taking a tranche approach to private beta. So tranche one has been introduced for standard not at risk journey. So for example, standalone IMIs and standard declaration. So that's well underway. Tranche 2 will test a higher volume movement. So that will introduce new features or features such as agent functions and permissions and category 2 goods. So category 2 goods like excise goods, certain plants, certain environmental goods as well, and certain licensing goods. Tranche 3 will commence early October and will test more complex journeys. Active discussions are well underway with API users, hauliers, customs intermediaries and traders. to ensure readiness and gather further feedback. Now transition is planned for the 20th October and it's really important to bear in mind that timeline. So from the 20th October it will not be possible to make any new declarations on the current TSS. So it's really important to follow the guidance to actually sign up and really start to experience the service to be ready for a smooth transition. The current TSS will remain available to the end of November. But that is only for closure of certain aspects, in particular supplementary declarations. And it's essential that supplementary declarations are closed by the end of November. If we have a next slide, please. So here you have a QR code in which you can sign up to get involved in the pilot in the whole private beta process. We'd strongly encourage you, irrespective of which actor you are in the supply chain, to get involved, both as a trader, whether you are the trader as a GB supplier or the Northern Ireland buyer. as a haulier logistics provider and customs intermediaries. I'm now going to pass back to Will for the next session. Thank you.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you indeed Kevin for outlining some of the key timings there and also for pilots. I think one key takeaway I'm taking is that the move to the new service is not something for people to leave until October. Businesses can get going in preparing now and engaging with the pilot as well wherever possible and then also ensuring that your internal processes are ready well before that transition date. Moving on, the next slide, we're now going to be looking at how your feedback is being implemented directly into the design of a new service. And indeed, thank you to everyone who's been contributing to this. To discuss how this feedback is shaping future functionality, I'm delighted to welcome Amit Parekh from Netcompany. Over to you, Amit.
Amit Parekh
Thank you, Will. Good afternoon, all. Thanks for your time this afternoon. So as Will mentioned, I will run through a few snippets of areas where we've received some really, really good feedback from current users of the current system. And what I want to portray is the new features that we're building and new functionality that we're building, listening to that feedback to make your lives a lot easier in completing declarations. If we can move to the next slide, please. Thank you. So we'll look at the feedback from two different perspectives. Firstly, support. So from a user support perspective, what has been your general theme of feedback, what could improve? And then the experience of the service itself, completing the declaration and how could that be improved? So this is what you've told us so far and here's what we're doing about it. So from a support perspective, You've told us that the guidance could be quite complex and hard to understand for those that are quite new to customs processes. So we've been working to make the guidance more user friendly and this will be integrated into the actual experience and the process with prompts and messages along the way to help users find the information that they need. We've also introduced a review page. So before you click submit, you can review all of your inputs, make sure everything is correct, make amendments if you need to, and then click submit. So these improvements in general should help users to get things right first time around and as a result should help to improve the experience of the service. You also told us you needed better tools to get answers quickly without always having to call the contact center and speak to somebody directly. So happy to say that the new service includes a digital assistant. So available at any time when you're on the service, bottom right hand corner of the service, you can ask it questions about your declarations, get plain English explanations of CDS error codes, raise a support case, or if you prefer, be referred to a live advisor. So that should really help the support in the sense of being able to get quick answers to some questions you're not quite sure about relatively quickly. And then you asked us for more hands-on help when completing complex declarations. So we are introducing a feature called co-browsing. So this will allow a TSS call center agent to effectively securely view your screen during a support session, obviously with your permission, and guide you through the process in real time. You'll always remain in control and you can end the session whenever you like, but effectively allows the agent to really get hands-on support you through a declaration. Overall, we hope this reduces the time it takes to resolve queries, provide the support that you need, and helps build your confidence in completing declarations yourself. So that's an insight. We've received lots of feedback, but these are the three areas that we're really trying to hone in on and improve. Next slide, please. So as I mentioned, the second perspective is experience of the system itself. So as we've held engagement sessions with users to date, one of the most frequently requested features is a CSV upload feature. the ability to provide a CSV file with all the declaration information on there and submit that and use the solution to push that through. So we're looking at that at the moment. We're designing that functionality as it stands and it should exist for all levels of declarations from goods movements to consignments to goods record level, saving hopefully significant time, especially for businesses with high declaration volumes. We're looking and planning to deliver this in September and we're really keen as we're doing the design now to get your feedback, which I'll come on to in a moment. EORI errors and misuse seems to be a bit of a concern and a bit of a feedback point from a lot of users as well. So at the moment we're investigating how this may work in practice. We're looking at certain different options as to how we could improve this. We're definitely cognizant of the challenges of complex supply chains. So we wanted to make sure that we take these into account but don't create unnecessary burdens. We also must acknowledge that we recognise the challenges for groupage operators and we need to make sure that any solution ensures this practice can continue as well. So these are being considered and we're looking at options on how we resolve this actively at the moment as well. And then finally, one of the other key areas that we've had feedback on is repetitive declarations. So having to do repeated declarations was costing a lot of time for businesses. So what we're going to introduce is declaration templates that allow you to start a new goods movement simply using a saved template. So saving time on that sort of starting from scratch every single time. So on that as well, we're starting design work on that soon. It won't be a feature that will be ready from the 20th of October, but hopefully will follow in the coming months thereafter. Next slide, please. So as I mentioned, as I was talking about CSV uploads, we're working through that at the moment in terms of a design. So any feedback from yourselves, what would help, how it should operate would be really welcome. So again, if you could scan the QR code, very happy to get your input on this so we can really design this functionality for exactly what you need. Hope that's been useful. I'll hand back to Will.
William Barns-Graham
Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Amit. It's great to see how much user feedback is already really going straight into the new service. So that's really encouraging to see. The message we would encourage everyone to take away from that is that participation in the pilots activity really does genuinely influence the development of this service. So yeah, do get stuck in, do scan the QR code and I think links will be shared in the chat as well and certainly in the follow-up emails as well. So do get involved. There's the CSV functionality involvement as well. So hopefully that's something people can get stuck into. On the next slide, we're going to look again at what different groups of users should be doing now to prepare for the next phase of TSS. And I'm going to be handing back to Kevin to do so. Back to you, Kevin.
Kevin Shakespeare
Thank you, Will. So yes, we're certainly going to look at what certain user groups should consider. but also very much sort of points checklist that you can take away. Obviously, these slides will be available to you. So again, please look at it both post the webinar as well as what we're going to be talking about shortly. If we have the next slide, please. Sorry, yeah, great, thank you. So first of all, portal users. Very much put a plan in place for transition with your supply chain. So clearly a supply chain can include the trader, traders, the hauliers and the intermediaries as well. So very much put that plan in place working with your supply chain. Be very clear on who is responsible for registering and submitting the data required. Now that may vary depending on commercial arrangements and the incoterms there. So as I'm sure you've heard me speak about many times, the incoterms are really, really important to understand where that responsibility lies. So be very clear that you understand what incoterms apply to the goods movement. As we've indicated and as available on the earlier slides, register for the private beta pilot. There's a QR code on the earlier slide, also an e-mail address as well, which you can contact. You must check your company profile and ensure that all the information is up to date. and that any missing information is added to the profile. So for example, check your company details, the company users in your organisation, the contact information. Also ensure the e-mail addresses are valid. Clearly in businesses, e-mail addresses, contact details can change over time. So it's essential that all that information is up to date. Where applicable, check your authorisation. So for example, UKMC, UK Internal Market Scheme, NOMC, Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme and if applicable, SCDP, Simplified Customs Declaration Process. So when you first log into the portal, you will be prompted to create a new password and verify the details. So take that opportunity, obviously, to also check those details. If you set up permissions on the current service and want to keep using them on the new service, the administrator on your account must reset them in the new service when you migrate. So that's a summary of points that portal users must take into account. If we have the next slide, please. So now we're going to look at API users. So in the context of API users, as with portal users and as with anyone using the service, ensure you are ready well before the 20th of October. What we don't want is a sort of last minute surge. It's really, really important that you prepare and are ready as well. And that applies for all elements of the supply chain. So in terms of API users, the Trader Test environment is now available for testing and integration. You must, however, enrol to Trader Test to test your API integration before you gain access to production. Should you wish to enter the private beta, you must register separately in the pilot to get access and there's an e-mail address here. I'm conscious again that these slides will be made available and there are various links and e-mail addresses here which you can refer to. So again, what are the changes? We've said many times before that customs processes remain the same. So no new data is required, but the authentication has changed from basic authentication, which was username and password, to OAuth 2. So that's worth bearing in mind as well. But where can you get help? There's a link there for a dedicated API onboarding guide. There's specific API support with the link. There's A TSS API support team which provides support for API onboarding activities. And it's important to note that team does not replace the existing operational support service which will be available for creating, managing or progressing goods movements within TSS. If we have the next slide, please. Okay, so I'm now going to pass back to Will and we have some FAQs. Thank you.
William Barns-Graham
Brilliant. Thank you, Kevin. Some really important advice there for both portal users and API users to heed, particularly that now's the time to verify your data, test your processes, and to also familiarize yourself with the new environment. We're going to now address some of your most frequently asked questions before answering any of the questions you've been asking live in the Q&A panel. Now we've been collecting these FAQs from across the trading community over the past several weeks, including at webinars like today's. We've grouped these into broad themes and I'll be putting these questions directly to our panel over the next few slides. Beginning from next slide. The first question I believe is going to be for Amit. Okay, so Amit, just to begin with one for yourself, could you please recap the key dates people on the call need to be aware of? And I believe if we click again, then the question should come up. Thank you. Amit.
Amit Parekh
Thank you. Well, yes, so as Kevin mentioned, these are the key dates. So we successfully launched the private beta pilot on the 9th of July, and we have a cohort of organizations working with us at the moment. all the way through to the 20th of October, opportunities for everybody to get involved in that, use the QR codes as we've mentioned. The new service must then be used for all new declarations from the 20th of October onwards with any declarations that remain in the current service to be completed by the 30th of November. So 9th of July we've already got going, 20th of October it will be the big shift across, finishing off any residual declarations in the old system on the 30th of November.
William Barns-Graham
Brilliant, thank you Amit. And then the next question is also for you. This one is asking, will the new service have the facility to use CSV uploads?
Amit Parekh
So yes, as I've presented back already, yes it will. It's being designed and developed currently. We are planning to release it in September. and private beta users will have the opportunity to test the feature before go live. So as I say, if you're interested in knowing more, then sign up or feel free to use the QR code to give us your views on how we could improve and implement the CSV upload functionality as well.
William Barns-Graham
Great, thank you. On the next slide, we have one more question for Amit, which is, which features will be available during the pilot and which will come later?
Amit Parekh
So we are looking, the approach of the pilot is effectively to have minimised disruption for all organizations whilst trying to retain the same functionality of the current service. And that's the motto here. So we're trying to keep the same functionality. and effectively move everybody across successfully. Through private beta, we are obviously working with organizations to get feedback on how to improve the system, how to enhance the system, and we'll look to take that feedback and move through private beta before launch. But there is also a 15-month transformation period post the 20th of October. And so again, we'll take all of this feedback, some of which that I mentioned, and we'll build it into the roadmap of transformation for the programme. So we're really getting the service, you know, to be really user-centric and really easy to use for all organisations for what they need to use it for.
William Barns-Graham
Great. Thanks. I'm sure that'd be music to plenty of people's ears. So thank you very much. We're going to bring in Kevin now for the next question. And the first of the question I've been asked to Kevin is, will agent authorisations pass on from the current service to the new service?
Kevin Shakespeare
The answer is yes there. The agent authorisation details will carry from the current service to the new service. The authorisation document reference number, which evidences the authorisation, will be included within trader profile data and will be available from day one. However, the supporting documents attachments will not be available at private beta go live as they're stored separately from the profile data. So again, Just to confirm, we've had a lot of contact with customs agents, customs intermediaries, and the agent authorization will carry over. Thank you.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you, Kevin. On the next slide, I've got another one for you. The next question is going to be, how will pilot updates and improvements be communicated?
Kevin Shakespeare
Okay, so pilot updates and improvements will be communicated through program channels. So that can include direct cohort communication. So for example, emails, but also onboarding packs as well. And we will have targeted notifications where changes affect specific users or specific journeys. The general updates and service improvements will be shared via agreed releases and feedback channels as well. So there'll be clear guidance on what has changed and if any action is required. We also want to take into account feedback from the pilot and reflect that in updated guidance and communications where relevant. And again, if you feel by providing feedback you would like further guidance on any points, please let us know. Again, referring back to earlier slides, the QR code and the e-mail link as well. So in addition, there is a programme of engagement with many trade associations and representative bodies in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And I'd just like to say a big thank you for the help and support from trade associations and representative bodies. It has been very good. So thank you. And we're really trying to ensure that programme, that communication of updates is related to all member businesses of associations and representative bodies. So thank you.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you, Kevin. Just to reiterate our thanks to all those different stakeholder groups and associations. The remainder of the questions will now be for Simon from HMRC. So welcome to the webinar, Simon. My first question for you, which should come up on screen in a second, is how will Hauliers know which of their clients are using the new service?
Simon Pettigrew
Thanks Will and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us again today. So yeah, so this is a really helpful question and I think there's sort of two points to it. I think firstly, I would call out our approach to private beta recruitment. And where the approach to private beta recruitment is focusing on bringing supply chains on board. So we are not having an individual trader or an individual haulier coming on board to the new service whilst creating movements for on behalf of others. And the reason we're doing that is because we know if that was sort of confusion and potentially could lead to issues with movements not going through on the right service. So if a trader or a haulier or an intermediary has registered interest in private beta, part of that will work with them to understand their supply chain, whether they want to onboard all of the various supply chains, whether they want to onboard a particular part of the supply chain. And then we'll sort of reach out and discuss it and agree the approach and timings for all actors in that supply chain, whether that's the trader, the haulier, the intermediary, freight forwarder, whoever is involved in the various aspects of that. that we'll make sure we have an agreed approach and that agrees timings, that agrees roles and that agrees what tranche people sit in as well. So I think that's quite important to note. I also think it would be, it's worth also flagging that we're doing that as we do recognise as sort of Amit touched on earlier, we do recognise that various operating models and various relationships and commercial circumstances are in place. So we don't have a sort of blanket one-size-fits-all for migrating onto private beta. But as I say, when it comes to full migration from the 20th of October, everyone will be migrated to that new service and that will mean that anyone who's moving goods will be from that on that new service.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you, Simon. And the next question I guess picks up on this a bit more. I mean, how should Hauliers managing multiple clients with different switch dates? How should they manage this?
Simon Pettigrew
So again, it's a very interesting point and I think this is where we come down to having that discussion because this isn't a private beta is optional and we want to make sure we, whilst we as optional, we want to make sure we have people sort of onboarding that a time that's appropriate for them and testing the right journeys and with their supply chain. So for example, if there is a haulier who perhaps works with a number of businesses, they may wish to operate a period of dual running where they have one part of their supply chain on the new service and continue operating with the remainder on another service or vice versa. It could be a direct one-to-one relationship between a trader and a haulier and it's brought on board at the same time. So as I say, I think that is, if they're in a world where different parts of supply chains are coming on board at different times, there will be an element of dual running on the two systems for that. But as I say, part of the onboarding for private beta is really to make sure we understand who is doing what and when. And the instructions about doing that are set out quite clearly in the onboarding pack. So once you've got agreement of that supply chain coming on board, you're sent the full tranche of information, how that will happen, when that will happen, and that will make sure the movements are submitted through the correct system.
William Barns-Graham
Right, thanks Simon. And if we move on to the next slide, next question is, Will the assisted completion service be available in the new service?
Simon Pettigrew
Thanks for this one. And this is when I think there was questions in the Q&A for this as well. So it's definitely one that we've been hearing regularly. The short answer to that is no. So the assisted completion service, as you may have seen in the previous trailer support service bulletin on 16th of July, confirms that the assisted completion service will close to new requests on the 15th of September. So what does that mean? That means that after that date, anyone with supplementary declarations on the current service will have to complete and submit those directly and pay any sort of duties that apply. One thing I would note, if you do have any requests in place before the 15th of September and they're going through the existing process, they will continue. So if you have a request in place already or you submit one between now and the 15th of September and it's accepted, that will continue to go through as normal. But as Amit was touching on earlier, the new service is building on feedback to try and make the service more intuitive, and it will have sort of additional features that will help users complete their supplemented declarations. So we touched on things like a more intuitive workflow that will have on-screen prompts. There is the new digital assistant. There will be the new introduction of the review page as well as the various other support mechanisms such as co-browsing and sort of contacts with the TSS helpline. So whilst that one part of the current services is not being continued, there are various new things that are being delivered as part of the new service to sort of help businesses and complete those supplementary declarations in line with their sort of obligations.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you, Simon. And on to the next question. Just as that question is coming up, a couple of people asking about whether they'd be able to view these FAQs afterwards. We shared a recording of the webinars afterwards. So if you want to watch back any of this, that's how you would do so. The next question is on supplementary declarations. If a trader has supplementary declarations due in the existing system, where should they be completed and what happens if they are unable to do so?
Simon Pettigrew
And another question we're seeing quite regularly, so good to make sure we're clear on this. I think taking it back a step, obviously, if movements are made under the current service using the simplified custom processes, such as a simplified frontier declaration or an entry in declarant’s records process, the supplemented declarations are due to be submitted by the 10th calendar day of the following month. So that would mean any movements that happen through that process in August the deadline to submit those would be the 10th of September. So that doesn't change. And what we've done, as we said, although the service will migrate on the 20th of October, any movements that happen in October will be available in the current service to be submitted by the 10th day of the calendar month. So as I said, that is still the case, and any movements that are created in the current service should be completed in the current service by that date. The one thing just to kind of link back to what Amit touched on earlier around the key dates is obviously the service will remain available until the 30th of November. And that will help assist with various other aspects as well about data and things like that, making sure authorisations are through. But if there are businesses who are experiencing issues around submission of supplemented declarations around transition, I think important note HMRC will have further guidance around supporting your within that and we'll issue that shortly. But as I said, the main thing I would take away from here is anything submitted in the current service should be completed in the current service and the current service will remain open to allow you to do that. Anything after migration on the 20th of October on the new service should be completed on the new service.
William Barns-Graham
Hopefully that's clear for folks. We're rattling through these now. So just a couple more slides of FAQs to go. The next one is about historical data. So the question is, will historical data be transferred to or accessible from the new service?
Simon Pettigrew
And I think we've definitely had this question previously, and one we've continued to hear, so good to make sure again we're clear on this. But historical goods movement data and the current service will not be transferred to the new service. As I said, the current service will remain available to all users until the 30th of November, and all the data in the current service will remain available until that date also. If you would like to download information before 30th of November, you can do so. There is guidance on Nectar around how to do that in the current service just now. And that allows you to download that into Excel form and you can have all the data that's there and download that into your own records. As I say, one thing I would note as well is that the HMRC has developed the customs declaration service trade reporting and extracting tool. which people might have heard of, the TRE. And that's a free to use gov.uk resource and it's accessible on gov.uk and that allows businesses to request up to 31 consecutive days of data in each report and that starts from any date within four years of the current date. So anything that's went through CDS, from four years from today, you can request on that service currently and that will continue as well. So there will be continued access to sort of customs data through that service after the 30th of November. But if you would want to get the data on the current service, you should download that before the 30th of November.
William Barns-Graham
Simon Pettigrew
So I think kind of linking back to the question we had earlier is that movements that start in the current service must be completed in the current service and you should do that in line with the dates they said by the 10th calendar day of the following month. As I said, the system will remain available to all users until the 30th of November and allowing businesses time to sort of close things down before whilst we're going through a transition. The one thing I would know, if you are using things like a pre-lodgement model or you're moving goods sort of over the cusp of migration, I think one of the things I would really encourage people to do is to consider onboarding to private beta before the 20th of October, because that will then allow businesses to really get access to that and make sure they're doing it well in advance of that migration so that they're ready and that sort of cut over periods that may cause some confusion. But as I say, generally, I appreciate that may not be feasible for everyone, so there will be specific guidance around doing that. But one thing I said I would make sure is everyone's clear that anything started in the current service, if ends in the current service, anything started in the service after migration in the service.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you, Simon. And you'll be glad to hear we're on to the final FAQ on the next slide. And this one is asking, what is happening to improve the reliability of ICS 2.
Simon Pettigrew
Yeah, thanks. And this is one that we've heard quite consistently since ICS 2 became mandatory sort of a road and rail movement on the 1st of January of this year. And that sort of completed the migration from the previous ICS and I service to the new the new system. I think First thing I would say is it's important to note that the ICS 2 issues are not specifically a TSS issue. So where there are ICS 2 issues or the system is performing poorly, that is sort of replicated across anyone who's integrating with that system, not just necessarily TSS. One thing that we are looking to do is to see how we can improve the customer experience using TSS where there are issues such as this. But I think the important thing to know is like TSS and HMRC have been working really closely with the relevant authorities providing insight into the sort of the issues around poor performance and what impact that's having on certain businesses. And I think we have seen some improvements to that. We have some fixes developed and implemented recently, which has made the system far more reliable. I appreciate that's not 100% just now and some businesses may have experienced things in the last few weeks. So as I say, I do really realise that that's not 100% just now, but we are continuing to really work with the appropriate authorities to make sure that they understand the impact that has and how we can then develop it. The one thing I would say is if you are experiencing any issues where it affects any sort of imminent movements through the current service, please do make sure you reach out to the service for support. There is routes available to support you if ICS2 is blocking movements or are having any issues with your movements of goods. So please do speak to them. Obviously, if there's any planned outages, they'll be communicated through sort of normal channels.
William Barns-Graham
Terrific. Thank you. Well, thank you, Simon, and also to Amit and Kevin for answering those FAQs. We will now move on to the questions you've been asking us during today's webinar. Please do continue to submit questions using the Q&A function rather than the chat. If you've asked a question in the chat area of Teams, just copy and paste that over into the Q&A area so we can put it to the panel in the remaining time we have or we can collect it for future FAQ style content in the future. Now the first question I'm going to put to Amit, if he's back with us, is from Beverly. Beverly says, we currently enter shipments for Northern Ireland on TSS and do the supplementary declarations. Do we have to change over to beta or is it optional?
Amit Parekh
I'm sure I can answer that question, Will. I wonder whether any of my colleagues can potentially support.
Simon Pettigrew
Happy to jump in if that's helpful. I think if you are using one, if you are using TSS currently using creating goods movements and doing supplemented declarations, it is not mandatory that you move over to the new service at this point. I said private beta is optional and it allows businesses sort of early access to do that, to complete their movements and provide feedback and sort of really help us shape the new service. I said what I would note is the migration to that service is planned for the 20th of October. So after that date, then yes, everything would have to move over to the new service.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you Simon for stepping in there. A question from Andy, I'll put to Kevin. It's something, it's a bit of a recap question this one, but what internal processes can we put in place now in advance of the 20th of October?
Kevin Shakespeare
I think it's, I would refer back to some of the earlier slides in terms of processes. Certainly things to consider is to understand your movement and the actors in your supply chain and to obviously contact those actors, absolutely fundamental. To really start to register for private beta again using the links including the QR code, set up your login details, check your profile, company profile, check the users and again referring back to a slide. So be very, very clear on those aspects and again be very clear on your role in the supply chain. So if you are the GB supplier or the Northern Ireland buyer, be very, very clear on what your role is. and understand where those responsibilities lie. So for example, again, partly coming back to the previous question, are you responsible for the supplementary declaration depending on the Incoterms used? And I did see some comments around use of DDP, delivered duty paid, in which you will be responsible for the, as the GB supplier for the supplementary declaration. Be very, very clear on who's responsible for the ENS, the Safety and Security Declaration, usually the haulier, but there may be some circumstances in which you as a trader may do it yourself. Be very, very clear also, I think, around the movements. Are these internal market movements or are these more at-risk goods? So again, be very clear, look at the profile, take the opportunity to actually reflect on your movements, what can and what is achievable, and again, whether it's internal market or at risk. Thank you.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. And just a reminder that in terms of today's materials, we'll be sharing a recording of today's webinar in an e-mail following this session. I've got a question for Simon from Joanne. Interesting one. So at the moment, the system is incorrectly calculating input duty charges for Y155. It's an ongoing issue with the CDS, which CDS is looking into. Effectively, I think duty rates are applied as if the goods were consigned to Russia or Belarus. If assistance is removed, business could end up paying duties. How would something like this be resolved?
Simon Pettigrew
Yeah, thanks for this, Will, and thank you for the question. So this is a known issue. And without getting into too much of the technical stuff, it's around how the tariff and how CDS are interacting, which is causing the issue. So we're aware of what the impact this is having on businesses. We are working now to implement a fix in CDS that will change that. So I think that's one for them to note. And that would then allow the sort of the correct duty treatment to apply. That's in train now, so it's something that we will be actively looking at the level and we can communicate when that's there. I said, if businesses need support because of that issue specifically, we can continue to speak with the current service and contact HMRC directly if they are being impacted on that.
William Barns-Graham
Perfect. We've only got time for one more question. So I'll do this one. It's from Eve. I think this is probably for Amit. Will the new service or portal be available on government gateway?
Amit Parekh
When it launches, yes, it will be. I think at the moment it's a closed private beta phase. So as I said, if you register for that, then we can look to potentially move you on. But yes, from the 20th of October onwards, then it will be open for full use.
William Barns-Graham
Thank you. Thank you, Amit. Thank you again as well to Simon and Kevin as well. We have run out of time. It's A 45-minute webinar today. So we'll bring things to a close. Thank you everyone for the questions. And please do note we will continue to review these questions offline and get back to you where possible as well. Before we go, I really would encourage you to engage with the private beta programme if you have not already done so. The earlier you become familiar with the new service, the smoother your transition is likely to be. You can scan the QR code on slide for more information. And I know my colleague Paul has shared the link in the chat as well. So hopefully you can access it one way or another. Other than that, the other key takeaways to note from today's webinar are that the new service becomes the platform for all new declarations on the 20th of October 2026. And the current service closes completely on 30th of November 2026. As you can see on this final slide, a reminder that the recording of today's webinar is going to be shared shortly. Thank you again to Simon, Kevin and Amit for today's discussion. And thank you to all of you for joining us today and for all of your questions. We look forward to continuing to support you through the transition to the next phase of TSS. But for now, goodbye.