Transit declarations using the Trader Support Service

Understand when a transit declaration is needed, how transit movements are supported by the Trader Support Service and what you need to do to complete the movement.

Contents

What is a transit declaration?

A transit declaration is used to declare goods to the transit procedure. The transit procedure allows goods to move through one or more countries that are part of the Common Transit Convention (CTC) under customs control without paying import duty or making an import declaration in each country they pass through.

If you are moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through Ireland, you can use the transit procedure. This means you will not have to complete an import declaration in Ireland.

Once the transit declaration has been submitted and accepted, the goods must be released to transit at the Office of Departure. The goods then remain under the transit procedure until they are presented at the Office of Destination in Northern Ireland. This can be at a port location or authorised consignee location.

At the Office of Destination, the port location or the authorised consignee, will check the transport, the transit declaration, and the import declaration. If everything is correct, the goods are released from the transit procedure.

A transit declaration does not replace the customs declarations required to import goods into Northern Ireland. If required, you must also complete the other declarations and customs processes for the movement.

When you need a transit declaration

You need a transit declaration if your goods are moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through Ireland.

For example, you will normally need a transit declaration if:

your goods travel through Ireland before continuing to Northern Ireland
your vehicle or trailer makes deliveries in Ireland before continuing to Northern Ireland with goods remaining on board

You do not normally need a transit declaration if your goods move directly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without passing through another country, provided they are domestic goods. Domestic goods are goods that either originate in the UK, or have been imported to the UK with all duties paid.

The Trader Support Service supports transit movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through Ireland. It does not support the direct import of goods into Ireland.

Declarations and processes required for a transit movement

A transit declaration is only one part of the customs process for moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through Ireland.

Goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland do not require an export declaration, even when travelling through Ireland under the transit procedure, provided the goods are duty paid and in free circulation in Great Britain.

However, a transit movement will require additional declarations and customs processes.

Declaration or process	Purpose	Supported by the Trader Support Service?
Transit declaration	Places the goods under the Common Transit Convention while they move through Ireland.	Yes
Entry summary declaration	A safety and security declaration required before the goods arrive in Ireland.	Yes
Import declaration	Declares the goods for import into Northern Ireland and closes the transit movement.	Yes
Goods movement reference (GMR)	Links the vehicle to the customs declarations in the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS).	No
Pre-boarding notification (PBN)	Notifies Irish Revenue of the movement before boarding the ferry to Ireland, created using Ireland's roll-on roll-off (RoRo) service.	No
Licences, certificates and supporting documents	Required where import controls and measures apply to the goods being moved.	No

You must ensure that the goods meet any import control requirements that apply when entering Ireland.

Before the movement, check the commodity code in the Northern Ireland Online Tariff. The tariff displays both UK and EU controls and measures. For goods moving through Ireland under the transit procedure, you should check the EU controls and measures to identify any licences, certificates or other supporting documents required before the goods enter Ireland.

Goods moving under Windsor Framework simplifications such as the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS) cannot transit through an Irish port because full EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import controls apply.

How transit works in the Trader Support Service

Before starting a transit movement, make sure you have registered for the Trader Support Service and reviewed the checklist for completing the transit declaration. The checklist explains the information you need and the actions to complete before, during and after the movement.

1. Start the declaration

Select Start a declaration and choose the Great Britain to Northern Ireland via Ireland route.

If your movement is eligible for the simplified customs declaration process (SCDP), you can complete an integrated entry summary declaration and simplified frontier declaration journey. You will then complete a supplementary declaration after the goods arrive in Northern Ireland.

If your movement is not eligible for the SCDP, complete an entry summary declaration only using this route. You must then return to Start a declaration, choose the Great Britain to Northern Ireland route and submit a full import declaration, known as a standard declaration on the service.

The Movement Reference Number (MRN) from the import declaration must be presented at the Office of Destination or authorised consignee location in Northern Ireland to close the transit movement.

Before the goods move, make sure you have met any EU import control requirements that apply to the goods. This includes obtaining any required licences, certificates or other supporting documents needed for the goods to enter Ireland under the transit procedure.

2. Submit the declarations

Once you have completed the entry summary and import declarations, you must raise a transit case with the Trader Support Service.

From the Support section, select Create support case, then select Transit as the category to make the request.

The Trader Support Service will provide a transit declaration template through the case. Complete the template with the information required for the transit movement and return it through the case.

The Trader Support Service will review the information you have provided. If any information is missing or further information is needed, an agent will contact you through the case. Once everything required is available, the transit declaration will be submitted to the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) on your behalf.

Once your declaration has been submitted, you will receive a transit local reference number (LRN). The goods and transit LRN must then be presented at the Office of Departure in Great Britain to start the transit movement.

3. Present the goods at the Office of Departure

The haulier must present the goods and the transit LRN at the Office of Departure in Great Britain.

Customs will use the transit LRN to retrieve the transit declaration from the NCTS. Once the goods have been presented and the transit movement has been accepted, NCTS will generate the transit MRN.

The transit MRN is required for the goods to move under the Common Transit Convention and must travel with the movement. Make sure the person in control of the goods, such as the driver, has access to the Transit MRN throughout the journey.

You can ask for a paper Transit Accompanying Document (TAD) at the Office of Departure. The TAD contains the Transit MRN in numeric format and as a barcode. A paper TAD is not required to move the goods if the Transit MRN is available electronically.

The transit MRN is used throughout the remainder of the movement and must be included in the goods movement reference (GMR) and pre-boarding notification (PBN) before travelling to Ireland. The entry summary declaration MRN must also be included in the PBN before travelling to Ireland.

4. Travel through Ireland

When the correct Office of Transit in Ireland is declared in NCTS, the PBN will automatically process the Office of Transit function when the goods arrive in Ireland.

Before the ferry arrives in Ireland, the haulier needs to check the status of the PBN using Revenue's Customs Channel Look-up service. The service will let the haulier know whether the goods can leave the port or if they should be presented for checks.

Do not leave the port in Ireland until the PBN status shows Exit the Port.

If a different status is shown, follow the instructions from Irish Revenue or other relevant authorities before continuing the journey.

5. Close the transit movement

The haulier must take the goods to the Office of Destination entered on the transit declaration. This can be at a port location or authorised consignee location.

The goods along with the Transit MRN must be presented to the Office of Destination in the legally-required format of an 18-digit alphanumeric MRN and the associated barcode. The import declaration MRN from the Trader Support Service must also be available.

Once the goods are presented and all customs checks are completed, the transit movement will be closed and the goods can be released into free circulation in Northern Ireland.

It is important that every transit movement is closed correctly at the Office of Destination.

If a transit movement is not closed, customs authorities may treat the movement as outstanding and you may become liable for any customs duty that is due.

6. Complete the supplementary declaration

If the goods were imported using the SCDP, a supplementary declaration will be generated on the importer's Trader Support Service account once the transit movement has been closed.

The supplementary declaration must be completed by the 10th calendar day of the month following the movement.