Moving steel products into Northern Ireland

Check how to import steel goods into Northern Ireland, review applicable tariffs, and complete the relevant fields on a customs declaration.

Contents:

Which measures can apply to steel imports

If you import steel products into Northern Ireland, steel-specific trade measures may apply. This can mean additional duties or controls on the goods.

These measures include:

quotas
safeguarding duties
sanctions and other import controls

The measures apply can vary because the UK and EU have their own controls on steel goods.

Check if any measures apply to your goods

Not all steel products are controlled or subject to additional duties.

You can check if any additional measures apply to your goods by reviewing the commodity code on the Northern Ireland Online Tariff.

If your goods are not subject to any import controls, safeguarding measures or other steel-specific restrictions, they can move to Northern Ireland the same as other non-controlled goods – the rest of this guidance will not apply.

Steel measures can apply to a wide range of products, including:

flat rolled steel products
rebar
tubes and pipes
sections or pre-fabricated items, such as frames to be used for a building
steel wire

Check the risk status of steel goods

Whether UK or EU measures apply depends on the risk status of the goods. The criteria for confirming if goods are ‘at risk’ of onward movement to the EU or not is the same as all movements into Northern Ireland.

‘Not at risk’ goods

will remain in Northern Ireland after import
are not subject to trade defence measures

‘At risk’ goods

might leave Northern Ireland and enter the EU through Ireland
are subject to any trade defence measures
As many steel products are subject to trade defence measures, such as safeguarding duties, they are usually ‘at risk’.

If the goods are ‘at risk’, then any EU import measures apply, including standard import duties.

‘At risk’ steel goods subject to additional duties can have that duty reduced or removed:

For goods originating in Great Britain, through specific EU-UK (NI) quotas
For goods from the rest of the world (excluding the EU), through UK tariff rate quotas

Example: not at risk steel goods

A construction company in Northern Ireland buys a consignment of concrete reinforcing bars and rods, which originate in Great Britain. They classify the goods under commodity code 7214 2000 10. The company holds a UKIMS authorisation , and can evidence the goods remaining in Northern Ireland. These goods can move into Northern Ireland ‘not at risk.’ .

EU-UK (NI) tariff-rate quotas for goods originating in Great Britain

There are specific quotas available for steel goods moving into Northern Ireland that originate in Great Britain. These quotas are available for the following goods categories:

Category 7 – Non-alloy and other alloy quarto plates
Category 8 – Stainless steel hot-rolled sheets and strips
Category 9 – Stainless steel cold-rolled sheets and strips
Category 13 – Rebars
Category 17 – Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel
Category 25A – Large welded tubes
Category 28 – Non-alloy wire

Each category has an associated quota order number, which can be found on The Steel Notice.

Before claiming a quota, you first must check that there is still a quota balance available to use by reviewing the relevant quota order number in the EU’s tariff quota database.

If the standard quota balance has expired, traders can contact to check for alternative quotas they may be able to use.

If there is no quota available, or your goods do not fall under the specified categories, the full 50% rate of safeguarding duty will apply instead. In such a case, you may be able to make a customs duty waiver claim to offset this duty.

Find out more on movements of UK-origin steel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Declaring the country of melt and pour

You must declare in which country the steel was melted and poured. This is in addition to any other country of origin requirements needed in a customs declaration for quotas or other rules.

The country of melt and pour can be different to the country of origin of the final product being imported.

You will need to provide a Mill Test Certificate that contains evidence of the country of melt and pour and the heat number. If you cannot, other forms of evidence can be used in addition to the certificate, but may be subject to additional checks once the goods arrive in Northern Ireland.

From 1 October 2027, a Mill Test Certificate and all the required information must be provided. If the Mill Test Certificate does not contain all of the information needed, other forms of evidence can still be used, but they must be submitted in addition to the Mill Test Certificate.

How to declare the country of melt and pour in the Trader Support Service

There are document codes you must add in Document references for steel movements in the Trader Support Service. You will need to check Appendix 5A to view the completion requirements for each code.

To declare the specific country of melt and pour, enter the appropriate code from Appendix 5A. You can use the Northern Ireland Online Tariff to find which code applies to your goods.

Declaring the Mill Test Certificate and supporting evidence in the Trader Support Service

To declare the Mill Test Certificate, enter the code ‘C131’ in Document references.

If your Mill Test Certificate does not contain the country of melt and pour and the heat number, you will need to provide additional evidence of this information. For example, if your Mill Test Certificate contains only the country of melt and pour, you need to provide alternative evidence that contains the heat number.

The types of alternative documents you can provide are:

Document type	Code for the Trader Support Service
Invoice	C132
Delivery note	C133
Quality certificate, or purchase orders	C134
Long-term declaration from the supplier	C135
Cost accounting or production documents	C136
Customs document from the exporting country	C137
Commercial correspondence	C138
Production descriptions	C139

Goods originating in the EU

Steel products of EU origin which are moved into Northern Ireland are not subject to any EU duties.

This means you will not need to claim a tariff-rate quota for those products.

Find out more on movements of EU-origin steel into Northern Ireland.

Tariff-rate quotas for rest of world origin goods

Steel products that originated outside of Great Britain or the EU can still be moved into Northern Ireland.

To benefit from tariff-rate quotas, there must be a UK and EU quota available for the product you are moving.

There can be UK-wide tariff-rate quotas available to claim for another country of origin – check the UK Integrated Online Tariff.

Find out more on movements of Rest of World-origin steel into Northern Ireland.

Declaring tariff-rate quotas in the Trader Support Service

The Trader Support Service can be used to import steel goods into Northern Ireland, with or without a tariff-rate quota.

Quotas are claimed through:

a full import declaration (called a standard declaration in the service) – previously known as a full frontier declaration (FFD)
a supplementary declaration.

If you are submitting a supplementary declaration, the quota is only claimed on submission of that supplementary declaration. Any required quota balance will need to be available at that time, and not at the time of initial import.

For supplementary declarations, you can only claim a quota and any required balance when you submit the declaration, and not at the time the goods were imported.

The exact process changes depending on if the goods are of GB origin, EU origin, or Rest of World origin.

Check The Steel Notice for specific guidance on how to complete the required fields.

Example of a tariff-rate quota

An agricultural retailer based in Northern Ireland imports non-alloy steel fencing wire of GB-origin.

The goods are classified under commodity code 7217 1050 00.

The retailer reviews The Steel Notice, confirming:

the goods fall within Category 28
the EU-UK (NI) quota order number is 099497

The retailer then checks the EU’s tariff quota database and confirms that there is sufficient remaining balance for the quarter on that quota order number.

The movement is declared using the Trader Support Service.

In Additional Information, they enter the following codes:

NIDOM
NIQUO, followed by “099497” and “QUOTA” in the accompanying free text field

Using the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) with steel goods

Steel goods that are being used for specific construction purposes in Northern Ireland can be moved using UKIMS regardless of origin, if the construction is for a permanent structure by the importer, or a party the importer is selling to.

Using the goods for this specific purpose means they are not longer ‘at risk’.

The goods must already be in UK free circulation, and all other requirements for using UKIMS apply.

If the goods are not being used for construction, they cannot be moved under UKIMS.

However, traders can still use the Duty Reimbursement Scheme or Customs Duty Waiver Scheme to mitigate any duty due.

Example of using UKIMS with steel goods

A steel wholesaler based in Northern Ireland imports a consignment of steel beams for their customer, a building supplies retailer.

That retailer subsequently sells the goods to another end customer.

These goods would not be eligible to use UKIMS at the time of import, as neither the wholesaler or their immediate customer – the retailer – is using the goods for a construction project.

Steel import controls

Steel products from specific countries of origin can be subject to non-tariff controls, such as import licences or other documents.

These controls are generally applied to countries the UK or EU has sanctioned. Check the EU import controls and UK import controls sections of the Northern Ireland Online Tariff to review if any such measures apply to your goods.

If your goods originate in any of the affected countries, you may not be able to import them. In some cases, imports are permitted with an import licence or similar authorisation from the relevant UK or EU customs authority.