Using your UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation in the Trader Support Service

Find out how to use your UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) authorisation. This includes when making a customs declaration or submitting the Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) in the Trader Support Service.

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Use this guidance if you have UKIMS authorisation and you want to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ of entering the EU. If you do not have a UKIMS authorisation and your goods are ‘not at risk’ of entering the EU, check if you can reduce customs duty on goods moving into Northern Ireland.

What is the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS)?

The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) authorisation gives you access to use the simplified processes for the Internal Market Movements (opens in a new tab) when moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

This means:

you can submit the Internal Market Movement Information (opens in a new tab) instead of a full declaration
you do not pay duty when goods are declared as ‘not at risk’ of moving to the EU from free circulation in Great Britain

Intermediaries can also apply for their own UKIMS authorisation to use the simplified processes on behalf of their customers. To use the authorisation, they must act as the importer of record on the declaration and keep appropriate records to prove the goods remained in the UK internal market

Find out more about UKIMS (opens in a new tab) and the compliance requirements you must meet to be authorised.

Check if you can declare your goods as ‘not at risk’ under UKIMS

You can declare goods as ‘not at risk’ of moving to the EU, if they are for sale to, or final use by, end consumers in Northern Ireland or Great Britain.

You are responsible for ensuring your goods meet these conditions and must keep evidence for each consignment moved to Northern Ireland for up to 5 years.

Find more about when you can declare goods ‘not at risk’ (opens in a new tab).

Before using your UKIMS authorisation

Before moving goods, you must agree on roles and responsibilities and ensure your goods meet the scheme’s conditions.

Table showing actions traders, hauliers and agents need to take before using UKIMS authorisation to move goods.
Action	Trader (seller, exporter, buyer, importer)	Transporter (carrier, haulier)	Intermediary (agent, freight forwarder)
Agree who will be the importer of record for the movement	Yes	Yes (if completing customs information and entry summary declaration as part of the combined journey)	Yes (agree with the trader)
Confirm UKIMS authorisation to be used	Yes	Yes (if completing customs information and entry summary declaration as part of the combined journey)	Yes (agree with the trader)
Check goods meet ‘not at risk conditions	Yes	No	Yes (if using own UKIMS authorisation)

Use your UKIMS authorisation in the Trader Support Service

You must upload your UKIMS authorisation letter to your company profile before you can use it:

From the menu select Company profile.
Select View company information.
Select Edit company information.
Navigate to authorisations and select Add an authorisation.

You must enter:

your UKIMS authorisation number
the EORI number linked to your UKIMS authorisation
the authorisation start date

The Trader Support Service will verify your UKIMS authorisation. You can only use the authorisation when the status is shown as ‘Active’ in your company profile.

Your authorisation details will be auto-filled by the Trader Support Service on your declarations for your ‘not at risk’ movements, so you do not have to do it yourself.

If your UKIMS authorisation letter is not uploaded, not active, or was not valid at the time of the goods movement, your goods may be treated as ‘at risk’ and you may have to pay duty at the applicable EU rate.

If duties are due, you may be able to claim a customs duty waiver (opens in a new tab).

If duties have been paid and you had an active UKIMS authorisation at the time of movement but did not upload it to your company profile, you can apply for reimbursement using the duty reimbursement scheme (opens in a new tab).

UKIMS and Entry in Declarant’s Records (EIDR)

If you are authorised for UKIMS, and do not use the Trader Support Service to move your goods, you could apply for a UKIMS-EIDR authorisation to help simplify your movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Find out more about using UKIMS-EIDR (opens in a new tab).

Give and manage permissions for UKIMS in the Trader Support Service

You must give permission to third parties if you want them to use your UKIMS authorisation to complete the following on your behalf:

the Internal Market Movement Information
supplementary declaration
standard declaration

You can also allow them to access your Trader Goods Profile (TGP), if needed.

Only the Trader Support Service Primary Contact can grant and manage permissions.

What happens when you give permission

When you give permission:

the third party can use your UKIMS authorisation to submit the Internal Market Movement Information, the supplementary declaration, and the standard declaration
the permission is saved in your company profile, so you do not have to authorise them for every movement
they can only use TGP if you have allowed access

UKIMS and TGP permissions are separate. You can choose to give UKIMS access or both UKIMS and TGP access.

Make sure you only give the level of access needed.

Give permission to use your UKIMS authorisation

To give permission you must:

go to your Company profile
select UKIMS and Trader Goods Profile Access
on Manage UKIMS and TGP permissions choose how you want to give access:
- - to all users
  - to a specific third party using their EORI or account name
if you are not allowing access to all users, select the third-party permission options
if the third-party is not listed on your profile add their details
confirm and accept the terms

The permission will then be recorded in your company profile

Editing permissions

You can change permissions in your company profile.

To do this:

go to UKIMS and Trader Goods Profile access
select the EORI number of the third party
update the level of access

Trader Support Service