Using the Trader Support Service for movements to and from Northern Ireland

Find out how you can use the Trader Support Service when moving your goods into or out of Northern Ireland

Contents

Why use the Trader Support Service?

The Trader Support Service is a free to use service to tell customs authorities about the goods you move.

You need to tell customs authorities when you move goods to or from Northern Ireland.

They will need to know what, where, when and how the goods are being moved, so that they can:

assess safety and security risks of the movement
tell you if you owe customs duties and taxes

The information about your goods needs to be given to one or more systems:

Import Control System 2 (ICS2) - for safety and security purposes (submitted through an entry summary declaration)
Customs Declaration System (CDS) - for customs declarations to calculate whether you owe customs duties
Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) - to get a goods movement reference which allows the movement of goods across the Irish sea
New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) - for creating transit movements for goods moved to Northern Ireland via Ireland

The Trader Support Service has direct access to these systems, so you do not have to access them separately.

Routes for movements to or from Northern Ireland

There are different ways to move goods to or from Northern Ireland depending on:

where the goods begin their journey
how they travel
whether they remain in Northern Ireland or are sent elsewhere

The following table highlights 5 ways you can move your goods to or from Northern Ireland.

Table showing the different routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the different modes of transport and examples of those routes.
Route	Mode of transport	Journey example
Great Britain to Northern Ireland (direct)	Maritime, roll on roll off (RoRo) Maritime, ship/vessel(not through an inventory linked port)	Liverpool to Belfast Cairnryan to Larne Heysham to Warrenpoint
Great Britain to Northern Ireland, via Ireland (transit)	Maritime, roll on roll off (RoRo), then road	Holyhead to Dublin (by ferry) to Belfast (by road)
Rest of the world to Northern Ireland	Maritime, ship/vessel (through an inventory linked port) Air (through an inventory linked port)	China to Belfast
Northern Ireland to Great Britain (direct)	Maritime, roll on roll off (RoRo) Maritime, ship/vessel (not through an inventory linked port)	Belfast to Liverpool
Northern Ireland to Great Britain, via Ireland (indirect)	Road, then maritime, roll on roll off (RoRo)	Newry to Dublin port (by road) then departing to Holyhead (by ferry)

The route you take may be dependent on:

costs - the cost of transport may be more if your business is located far from the port
distance - you may move goods via an Irish port if you are closer to it
time sensitive goods - you may choose a route that has more sailings to Northern Ireland to ensure your goods arrive on time

Information you can submit through the portal

You can use the Trader Support Service to complete various forms and tasks to help you move your goods.

Most movements to Northern Ireland will require an entry summary declaration and a customs declaration.

Entry summary declaration

Most journeys require the submission of an entry summary declaration. The following information will help you to prepare the submission of this form:

Other forms

You can submit information to customs about the goods using one of the following forms:

Internal Market Movement Information (if eligible – movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland)
EIDR or simplified declaration
supplementary declaration
standard declaration
export declaration (non-qualifying goods - movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, indirect movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, via Ireland)

The following information will help you to prepare the submission of the form selected to inform HMRC about the goods:

Table showing guides available to help with making different types of declaration.
Type of form	Information to help preparing the submission of the form
Internal Market Movement Information (if eligible)	Checklist for completing Internal Market Movement Information
EIDR or simplified declaration	Use the Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP) in the Trader Support Service Checklist - SCDP (EIDR/SFD & SD)
Supplementary declaration	Checklist for using the Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP)
Standard declaration	Checklist for completing a standard declaration
Export declaration	Export declarations for goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain Export declarations for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain through Ireland

Information you can submit for movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

As well as an entry summary declaration, there's different information you'll need to submit for the different routes into Northern Ireland.

Table showing the declarations available for 'at risk' and 'not at risk' goods with different authorisations across the different routes into Northern Ireland.
Route	Condition: ‘not at risk’ goods, UKIMS authorised, eligible goods	Conditions: ‘not at risk’ goods, non-UKIMS authorised, no EU duties apply	Conditions: ‘at risk’ goods, EU duties apply
Great Britain to Northern Ireland (direct)	Internal Market Movement Information	Submit either: EIDR or simplified declaration and supplementary declaration standard declaration	Submit either: EIDR or simplified declaration and supplementary declaration standard declaration
Great Britain to Northern Ireland, via Ireland (transit)	Not applicable	Submit a transit declaration and either: EIDR or simplified declaration and supplementary declaration standard declaration	Submit a transit declaration and either: EIDR or simplified declaration and supplementary declaration standard declaration
Rest of the world to Northern Ireland	Not applicable	Submit a standard declaration	Submit a standard declaration

Examples of information that can be submitted for movements into Northern Ireland

Table showing different types of goods movement into Northern Ireland, and what information you'll need to submit.
Goods movement scenarios	Information you need to submit
goods moving directly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland by RoRo goods in free circulation UKIMS authorised trader standard or Category 2 goods	You have 2 options: entry summary declaration and Internal Market Movement Information EIDR or simplified declaration and supplementary declaration
goods moving directly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland by RoRo goods in free circulation UKIMS authorised trader standard and Category 1 goods (mixed consignment)	entry summary declaration, and simplified declaration with supplementary declaration
Great Britain to Northern Ireland, via Ireland by RoRo standard goods	entry summary declaration, transit and EIDR with supplementary declaration
Great Britain to Northern Ireland, via Ireland by RoRo controlled goods	entry summary declaration, transit and simplified declaration with supplementary declaration

Information you can submit for movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

As well as an entry summary declaration, there's different information you'll need to submit for the different routes into Great Britain.

Table showing the declarations available for 'at risk' and 'not at risk' goods with different authorisations across the different routes into Great Britain.
Route	Conditions: qualifying goods, in free circulation, not subject to customs controls or international obligations	Conditions: non-qualifying goods, not in free circulation, and subject to customs controls or international obligations
Northern Ireland to Great Britain (direct)	Not required	Export declaration
Northern Ireland to Great Britain, via Ireland (transit)	Export declaration	Export declaration

Examples of information that can be submitted for movements from Northern Ireland

Table showing different types of goods movement into Great Britain, and what information you'll need to submit.
Goods movement scenarios	Information you may need to submit
goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain by RoRo goods in free circulation not subject to international obligations	None
goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain by RoRo goods subject to international obligations	Entry summary declaration and export declaration
goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, via Ireland by RoRo goods subject to customs controls	Entry summary declaration and export declaration

Oral declaration

Oral declarations do not require the submission of a physical or electronic form as such. In this scenario, if you hire someone to move goods for you, they will need to obtain a GMR for the movement of your goods. In this case, an entry summary declaration is required.

The following guidance provides insights about oral declarations so you can check when they may be applicable: