Guidance

Import header report description

Published 13 November 2025

These tables lists the fields that appear in an import header report, and describe what each field means. The fields are listed in alphabetical order.

Declarant name and postcode fields are not a mandatory requirement. However, if these fields were filled in on the declaration, we’ll also provide this data in the report.

Fields A to F

Field name	Description
Acceptance date	The date that the entry is legally accepted by the Customs Declaration Service (for example the goods have arrived at the import location). For CFSP supplementary declarations the acceptance date is the date of the actual importation (also known as the Tax Point date).
Additional Information Code	Additional information in encoded form. Read the appendices in Additional Information (AI) Statement Codes for Data Element 2/2 of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) for more information.
Agent	Agent’s EORI number.
Air transport cost value	Contains the air waybill and freight charges cost for the consignment.
Air transport costs currency	Contains the code for the currency in which the air transport costs and the air waybill and freight charges are declared.
Air transport cost adjustment currency	Contains the code for the currency in which the air transport costs and the air waybill and freight charges are declared.
Clearance date	The date on which the goods were granted clearance by customs and any duties or taxes due were paid. For CFSP supplementary declarations it is simply the date on which the Customs Declaration Service processing was completed.
Consignor	Textual data comprising the first 18 characters of the consignor’s name as input to the Customs Declaration Service.
Customs value	The total value of the item for the purposes of Customs Duty. In addition to the actual price of the goods this includes additional elements such as freight charges to the EU boundary.
Declarant	The EORI number of the importer if the declaration is submitted by the importer. Or it is the EORI number of the agent authorised by the importer or consignor to act as the representative for the consignment and to ‘declare the goods’ on the import entry.
Declarant reference number	Trader’s own declaration reference.
Declaration Category	Type of Declaration.
Declaration Data Source	Source system where the data is mastered.
Declarant EORI	The EORI number of the importer if the declaration is submitted by the importer. Or it is the EORI number of the agent authorised by the importer or consignor to act as the representative for the consignment and to ‘declare the goods’ on the import entry.
Declarant representative	The relevant code showing the status of the representative. Where self-representation is used this data element should be left blank. Code 2 for direct representation and code 3 for indirect representation.
Declarant’s reference number	Trader’s own declaration reference.
Deferment 1	The Deferment Approval Number (DAN) to identify the deferment account to which revenue is to be debited.
DUCR	Declaration Unique Consignment Reference — a reference number assigned by the declarant for the goods covered by the declaration.
Entry identifier	ID of the declaration assigned by customs.
Entry Number/MRN	ID of the declaration assigned by Customs being a specific customs ID or a Movement Reference Number (MRN).
Entry Processing Unit Number	The 3-digit code representing the Entry Processing Unit identity. (CHIEF only).

Fields G to L

Field name	Description
Header Deferment Account Number	(Information pending).
Header EU Duty	EU Customs Duty (declaration total).
Header Guarantee/Cash Account Number	(Information pending).
Header UK Duty	The amount of customs duty to be effectively paid.
Importer EORI	Importer’s EORI number.
Insurance amount GBP	Insurance amount for the consignment paid to cover the transport of the goods in sterling (GBP).
Insurance cost adjustment currency	Contains the code for the currency in which any insurance amount is declared.
Insurance costs adjustment	Contains any insurance amount for the consignment paid to cover the transport of the goods.
Insurance cost currency	Contains the code for the currency in which any insurance amount is declared.
Insurance costs value	Contains any insurance amount for the consignment paid to cover the transport of the goods.
Invoice total	The invoice price of the goods in the currency whose code appears in the invoice currency field.
Invoice total GBP	Foreign currency amounts are converted into sterling (GBP) using stored rates of exchange.
Item count	Contains the total number of items declared.

Fields M to R

Field name	Description
MUCR	Master Unique Consignment Reference — contains any inventory consignment reference that has been declared. For goods consigned by air the inventory consignment reference normally incorporates the air waybill number.
Paying Agent EORI	Agent’s EORI number.
Paying Agent Name	Agent’s name.
Previous document class	Identifies the class of a previous document being declared.
Previous document reference	Identifies a previous declaration or a previous document reference.

Fields S to Z

Field name	Description
Submitter’s Reference number	(Information pending).
Total Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)	The total amount of CAP charges for the declaration.
Total excise	The total amount of Excise Duty for the entry.
Total duty	The amount of Customs Duty to be effectively paid.
Total invoice converted	Foreign currency amounts are converted into sterling using stored rates of exchange.
Total packages	The number of packages or items covered by the packaging object.
Total VAT	The total amount of VAT paid on the declaration.
Total VAT Paid	The total amount of VAT paid on the declaration.
Total VAT Value	The total amount of VAT paid on the declaration.
Trader reference	Trader’s own declaration reference.
Transport costs	Loading and handling charges up to the place of introduction in the EU. The amount declared should exclude any airfreight charges declared under codes AR or AS. For multi-item declarations costs declared under this code will be apportioned across the items in proportion to their value. If the declarant would prefer the charges to be apportioned by gross mass rather than value then they should use code AQ instead of AP.
Transport costs currency	Contains the code for the currency in which any transport cost is declared.
Transport cost adjustment currency	Contains the code for the currency in which any transport cost is declared.
Transport costs adjustment	Loading and handling charges up to the place of introduction in the EU. The amount declared should exclude any airfreight charges declared under codes AR or AS. For multi-item declarations costs declared under this code will be apportioned across the items in proportion to their value. If the declarant would prefer the charges to be apportioned by gross mass rather than value then they should use code AQ instead of AP.
Transport country	The country code for the active means of transport.
Transport mode	The transport code for the active means of transport by which the goods are imported.
VAT currency adjustment	Contains any VAT value adjustment amount for the consignment in the currency defined by ‘VAT Adjustment Currency’. For example this would be used to enter additional freight charges covering transport between the EU and the UK boundary in sterling.
VAT value adjustment	Contains any VAT value adjustment amount for the consignment in the currency defined by ‘VAT Adjustment Currency’. This field would for example be used to enter additional freight charges covering transport between the EU and the UK boundary.