Guidance

Part 1 Tariff Supplement for CDS Volume 3 for the Northern Ireland Protocol

Updated 8 April 2024

Introduction

Part 1 of the Supplement provides guidance on changes to customs declaration procedures for Northern Ireland (NI). The Supplement only covers requirements that differ from the main declaration Completion Instructions.

Part 2 of the Supplement provides completion instructions for Customs Declaration Service (CDS) declarations for Northern Ireland where they differ from the main Declaration Completion Instructions provided elsewhere in this collection.

Harmonised System 2022

This guidance has been removed as it is no longer applicable.

Rest of World to Northern Ireland movements

This guidance has been removed as it is covered in Part 2 under the ‘Tariff Measures’ heading.

Goods sent from GB to NI

Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) guidance has been removed as it is covered in the main Declaration Completion Instructions (under Data Element (DE) 2/2 and DE 5/23) and Appendix 16S.

Guidance on paying or postponing VAT is covered in the Imports Declaration Completion instructions, see DE 3/16 and 3/40.

No export safety and security (EXS)/export declaration is required in Great Britain (GB) for GB to NI movements.

Goods sent from GB to NI via an EU member state

For goods sent from GB to NI via this route, if Transit is not used, a GB export declaration followed by an EU import declaration will be required (the NI/GB Tariff does not provide guidance on EU import declarations). Goods can then move freely into NI from the EU.

Goods sent from NI to GB

Goods moved directly from NI to GB will only require an export declaration in NI in limited circumstances.

The circumstances in which a declaration is required are as follows:

• indirect movements: export declarations for Irish or other EU goods below the low-value threshold of EUR3000 where the declaration has not been made to the home customs administration
• goods not in free circulation in NI, for example under special procedures
• any prohibited and restricted goods where the Joint Committee has agreed a declaration will be needed
• where the movement concerns EU goods and the movement started outside of NI, the exporter should comply with Union Customs Code (UCC) export requirements applicable in their ‘home’ member state (MS)

Please note: where the goods are not in free circulation in NI and are intended for Free Circulation and Home Use in GB, for example third country goods under a special procedure in NI, they could be released to the Free Circulation procedure in NI, then moved to GB without the need to make an export declaration.

Where the intention is to enter into GB using a special procedure (for example, where further processing will take place in GB), the Special Procedure should be ended in NI using the appropriate re-export Procedure, before entering a further Special Procedure in GB. Please refer to the GB Tariff for the requirements of the GB import declaration. Goods cannot be moved into GB from NI using the same procedure in NI as the previous procedure.

Note: no entry safety and security declaration (ENS) is required in GB for direct NI to GB movements. Nor are import declarations required, provided that the goods fall within the definition of ‘NI qualifying goods’ as defined under the Definition of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and are not moved via Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose.

For further information on making an import declaration for non-qualifying goods (for example, third country goods entering a Special Procedure), see the UK Trade Tariff Volume 3 for CHIEF.

Goods sent from an EU member state to NI

Goods that are sent directly from an EU MS to NI do not require either a safety and security declaration or a customs declaration.

Goods sent from an EU member state via NI to GB

Goods that are sent from an EU MS to GB via NI can enter GB without a customs import declaration or safety and security declaration provided that they are not excise goods, and they fall within the definition of ‘NI qualifying goods’ as defined under the Definition of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, and are not moved via Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose. Export declarations should be made to the customs authority in the home MS unless the goods are below the low-value threshold of EUR3000.

Where excise goods are sent from an EU MS via NI to GB, an import declaration should be made on the system a trader currently uses for GB imports. However, provided that those goods are ‘qualifying goods’ for customs purposes (as defined under the Definition of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (EU Exit) Regulations 2020) and are not moved via NI for an avoidance purpose, no customs duty is payable. If using Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF), importers should use override code ‘DTY’ in box 47 to override any customs duty calculation and VAT override code ‘VAT’ to suppress the import VAT charge.

Goods sent from NI to GB via an EU member state

An export declaration (indirect export (IE) from NI) will be required in NI to move goods to GB via an EU MS, followed by an import declaration in GB. No customs duty is payable on NI-IE-GB movements, provided that the goods are ‘qualifying goods’, for instance were in free circulation in NI prior to starting their movement and were not moved via NI for the purposes of avoiding UK duty.

This means that, where frontier declarations are submitted for NI-IE-GB movements, importers or their agents should use override codes to suppress the customs duty calculation. In CHIEF, this can be done by entering code ‘DTY’ in box 47. VAT override code ‘VAT’ should be used to suppress the import VAT charge and the supplier should account for VAT on their quarterly VAT return.

If importers have used ‘staged controls’ in GB to make an entry in their own records, the same process for suppressing customs duty and VAT calculation should be followed when supplementary declarations are submitted (using the override codes shown above).

Tariff Quotas

For goods moving into Northern Ireland from outside the EU and UK, importers will not be able to access the EU Tariff quota for any goods. However, importers will be able to access the UK Tariff quota for goods determined to be not ‘at risk’ of being subsequently moved into the EU. More guidance will be published as soon as possible for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. On CDS, all UK tariff quotas are recognised by an order number beginning with “05” (In CDS this relates to completion of DE 4/17 and DE 8/1).

Preference

Guidance can be found in DE 2/2 EUPRF Additional Information Code in the Imports Declaration Completion Instructions.

Meursing codes

Where an NI import declaration is made to a Commodity Code which has a requirement for a meursing code (goods containing certain types of milk and sugars covered Regulation (EC) No. 118/2010) in the EU Tariff, this code must be provided. This is regardless of whether the goods are determined to be At-Risk or Not-at-Risk.

NOVA (Notification of Vehicle Arrivals)

Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA) no longer applies to vehicles imported into Northern Ireland.

When vehicles arrive in Northern Ireland, if not already notified, within 14 days:

• get vehicle approval to show the vehicle meets safety and environmental standards
• register the vehicle’s new address with DVLA

EORI coding changes

Non-GB EORIs must not be declared on CDS. This applies to all data elements requiring declaration of an EORI.

If an EORI starting GB is not held, an intermediary (customs agent) must be engaged to make the declaration, or a GB EORI obtained prior to the declaration being made. For further information please see the changes to country code prefixes.

Special Procedures in NI for Movements from GB to NI

Where a declaration is required and the intention is to use one of the duty suspensive arrangements under Special Procedures, an import declaration to that procedure will be required in NI. For example, goods that will be brought to NI for processing before being removed from NI may use the Inward Processing procedure. A declaration is needed even if the authorisation holder is the same in GB and NI. An export declaration from GB will not be required.

Where goods are moving to NI to be placed under the same Special Procedure as they were under in GB, they should be entered into the Special Procedure with the previous Procedure declared (for example, Inward Processing in NI following Inward Processing in GB is declared as 5151 in DE 1/10).

Movements from NI to GB

The Special Procedure must be ended in NI by either being discharged into free circulation or by using the appropriate re-export Procedure before entering a further Special Procedure in GB if required. Please refer to the GB Tariff for the requirements of the GB import declaration. The GB import declaration can be made either using CHIEF or CDS depending on the system a trader is operating.

Imports from Rest of World to NI

If goods are only processed in NI, the current process applies as detailed in the CDS Tariff.

If goods are to be processed in both NI and GB, the Special Procedure should either first be ended in NI by being discharged into free circulation or by using the appropriate re-export procedure before entering a further Special Procedure in GB.

Definition of Exporter for Northern Ireland Exports

This guidance can be found in the Exports Declaration Completion Instructions (DE 3/1 and 3/2).

UK Customs procedures, facilitations and schemes in NI

Low Value Bulking Imports (LVBI)

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is no longer applicable.

Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR)

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is no longer applicable.

Changes to VAT treatment of overseas goods sold to customers from 1 January 2021

Guidance on paying or postponing VAT is covered in the Imports Declaration Completion instructions, see DE 3/16 and 3/40.

GB Staged Controls

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is not applicable in Northern Ireland.

Special Fiscal Territories and countries with which the EU has a Customs Union

The instructions in the CDS Trade Tariff should be followed, noting that in NI an EU Special Fiscal Territory (SFT) will continue to be treated as an SFT for the purposes of the NIP.

However, goods from a UK SFT (Bailiwicks of Jersey or Guernsey) will be treated with the same status as goods from GB. Applicable declaration categories in CDS will be either H1, H2, H3 or H4. Declaration category H5 is not applicable in NI to movements from Jersey or Guernsey.

When submitting a declaration for goods from a UK SFT to NI, DE 1/1 must be ‘IM’ and not ‘CO’ as currently shown in the Tariff, Additional Procedure Code ‘F15’ should be used in DE 1/11 and Additional Information Statement ‘NIIMP’ must be entered in DE 2/2.

Transit

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is not applicable to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).

Guarantees

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is covered in the Imports Declaration Completion Instructions in DE 8/2 and 8/3.

Intrastat

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is not applicable to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).

Summary/breakdown

This guidance has been removed as it is covered in Part 2 under the ‘Tariff Measures’ heading.

Agri foods

This guidance has been withdrawn as it is no longer extant.

Controlled Goods Changes for Excise

Excise goods moving from GB-NI are classified as controlled goods and must be declared using the controlled goods data set for Simplified Declaration Procedure (SDP) Regular Use.

Where the following conditions are met the goods may be declared using Entry in Declarants Records (EIDR):

• Rest of World to NI — Excise goods being removed from a customs warehouse in NI
• GB to NI movements — Where excise goods are not moving in excise or customs duty suspense

CDS: Document Codes — Interim requirements for waivers/exempt goods

This guidance has been withdrawn as the guidance is provided in Appendix 5A.