Guidance

Declaring goods you bring into Northern Ireland 'not at risk’ of moving to the EU

Find out if goods you bring into Northern Ireland can be declared 'not at risk’ of moving to the EU and how to make a 'not at risk’ declaration.

The government and the EU have agreed the Windsor Framework.

You can no longer apply an for authorisation under the UK Trader Scheme. You must apply for the UK Internal Market Scheme.

If you’re a business who brings goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) or a country outside of both the EU and UK, you’ll need to submit declarations for those goods. If you do not have experience in customs or would like to find more information, you can sign up for the Trader Support Service to support you with this process.

There may be duties due depending on the origin of the goods and whether they are ‘at risk’ of onward movement to the EU.

Find out more about your duty options if you’re a business who brings goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, or from a country outside of both the EU and the UK.

‘At risk’ goods will be charged the applicable EU duty.

‘Not at risk’ goods will be charged:

  • no duty if entering Northern Ireland from free circulation in Great Britain
  • UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from outside of both the EU and the UK
  • UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain and the good was not in free circulation in Great Britain

Whether goods are ‘at risk’ or ‘not at risk’ is determined by the applicable duties and trader certainty of the final destination of the goods.

When you cannot declare goods ‘not at risk’

There are some goods which cannot be declared ‘not at risk’. These goods will be automatically ‘at risk’ and the EU duty will be payable.

Goods which are subject to commercial processing, where the additional requirements to declare them ‘not at risk’ are not met, cannot be declared ‘not at risk’. These good are automatically ‘at risk’. You can find out more about the additional requirements for goods subject to processing in this guidance.

Goods entering Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and UK, where the applicable EU duty is more than the applicable UK duty by 3 percentage points or more, cannot be declared ‘not at risk’ . These are automatically ‘at risk’.

Check if you can apply to submit a claim for a repayment or remission of EU duty paid on ‘at risk’ goods brought into Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.

When you can declare goods ‘not at risk’

If goods you bring into Northern Ireland are not automatically ‘at risk’, they can be declared ‘not at risk’ when they are either:

  • ‘not at risk’ due to the applicable duties — this is explained in section when goods you bring into Northern Ireland are ‘not at risk’ due to the applicable duties
  • ‘not at risk’ under the UK Internal Market Scheme (or the UK Trader Scheme for goods movements that took place on or before 29 September 2023)

When goods you bring into Northern Ireland are ‘not at risk’ due to the applicable duties

Goods brought into Northern Ireland from Great Britain are ‘not at risk’ if the applicable EU duty is zero. This is unless the goods are subject to processing and you do not meet the additional requirements to declare goods for processing ‘not at risk’. You can find out more about the additional requirements for goods subject to processing in this guidance.

Goods brought into Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and the UK are ‘not at risk’ where the applicable UK duty is equal to or more than the applicable EU duty. This is unless the goods are subject to processing and you do not meet the additional criteria to declare goods for processing ‘not at risk’.

To work out what the applicable UK duty and EU duty would be, you need to take account of the customs duty and any other applicable measures that apply to your goods. This includes preferential rates where goods meet rules of origin requirements under relevant Free Trade Agreements.

You do not need to be authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme to declare goods ‘not at risk’ based on the applicable duties. Find out how to make a ‘not at risk’ declaration in section ‘How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’’.

When goods you bring into Northern Ireland can be declared ‘not at risk’ under the UK Internal Market Scheme

Where the applicable EU duties are more than the applicable UK duties (which are zero in the case of movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland), goods brought into Northern Ireland can still be declared ‘not at risk’ when they are all of the following:

  • for sale to, or final use by, end consumers located in Northern Ireland (and Great Britain in the case of movements from Great Britain)
  • declared by a trader authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme (or the UK Trader Scheme for goods movements that took place on or before 29 September 2023)
  • not subject to an EU trade remedy

Goods brought into Northern Ireland from countries outside of both the EU and UK cannot be declared ‘not at risk’ if the applicable EU duty is more than the applicable UK duty by 3 percentage points or more.

If the goods you bring into Northern Ireland will be subject to processing, you must meet additional criteria before you can declare these goods ‘not at risk’. You can find out more about the additional requirements for goods subject to processing in this guidance.

In declaring goods ‘not at risk’ under the UK Internal Market Scheme, you must be satisfied that these goods entered Northern Ireland for the purpose of being sold or used by end consumers located in Northern Ireland (England, Scotland and Wales in the case of movements from Great Britain). You’ll need to keep evidence to show this.

If you’re a wholesaler, your customer must sell or use the goods in the appropriate territory according to the declaration you’ve made. For example, you could sell a chair which was declared ‘not at risk’ if it will be used at an office location in Northern Ireland.

If you did not declare your goods ‘not at risk’, and this was a mistake, you may be able to apply for a repayment. If you apply for a repayment, you must provide proof you’re authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme (or the UK Trader Scheme if the goods movement took place on or before 29 September 2023). This proof should be the letter or the email you received confirming your authorisation. If you declared your goods ‘not at risk’ by mistake, you should apply for a voluntary clearance amendment (underpayment).

Check the additional requirements for goods subject to processing

If you bring goods into Northern Ireland which will be subject to processing, and wish to declare these goods ‘not at risk’, you’ll need to meet additional criteria.

From 30 September 2023, you can move goods that are subject to processing if you meet either of the following:

  • your annual turnover is less than £2 million
  • your goods are for one of the following approved purposes

The approved purposes are:

  • food for sale to end consumers in the UK
  • construction — where the processed goods form a permanent part of a structure that is constructed and located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity
  • directly providing health or care services in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity
  • non-profit activities in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity, where there is no subsequent sale of the processed goods
  • the final use of animal feed on premises located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity

If you’re moving goods subject to processing in the construction, health and care services, non-profit or animal feed sectors, you may do so even if you sell on the eventual product to one subsequent entity.

For example, you could import animal feed that will be sold on to a farmer, provided the farmer is the final entity in the supply chain and will use the animal feed in Northern Ireland.

Once authorised, you’ll then be able to declare your goods for processing as ‘not at risk’ in line with the treatment of other goods.

These additional requirements for declaring goods ‘not at risk’ apply only to goods which will be processed in Northern Ireland.

If you also move goods which are not to be processed, you can still apply for authorisation under the UK Internal Market Scheme. You can declare those goods ‘not at risk’ in the usual way, regardless of whether your business meets the additional processing requirements mentioned in this section.

If you’re completing a supplementary declaration for goods that will be subject to processing that moved on or before 29 September 2023, you must meet the following criteria:

  • your annual turnover is less than £500,000
  • your goods are for one of the following approved purposes

The approved purposes are:

  • food for sale to end consumers in the UK
  • construction — where the processed goods form a permanent part of a structure that is constructed and located in Northern Ireland by the importer
  • directly providing health or care services in Northern Ireland
  • non-profit activities in Northern Ireland, where there is no subsequent sale of the processed goods by the importer
  • the final use of animal feed on premises located in Northern Ireland by the importer

How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’

You do not need to complete these declarations yourself, you can:

How to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ in the Customs Declaration Service

If you’re submitting declarations in the Customs Declaration Service, you’ll need to use the Additional Information code ‘NIREM’ in Data Element 2/2 of your import declaration to declare your goods ‘not at risk’.

If you want to declare a proportion of a single line item ‘not at risk’, you must submit those goods as a separate line item using this Additional Information code. The remaining proportion which is ‘at risk’ must be a separate line item for which no code is necessary.

If you’re using a specialist to complete declarations, then you’ll need to make them aware that the goods you intend to bring into Northern Ireland are ‘not at risk’. You’ll also need to confirm whether you’re authorised for the UK Internal Market Scheme (or the UK Trader Scheme for goods movements that took place on or before 29 September 2023) .

Once you’re authorised for the UK Internal Market Scheme, you should use the UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation for goods that you move on and after the date that you’re authorised.

If you’re completing a supplementary declaration you should use the authorisation you held at the time your goods were moved.

You can no longer use the UK Trader Scheme as the authorisation for goods moving on or after 30 September 2023.

Find out what supporting evidence you need to make a ‘not at risk’ declaration

If you’re declaring your goods ‘not at risk’ under the UK Internal Market Scheme, you’ll need to keep supporting evidence for each consignment you move into Northern Ireland.

You must keep supporting evidence for 5 years and it will need to be accessible at an address in the UK that HMRC can visit.

The types of evidence to support a ‘not at risk’ declaration include:

  • commercial receipts and invoices
  • VAT invoices
  • commercial contracts and purchase orders
  • delivery receipts
  • consignment notes
  • proof of installation
  • electronic records
  • proof that goods comply with rules of origin (if you have claimed a preferential rate of duty, you can check what proof you should hold) ― get proof of origin for your goods

Even where you are not responsible for the end destination of the goods, you may still be able to be authorised and move goods as ‘not at risk’ if you can make sure that goods will meet the ‘not at risk’ criteria.

Examples of evidence you could use in this case include:

  • a written and signed declaration from your customer stating that the goods will remain in Northern Ireland
  • evidence that your customer only makes retail sales for final use or end-consumption in the UK from a physical outlet in Northern Ireland
  • evidence that your customer only sells goods that will be for final use by end consumers in the UK and are delivered within the UK
  • commercial contracts and purchase orders showing that goods will be for final use in the UK
  • evidence that the goods are to be permanently installed within the UK

You will not need to provide this evidence to HMRC on a routine basis, only when asked to do so.

Published 14 December 2020
Last updated 30 June 2023 + show all updates
  1. A link has been included so that you can check the guidance about how to submit a claim for a repayment or remission of EU duty paid on 'at risk' goods brought into Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.

  2. You can no longer apply for authorisation under the UK Trader Scheme. You must register for the UK Internal Market Scheme.

  3. Removed the how to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ in CHIEF for goods entering Northern Ireland from outside of the UK and EU section as the Customs Declaration Service should be used.

  4. Information added on how to claim a repayment if you make a mistake using the duty off-set mechanism and pay more excise duty that is needed.

  5. A link to an online tool to check if you need to pay a tariff on goods brought into Northern Ireland from Great Britain has been added.

  6. Guidance about when goods can be declared 'not at risk' has been updated.

  7. Guidance updated for declaring goods not ‘at risk’ in the Customs Declaration Service and making a customs declaration in CHIEF for goods entering Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU.

  8. Information about making a declaration based on expected outcomes has been added. Further information about rules of origin requirements and preferential rates when bringing goods into Northern Ireland has also been added.

  9. First published.