How to move parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for express operators
Find out how to send parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland if you're a courier or an express operator.
This guidance is for couriers and express operators who send parcels by direct transport from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland between:
- consumer-to-consumer (private individual in Great Britain sending parcels to another private individual in Northern Ireland for personal use)
- consumer-to-business
- business-to-consumer
- business-to-business
Correspondence sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain is exempt from any requirements. You do not need to share data with HMRC for correspondence sent to Northern Ireland. This includes letters, postcards and printed matter.
In addition to standard requirements, there may be additional requirements when you’re sending sanitary and phytosanitary goods in parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Consumer parcel movements
Consumer-to-consumer parcels can move without:
- completing a customs declaration
- safety and security requirements
- customs duty
- presentation of goods to customs authorities
You can move business‑to‑consumer and consumer‑to‑business parcels, including returns, under the UK Carrier Scheme. When goods move under UK Carrier Scheme between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they are ‘not at risk’ of moving into the EU and therefore are not charged customs duty.
The goods you move must meet all the following criteria:
- the parcel is sent by a UK established business or individual
- the parcel is moved by an authorised carrier under the UK Carrier Scheme where required
- the parcel is sent to or from a consumer for personal use
- the parcel weighs no more than 31.5 kilograms or 100 kilograms if it is business-to-consumer or consumer-to-business and contains a single item
- the goods are not subject to specific domestic or international law restrictions (also known as ‘category 1 goods’), such as the Russia sanctions regime or EU trade defence measures — you may be able to move goods that are subject to sanction regimes, such as the Russia sanctions regime, if the relevant restrictions apply but you must not move them if the relevant sanctions regime fully prohibits their movement.
If your goods do not meet these criteria, you’ll need to send the parcels in line with the business-to-business parcel movements section in this guide.
The UK Carrier Scheme
The UK Carrier Scheme is an authorisation that allows couriers or express operators to move eligible consumer parcels ‘not at risk’ of entering the EU.
When you move eligible consumer parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, you do not need to pay customs duty or complete customs or safety and security declarations.
When you move eligible consumer parcels from outside the UK and the EU, you must complete a customs declaration and a safety and security declaration.
You can treat these parcels as ‘not at risk’ of entering the EU, so you do not need to pay customs duty on these parcels. This applies where those parcels are first released into free circulation in Great Britain by an established business (including an indirect customs representative) and then moved into Northern Ireland.
A courier or an express operator in this case, is an operator who moves parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. To be authorised, you must meet the following criteria:
- be established in the UK and if you’re not established in Northern Ireland, you must have an indirect customs representative established in Northern Ireland
- not have committed any serious or repeated infringements of legislative or regulatory requirements within 3 years before your application
- have a high level of control of your operations, including a system to manage commercial and transport records
- comply with the obligations on authorised carriers moving eligible consumer parcels
Moving parcels if you’re authorised under the UK Carrier Scheme
You’ll need to know whether the parcel should follow the business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business, consumer-to-consumer or business-to-business requirements using the information from the sender of the parcel. You’ll also need to know whether the parcel was first brought and released into free circulation into Great Britain before being sent to Northern Ireland.
You’ll need to collect and provide data on consumer parcel movements to HMRC from the commercial information you receive from the sender when the shipment or postage is purchased. For example, the details of the sender and recipient and a description of the goods.
For movements between consumers, couriers or express operators should provide the data on the movement to HMRC up to 24 hours after the delivery.
For movements between a business and a consumer, a courier or express operator should provide the data on the movement before the delivery is completed.
This data must be shared through HMRC’s File Transfer Service by either the Application Interface (API) or User Interface (UI). You can read the data requirements for couriers or an express operators who move parcels under the Windsor Framework. You can find out more on how to register for HMRC’s File Transfer Service and submit this data in the service guide.
You can find out more in post and parcels service guide.
Check if you can apply for the UK Carrier Scheme.
You can move parcels bought from a business outside the UK or EU into Great Britain and then on to Northern Ireland under the UK Carrier Scheme, if all of these apply:
- the parcel has been cleared into free circulation in Great Britain before moving into Northern Ireland
- a Northern Ireland established economic operator takes on liability, either as the importer or as an indirect representative, and acts as the sender (if a Northern Ireland established economic operator, who could be the UK Carrier Scheme authorised carrier, takes on this role, it must also act as an indirect representative and be established in Northern Ireland)
- a UK Carrier Scheme authorised carrier moves the parcel and submits a customs declaration through the Customs Declaration Service when it enters into Northern Ireland — you must submit a customs declaration, and you cannot use the transfer files securely to HMRC service
- you meet all other UK Carrier Scheme conditions
You can find more information on moving goods in and out of Northern Ireland.
If you move goods into Northern Ireland from outside the UK or EU and the goods are worth £135 or less, you must include the Import One‑Stop Shop number on the customs declaration if the online marketplace or seller provides it.
You can find more information on the VAT Import One Stop Shop Scheme.
Obligations for senders and recipients
Businesses or consumers in Great Britain sending a parcel by direct transport to an individual residing in Northern Ireland for personal use, or a consumer in Great Britain returning goods to a business in Northern Ireland will need to supply their courier or an express operator with information. For example:
- a description of the item inside the parcel
- whether they are a private individual or business
Read information on the data required for individuals and data requirements for businesses.
Moving goods to Northern Ireland from outside the UK
Businesses outside the UK and EU that sell parcels to private individuals in Northern Ireland must give the courier or express operator the information they need to move the goods. This includes the information needed to make a customs declaration, such as an Import One Stop Shop number if they are registered for the scheme.
Business-to-business parcel movements
Parcels that are sent from a business in Great Britain to a business in Northern Ireland have the same requirements as goods moved using freight. If they are eligible, parcels can be moved under the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.
Goods that are moved using the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements do not need a full customs declaration and no customs duty is charged.
One of the parties must be authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme to use the simplified processes. This is usually the sender or recipient of the goods or the carrier. You’ll need the authorised entity to provide details of their authorisation to you, including the authorisation number and associated EORI number.
A full customs declaration is required if none of the parties involved in the parcel movement, are authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme or the goods are not eligible to use the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.
Where goods are not eligible to use the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements, customs duty may be charged and calculated according to the Northern Ireland Tariff. In some cases, there will be no customs duty due. For example, goods in parcels that are eligible to claim preference under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
If customs duty is due, there are schemes available to waive the duty or where eligible, reimburse duty. For example, if you can provide evidence that the goods did not enter the EU. Find out more on how to bring goods into Northern Ireland without paying duty.
You can find more information about the simplified process for Internal Market Movements:
Updates to this page
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Information has been updated to reflect customs duty changes on low value imports.
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First published.