Moving goods between the UK and the UK Continental Shelf
How to move and declare goods that have been imported or exported between the UK and the UK Continental Shelf.
This process allows qualifying goods to move using a declaration by conduct.
Declarations by conduct allow low risk goods to be declared without an electronic customs declaration.
The declaration is made by conduct such as someone walking or driving with the goods through the port. In this case, goods moving between the UK and the UK continental shelf could be declared by the conduct of either:
- unloading goods from a vessel
- carrying the goods through a port
Goods that qualify for imports
The goods must:
- be travelling to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from the continental shelf
- not be prohibited or restricted (require licences), or excise goods
- have previously been in UK free circulation and able to meet the criteria for Returned Goods Relief
The goods will also qualify if they were previously declared to the Authorised Use procedure and have been properly discharged.
Goods that qualify for exports
The goods must:
- be travelling from Great Britain to the continental shelf
- not be prohibited, restricted (require licences), or excise goods
- be in UK free circulation or entered into the Authorised Use procedure prior to movement to the continental shelf
You cannot make a declaration by conduct if you’ve received a letter from HMRC disallowing you from using the conduct declarations.
What declarants must do
As a declarant you must be able to:
- provide the required evidence to support the claim for Returned Goods Relief
- provide evidence of discharging using the Authorised Use procedure including submitting Bills of Discharge to the supervising office
- provide authorisation or permission to a third party if they are making the declaration on your behalf
- keep adequate records to identify goods and demonstrate eligibility for declaration by conduct and Returned Goods Relief or Authorised Use
How to declare
For maritime movements
You must declare a ship’s voyage and cargo using the National Maritime Single Window service.
For imports this must be submitted within 2 hours of the vessel arriving at the port where the goods will be unloaded.
For exports this must be submitted no later than 2 hours before the vessel leaves the port where the goods have been loaded.
Goods from the UK going to the UK Continental Shelf must be declared in the ‘Remarks’ box of the FAL form 1.
In addition to this, if the trader has previously been completing a port inventory then they should continue to do so.
For air movements
You must submit a General Aviation Report using the s-GAR service. For imports this must be submitted within 2 hours of the aircraft arriving at the facility where the goods will be unloaded.
For exports this must be submitted no later than 2 hours before the aircraft leaves the port where the goods have been loaded.
You must confirm if the movement contains UK Continental Shelf goods and if the goods are eligible for the UK Continental Shelf declaration by conduct process.
In addition to this, if the trader has previously been completing a port inventory then they should continue to do so.
Last updated 2 October 2023 + show all updates
-
The link used to declare a ship's voyage and cargo has been changed.
-
This page has been updated to reflect the change in forms to use when declaring goods movements using aviation or maritime methods.
-
First published.