Guidance

Moving ozone-depleting substances between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

What you need to do to trade ozone-depleting substances (ODS) between Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland.

Moving ODS from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

To move ODS from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (which is in the European Union (EU) ODS system) you’ll need to comply with:

  • EU quota, registration and import licence requirements
  • Great Britain export licence requirements

If you import ODS to Northern Ireland, you must:

If you export ODS from Great Britain, you must:

Moving ODS from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

To move ODS from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, you’ll need to comply with:

  • Great Britain registration, quota and import licence requirements
  • EU export licence requirements

If you import ODS to Great Britain, you must:

If you export ODS from Northern Ireland, you must:

Customs declaration and the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS)

Before moving ODS from Northern Ireland ports to Great Britain, you must:

  1. Make a customs declaration on the Customs Declaration Service - this generates a declaration unique consignment reference (DUCR).

  2. Create a new goods movement reference for the move using the GVMS - the haulier will need the DUCR to do this.

Published 24 February 2021
Last updated 28 November 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added the Environment Agency as a lead organisation. Updated the name of the ODS Licensing System to the ODS service. Added needing a Great Britain ‘import licence’ to moving ODS from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. Made the steps to get a Customs declaration and the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) clearer.

  2. Updated moving ODS from Northern Ireland to Great Britain section with new requirements for customs declaration and using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service.

  3. First published.