Taking commercial goods out of Great Britain in your baggage
Check what you need to do when exporting commercial goods out of Great Britain in your accompanied baggage or small vehicle.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Commercial goods in your accompanied baggage, also known as Merchandise in Baggage, are goods (to sell or use in your business) where:
- a commercial transport operator does not carry them for you or you do not pay them to carry them for you
- you’ve travelled from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) carrying goods either in:
- your baggage
- a small vehicle that can carry up to 9 people and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes
If you take commercial goods out of Great Britain you must make one of the following:
- a full export declaration
- a simple online declaration
- a ‘declaration by conduct’
There’s a different way to declare goods that are for personal use or commercial goods you’re bringing into Great Britain in your accompanied baggage.
Check which declaration you will need to make before you leave Great Britain
You should check the customs requirements for the country you’re travelling to because these may differ from UK requirements.
Making a full export declaration
You must submit a full export declaration before you leave Great Britain if your goods:
- have a value of more than £1,500
- weigh more than 1,000kg in total
- are restricted goods
- are alcohol, tobacco or fuel (excise goods)
- need a licence (controlled goods)
- are being put into or taken out of a customs special procedure, unless the goods are placed under Temporary Admission
You must also submit a full export declaration if you’re claiming VAT relief.
If you’re making a full export declaration, you (or someone dealing with customs for you) will need to:
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Get an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number.
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Get access to the National Export System.
If you’re making your own full export declaration, you’ll also need software that works with the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system.
Making a simple online declaration
If you do not need to make a full export declaration, you can make a simple online declaration in the 5 days before you leave with your commercial goods.
You can make a simple online declaration if your goods:
- have a value of less than £1,500
- weigh less than 1,000kg in total
- are not restricted goods
- are not alcohol, tobacco or fuel (excise goods)
- do not need a licence (controlled goods)
- are not being put into or taken out of a customs special procedure, unless the goods are placed under Temporary Admission
You can also add goods to a declaration that you’ve already made as long as:
- the total value of all the goods combined is £1,500 or less
- they weigh less than 1,000kg
- they’re not controlled goods
Making a ‘declaration by conduct’
You can make a ‘declaration by conduct’ at the point of exit from Great Britain if your goods:
- have a value of less than £1,500
- are not excise or restricted goods
- weigh less than 1,000kg in total
To make the declaration, you must:
- walk through a customs control point (this can be a green channel signed ‘nothing to declare’) with the goods, if you’re an individual on foot
- drive (or be driven) past a customs control point with the goods inside your vehicle, if you’re travelling in a vehicle
- continue your onward journey, if there are no customs control points
You should make a simple online declaration rather than a ‘declaration by conduct’ if you need evidence of export.
What you’ll need to do when you leave Great Britain
You’ll need to present your commercial goods to a Border Force officer at the airport or port of departure at least 3 hours before you leave if:
- their total value is more than £1,500
- they are excise or restricted goods
- they weigh over 1,000kg in total
You must also bring proof of your declaration or make a declaration in the red channel at the airport or port.
If there are no red channels at your airport or port of departure
The goods will automatically be deemed as being presented or ‘arrived’ when a full exports declaration is submitted using CHIEF.
When you or your agent fill in your full export declaration in CHIEF, enter the following codes in the form:
- box 1 declaration, 3rd character: use code ‘A’ to show it’s a full declaration and the goods have arrived
- box 44 Header additional information (AI): use code ‘MIB01’ – find ‘Merchandise in baggage (MIB) statement’ in CHIEF: additional information codes
This means you’ll not need to present your goods to a Border Force officer at airports or ports of departure where there is a red channel.
If the airport or port has no red channels for:
- restricted excise goods or special procedures – you’ll need to submit a C1602 form for the National Clearance Hub to ‘arrive’ the goods
- all other goods – you’ll not need to complete and submit forms C1601 and C1602
The usual risking and checking process will still be applied.
Moving commercial goods in your accompanied baggage from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
You do not need to make a declaration when your goods leave Great Britain but you will need to make a declaration in Northern Ireland. HMRC has provided a free to use Trader Support Service. You can make declarations using this service for any value or nature of goods.
Find out more about how you can use the Trader Support Service to make declarations for merchandise in baggage, on the Northern Ireland Customs and Trade Academy website.
Last updated 26 October 2021 + show all updates
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Definition of ‘declaration by conduct’ added.
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A Welsh Language version of the page has been added.
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Information about what you’ll need to do when you leave Great Britain from 1 July 2021 has been added.
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Welsh translation added.
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Guidance about making a simple online declaration has been updated.
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Date for when you will need to submit a full-customs export declaration to HMRC has been added.
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The date from when you will need to submit a safety and security declaration to HMRC if you are carrying your goods in a goods vehicle, has been updated to 1 January 2022. The previous date of 1 July 2022 was published in error.
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The date from when you will need to submit a safety and security declaration to HMRC if you are carrying your goods in a goods vehicle, has been updated to 1 July 2022.
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Information about submitting a safety and security declaration to HMRC, if you are carrying your goods in a goods vehicle has been added.
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First published.