UK: Guide to lodging correct Entry Summary Declarations
Moving products into Great Britain, Northern Ireland, or from outside the EU requires an entrance summary declaration. Here is how it works
Contents
Before you submit a declaration
Who should submit
Who else can submit a declaration
Goods that do not need an entry summary declaration
When to submit
How to submit
After you submit
What happens next
Making an amendment
You’ll need to make an entry summary declaration before the goods arrive if you’re transporting goods:
into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
into Northern Ireland from Great Britain
into Northern Ireland from outside the EU
The entry summary declaration will have safety and security information about your goods.
Your entry summary declaration must be complete and accurate and submitted before you arrive at the border. You can amend your declaration at any time until your goods arrive at the UK border, if any information changes, such as the amount of goods or the time of the sea crossing.
Before you submit a declaration
To submit your declaration, you must be registered for either the:
Safety and Security (S&S GB) service for bringing goods into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
Import Control System Northern Ireland (ICS NI) for bringing goods into Northern Ireland
Safety and security declarations for EU imports will be required from 31 October 2024. Until then, you do not need to make an entry summary declaration for goods imported from the EU and other territories from which a declaration was not required before 1 January 2021.
The government has published a new border target operating model of controls setting out future requirements for safety and security declarations.
The other territories where the entry summary declaration waiver applies are:
Andorra
Ceuta and Melilla
Heligoland
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Norway
San Marino
Switzerland
the municipalities of Livigno Campione d’Italia
the Italian national waters of Lake Lugano, which are between the bank and the political frontier of the area between Ponte Tresa and Porto Ceresio
the Vatican City State
Who should submit The legal requirement to submit a declaration lies with the carrier. This is the operator of the active means of transport on, or in, which the goods are brought into the customs territory. It is the carrier’s responsibility to make sure that the declaration is submitted within the legal time limits, and it must only be done by a representative or third party with the carrier’s knowledge and consent.
Goods travelling by rail If your goods travel by rail, the carrier will be the rail freight operator authorised to traction the train through the Channel Tunnel into Great Britain.
Goods travelling by air or sea If your goods are travelling by air or sea, the legal requirement is with the party that has contracted and issued the bill of lading or an air waybill, for the carriage of the goods into Great Britain or Northern Ireland.
For sea, this means the shipping company is responsible, and for air, the airline. Goods travelling by roll-on roll-off (RoRo)
If your goods are travelling by roll-on roll-off:
the haulage company is responsible for lodging the declaration for accompanied goods
the ferry operator is responsible for lodging the declaration for unaccompanied goods
Goods travelling by combined transport In the case of combined transport (such as a truck carried on a ferry), the obligation to file an entry summary declaration lies with the operator of the active means of transport (the carrier) on arrival in the UK. If a truck is carried on a ferry, and will drive off the ferry on arrival in the UK, the obligation lies with the trucking company. If a ferry is transporting an unaccompanied trailer or container, the active means of transport is the ferry, even when the trailer or container could be attached to a truck when it arrives at its destination.
Who else can submit a declaration A third party can submit The entry summary declaration on the carrier’s behalf. A third party cannot file without the knowledge and consent of the carrier. The carrier remains responsible for ensuring the declaration is submitted on time.
Commercial terms and conditions can be used when arranging for a third party to file on the carrier’s behalf. This may involve amending an existing contract or creating a new one. The contract should state that a third party has consent to file on the carrier’s behalf and how this will be evidenced. The contract will also show which conditions and terms apply (such as the time for submission of the declaration, the shipments involved and the duration of the filing arrangement).
Without evidence suggesting otherwise, the customs authorities may assume that:
the carrier has given consent under contractual arrangements
a third party lodging a declaration has done so with the carrier’s knowledge and consent
If responsibility for filing is passed to a third party, the legal liability to make sure that an entry summary declaration has been submitted still remains with the carrier. However, the responsibility that the information provided is accurate lies with whoever is submitting the entry summary declaration.
Goods that do not need an entry summary declaration
You do not need to make an entry summary declaration for goods if you are:
bringing or receiving them into Northern Ireland from an EU country
moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
importing goods to Great Britain from the EU (or other countries when this was not previously required)
Some goods also do not need a declaration, including those that are:
electrical energy
entering by pipeline
letters, postcards and printed material, including those on electronic media
in a travellers’ personal luggage
declared to customs orally
You can find a more detailed list in Article 104 of the Union Customs Code.
When to submit Depending on the type of transport or shipping service you have used, there are different time limits for submitting your declaration.
How you’re shipping goods
when to submit (minimum timing requirement)
Maritime containerised cargo - at least 24 hours before loading at the port of departure
Maritime bulk or break bulk cargo - at least 4 hours before arrival
Short sea journeysat least 2 hours before arrival
Short-haul flights — less than 4 hours’ durationat least at the time of actual take-offLong-haul flights - at least 4 hours before arrival
Rail and inland waterways - at least 2 hours before arrival
Road traffic - at least 1 hour before arrival
If you’re using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service The inclusion of any safety and security declaration reference numbers in the Goods Vehicle Movement Service is an optional step. There will be no impact on any vehicles moving without this. If you choose to include safety and security declaration reference numbers in the Goods Vehicle Movement Service, you’ll need to submit your entry summary declaration at the earliest of either:
the minimum timing requirement
before check-in closes
This is to allow for the movement reference number from the entry summary declaration to be recorded in the goods movement reference, which will be validated by the carrier at check in. Find out more about the Goods Vehicle Movement Service.
Short sea journeys
For short sea journeys, you’ll need to submit your safety and security import declarations at least 2 hours before arrival, for both containerised and non-containerised imports.
Short sea journeys into Great Britain refers to journeys from:
the English Channel, or the Atlantic coast of Europe from the point where it meets the English Channel up to and including the port of Algeciras
Norway
Ireland
the Faroe Islands
Iceland
ports on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea
Short sea journeys into Northern Ireland refers to journeys from:
Greenland
the Faroe Islands
Norway
Iceland
ports on the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea
all ports of Morocco
How to submit
To submit your declaration, use the:
S&S GB service for bringing goods into Great Britain
ICS NI for bringing goods into Northern Ireland
You will need to provide documents and licences for your import.
You will also need information about the:
goods description or commodity code
consignor and consignee
type, amount and packaging of your goods
mode of transport at the border
onward journey details
To submit an entry summary declaration of imports into Great Britain, you will also need to know the S&S GB location code for the port of entry.
After you submit Once your entry summary declaration is accepted, you will be issued with a movement reference number.
If you are moving goods through a port which does not have an inventory linked system, you must generate a goods movement reference using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service. You can choose to submit any safety and security declaration movement reference numbers in the goods movement reference, although this step is optional.
What happens next The declaration will be risk assessed and the UK Border Force will use the results to identify either:
shipments they wish to prevent being loaded onto the vessel entering Great Britain and Northern Ireland (for deep sea containerised maritime cargo only)
imports that they may wish to control on entering Great Britain and Northern Ireland
If you get a ‘Do Not Load’ message, the UK Border Force will tell you what to do. For goods moving into Northern Ireland, if a vessel or aircraft diverts to a different Office of First Entry, you’ll need to submit a diversion request as soon as you know about the diversion. Once your goods arrive in Northern Ireland, you must submit an arrival notification. Find out more about customs declarations when bringing your goods to the UK.
Making an amendment Your declaration must be accurate and complete (to the best of your knowledge) when submitted. You can make an amendment if something changes, for example, the amount of goods or the time of the sea crossing.
The time limits for the lodging of the declaration do not start again after the amendment since, legally, it is the initial declaration that sets them. Amendments can only be made up until the point of arrival in the UK.
There is no cancellation message for either the S&S GB service or ICS NI. Submitted declarations can be amended, but not cancelled.
An amendment contains all the data of the original declaration and is linked to the first entry. When goods will no longer be shipped, it is not necessary to inform the S&S GB service or ICS NI.
About Customs Manager’s Customs & Global Trade Intelligence Services
The Premium Professional Legislative Monitoring Service (PLM) is a research and curation service which checks for legislative updates from official government websites based on the selected jurisdictions and topics. Paid Plan subscribers can access regular law change notifications to ensure they never miss a significant legal change on www.customsmanager.info – a website dedicated to customs & trade intelligence. At the same time, they save valuable time by engaging our dedicated trade specialists to carry the monitoring out for them. Premium subscribers also unlock all content on the Customs Manager’s Ltd. website, including our Customs & Trade Blog on www.customsmanager.info , providing vital thought leadership development services to empower them to trade effectively, efficiently and, of course, compliantly, across borders. Premium Subscribers can add jurisdictions and topics for an additional charge.
About Customs Manager Ltd.
We aim to empower people with import, export and transport responsibilities with helpful advice, insightful training and relevant trade intelligence services. We devote all our passion and energy to helping businesses grow faster cross-border. Working with us means having your own multilingual Customs Manager on standby to help you trade effectively, efficiently and, of course, compliantly wherever you want to go. Includes Brexit support and the ability to lodge customs declarations + Rules of Origin
Stay in Touch
· Website: www.customsmanager.org
· E-Mail: info@customsmanager.org
· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CustomsManagerLtd
· Twitter: @customsmanager
· Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69768402/admin/
Important Notice
Customs Manager Ltd. owns the copyright in this document, except for external documents and links we refer to or make available.
You are not allowed to use this information in any way that infringes its intellectual property rights. You may have to hold a valid licence to use this information. A licence can be obtained by becoming a Paid Plan subscriber to the Customs Managers’ Customs & Trade Intelligence service, also known as Professional Legislative Monitoring (PLM). As a Paid Plan subscriber, you may download and print this information which you may then use, copy or reproduce for your internal non-profit-making purposes.
However, you are not permitted to use, copy or reproduce this information to profit or gain.
In addition, you must not sell or distribute this information to third parties, not members of your organisation, whether for monetary payment or otherwise.
This information is intended to serve as general guidance and not constitute legal advice. The application and impact of laws can vary widely based on the specific facts involved. This information should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking action, consult a Customs Manager Ltd. professional.
In no circumstances will Customs Manager Ltd be liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information contained within this document or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Comments