Guidance

Check if you need to make an entry summary declaration

Find out if you need to make an entry summary declaration if you are moving goods into Great Britain or Northern Ireland directly or from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

From:
HM Revenue & Customs
Published
1 December 2020
Last updated
281 AprilJuly 2022 — See all updates

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.

You’ll need to make an entry summary declaration (also known as an ENS) 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

The entry summary declaration will have safety and security information about your goods.

You do not need to make an entry summary declaration for goods if you are either: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)

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Who must submit a declaration

The legal requirement to submit a declaration lies with the operator of the active means of transport on, or in, which the goods are brought into the Customscustoms territory. We will refer to these as ‘the carrier’.

Goods travelling by rail

If your goods are travelling by rail, the carrier will be the Railrail Freightfreight Operator.operator.

Goods travelling by air

If your goods are travelling by air, the carrier will be the airline.

Goods travelling by maritime

If your goods are travelling by maritime, the carrier will be the shipping company.

Goods travelling by roll on roll off

If your goods are travelling by roll on roll off,off, the:

  • haulage company is responsible for submitting the declaration for ‘accompanied’ goods
  • ferry operator is responsible for ‘unaccompanied’ goods

Who else can submit a declaration

A third party may lodge a declaration as long as this is done with the carrier’s knowledge and consent. It is the carrier’s responsibility to make sure that:

  • an entry summary declaration is submitted
  • declarations are submitted within the legal time limits

The third party must also make sure that the information given by the carrier is accurate.

Find out more about getting someone to deal with customs for you.

Goods that do not need an entry summary declaration

You do not need to submit a declaration for goods moving from Northern Ireland into Great Britain.

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.

Register to make an entry summary declaration

For Great Britain

You need to register for the S&SSafety GBand Security Great Britain (S&S GB) service.

You do not currently need to make an entry summary declaration for goods imported into Great Britain from the EU.

For Northern Ireland

You need to register to make an entry summary declaration on the Import Control System.

Published 1 December 2020
Last updated 281 AprilJuly 2022 + show all updates

  1. 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 will publish a new target operating model of border controls in Autumn 2022. This will aim for the end of 2023 as the introduction date for the new regime.

  2. Guidance has been updated to explain that 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.

  3. The dates to make an entry summary declaration for goods imported into Great Britain from the EU have been updated.

  4. The date when you will need to start submitting safety and security declarations for imports into Great Britain from some countries has changed from 1 July 2021 to 1 January 2022.

  5. A link has been added to more information about ongoing customs movements and procedures at the end of the transition period.

  6. First published.

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