Moving licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland

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• moving licensed goods as parcels

If you move licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland, including by import, export or transit and do not use simplifications

You mustshould make sure the information on your declaration matches the information on the relevant licence or certification. If it does not match, your haulier may need to report for inspection.

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What you should do with your declarations

You should make sure that the information you provide on your declaration matches the licence or certificate for the goods you are moving into or out of Northern Ireland.

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Findmay outchange more(such as for CHED PP and FGAS). Read the most up to date information about:

• declaration completion instructions
• licences and document codes

How to complete certain data elements on your declaration

Mismatches between your licence and your declaration can cause delays to your goods movements.

In all cases, if the information does not match, then your goods may be subject to a hold or an inspection when it arrives in Northern Ireland.

Data element — 2/3 Documents and certificates

If the reference is not completed correctly:

• the licence cannot be validated
• your declaration will be rejected
• you will not receive a Movement Reference Number (MRN) and will not be able to continue moving your goods

The Common Health Entry Document (CHED) reference format must be letters followed by numbers and include the full stop character. For example, ‘CHEDA.XI.2025.1234567’.

Read Appendix 5A for details of the licence reference formats to be declared in data element 2/3.

Data element — 6/1 Net Mass

You should make sure that the information you include in this data element on your declaration matches the licence.

Data element — 6/2 Supplementary Units/SW Measurement Unit Code

You should make sure that the information you include in this data element on your declaration matches the licence.

Data element — 6/14 and 6/15 Commodity Codes

You should make sure that the information you include in this data element on your declaration matches the licence.

If there is a problem with your declaration

You will receive a notification from the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) if there is a problem with your declaration. For example, when:

• a valid certificate or licence for your goods cannot be found (this will be checked at the pre-lodgement stage)
• there is a mismatch between the data supplied on your declaration and the relevant licence or certificate (during the crossing)
• your licence has insufficient quantity remaining (during the crossing) — when you have used all the allocation available for your licence

Before your goods arrive, you should:

• check your supporting licence
• amend your declaration, if you need to
• respond to any messages you receive from the Customs Declaration Service (CDS )

If your software does not allow you to amend your declaration, you need to cancel your declaration and submit a new one. 

If you’re using the Trader Support Service for your licensed goods movements, you should contact them to help you.

If you need to report for an inspection

If you are a driver or haulier and you may need to report for an inspection:

• the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) driver messaging service will notify you
• you can use our online service to check if you need to report an inspection

Your inspection status will be one of the following:

• inspection needed — unless you are told otherwise, you need to report to either or both of the following:

  • Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland (DAERA) facility
  • Border Force facility
• no inspection needed — you do not need to report to a DAERA or Border Force facility for inspection
• your inspection status is not ready yet — a decision has not been made on your goods and you should await confirmation

If you need an inspection, the GVMS will tell you which DAERA or Border Force facility to report to.

You can find more information on:

• DAERA inspection locations 
• Border Force inspection locations

You must report for an inspection where a DAERA or Border Force control has been applied. In the case where the hold is due to a data element mismatch between declarations and your licence, HMRC may conditionally permit goods to leave the port and proceed to your end destination under customs control after all inspections have taken place. This is on the condition that the declarant must correct the mismatches before they are used for their intended purpose or processed.

Hauliers, if not acting as the declarant for the goods, should contact the consignee or importer to inform them.

Further information and support

The following is a list of certificates to which the checks apply along with the relevant document code:

Certificate type	Certificate Type Detail
COI	Certificates of Organic Conformity
CHED.PP	Plants and plant products
CHED.D	Food and feed of non-animal origin
CHED.P	Food and products of animal origin
CHED.A	Live animals
ODS	Ozone depleting substances
FGAS	Fluorinated gases

If you need more support you can:

• contact HMRC about customs
• contact Defra about licences and import and export of certain products
• contact the Trader Support Service if you are signed up