Check if you can apply for the UK Carrier Scheme

The UK Carrier (UKC) Scheme is an authorisation that enables businesses to move eligible consumer parcels, from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

UKCIreland, Schemewithout authorisationpaying willcustoms allowduty yourand businessin tosome sendcircumstances, these parcels without completing anycustoms customs, or safety and security declarations.

You can apply to use the UKC Scheme if you’re responsible for moving consumer parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Consumer parcels are defined as those moving from: 

• business to consumer
• consumer to business
• consumer to another consumer

You cannot use the UKC Scheme to move parcels which do not meet the relevanteligibility criteria. TheseThose parcels that do not meet the eligibility criteria include:

• parcels from one business to another business — you must move these parcels using the arrangements set out for freight movements in the Windsor Framework
• category 1 prohibited and restricted goods — read Annex IV of the decision of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee on laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework
• thebusiness parcelto weighsconsumer, noconsumer to business or consumer to consumer parcels that weigh more than 31.5 kilograms or 100 kilograms if it is business-to-consumer or consumer-to-business and contains a single item

Who can apply

To apply to use the UKCUK Carrier Scheme, you’ll need to be established in the UK.

If you’re established in Northern Ireland, you must apply for the scheme using your EORI number starting XI. Find out how to get an EORI number starting XI.

If you are not established in Northern Ireland, but have an EORI number starting XI for another, legitimate customs reason, you should use that EORI number to apply.

Otherwise, you should apply for the scheme using an EORI number starting GB.

We will not be able to authorise you for the UKC Scheme if you’ve committed any serious or repeated infringements of legislative or regulatory requirements, relevant to your economic activity, in the 3 years before you apply. We’ll check criminal records for any serious criminal offences relating to the economic activity of your business, and the people you provide in your application.

You must have a high level of control of your operations. This must include a system to manage commercial and transport records.

You must be able to comply with the obligations of the scheme.

Obligations of the scheme

Once you’ve been authorised as a carrier, you’ll have a number of obligations you must meet, on an ongoing basis.

You’ll need to establish that parcels that you’re moving under the UKC Scheme are being sent according to the criteria and conditions of the scheme. This will include:

• complying with weight limits for parcels
• meeting any additional requirements for the very limited range of category 1 goods, like endangered species​​ ​
• making sure goods are being to sent to, or from, a private individual

You must collect data and share this with HMRC, in the correct manner and within relevant timeframes. This data will be based on information you hold, and that you get from the sender, when they purchase shipment or postage.

FindFor eligible parcels sent from Great Britain, find out more about how to submit your consumer parcel data in the post and parcels service guide.

For eligible parcels brought from outside the UK and EU into Northern Ireland, a Northern Ireland established business must submit a compliant customs declaration through the Customs Declaration Service. This applies when the parcels are released into free circulation in Great Britain before they are moved into Northern Ireland.

You can read guidance on how to complete this declaration for goods moving into Northern Ireland in the Customs Declaration Service Declaration Completion Instructions for Imports.

You can also read guidance on how to move parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for express operators under the UK Carrier Scheme.

You’ll also need to work with, and share data with, HMRC to help manage the risk of parcels moving incorrectly under UKC arrangements. You must follow guidance to make a suspicious activity report to HMRC about movements where you want to report a clear breach of the UKC Scheme.

You must respond to any requests from HMRC for further information. You must also comply with any instructions from HMRC that relate to goods moved under the scheme.

Make an application for the UKC Scheme

Read about how to apply for the UK Carrier Scheme, and the information we’ll expect you to provide when you do.