United Kingdom: Brexit 2022 update – 2

The UK is progressing to the next implementation stage of the Border Model and the lodging of customs declarations.

Introduction of controls on UK imports delayed

In the previous edition of this newsletter, we informed you about the phased approach that the UK government was using to implement border controls between the EU and the UK following Brexit.

The intention was to introduce further controls on sanitary and phytosanitary products as well as ‘organic’ products originating from the EU from 1 July 2022. Shortly after publishing our newsletter, the UK government announced that the introduction of these controls would be further delayed again.

The UK government announced that the remaining import controls on goods coming from the EU will not be introduced this year. It is expected that these controls will enter into effect from 1 January 2024, when new automation controls solutions should be in place. This means that the following controls originally scheduled for July 2022 will not be introduced:

• Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU imports at the Border Control Post;
• Safety and Security declarations on imports from the EU;
• Health certification and SPS checks on imports from the EU;
• Prohibitions and restrictions on the import of chilled meats from the EU.
   

The controls that have been introduced previously, such as the pre-lodgment notifications via the goods vehicle movement service (GVMS), the pre-notifications for sanitary and phytosanitary goods, and the requirement to register for the importation and trade of organic products, all remain in place.

CHIEF to be replaced by CDS

The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is the UK government’s new electronic system for handling customs declaration processes. CDS is replacing the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system. The services on CHIEF will be withdrawn in two stages:

• 30 September 2022: import declarations close on CHIEF;
• 31 March 2023: export declarations close on CHIEF/National Exports System (NES).
   

From these dates, all businesses will need to lodge any customs declaration using CDS. The main difference between CHIEF and CDS is that completing a CHIEF declaration is geared towards paper completion and has several boxes that accept data in a free text format. In CDS, most data elements are restricted to code format other than name and address fields. This means that customs agents need to (re)model their IT systems to CDS codes to declare goods through CDS.

As CDS is already available to lodge UK customs declarations, it would be advantageous for businesses to already start using CDS for their customs declarations. However, due to a number of circumstances, many customs agents have not been able to migrate their systems from CHIEF to CDS yet and are therefore unable to lodge customs declarations through CDS

If businesses would like to continue importing and exporting in the UK, then it is pertinent that they engage with a customs agent that has the capability and knowledge to use CDS. Therefore, it is very important that they check if their customs agent is capable of lodging customs declarations through CDS or find a customs agent that already does.

Customs and Trade Consultancy can support with reviewing whether the customs clearing agents are ready for CDS and/or support with lodging customs declarations via CDS.

Read the WTS Global Customs Newsletter here.