Guidance on controlled goods and the Online Tariff Tool

Published:

18 June 2025

Updated:

20 February 2026

If there are any words or acronyms in this document that are unfamiliar, you can visit the Jargon Buster or use the search tool on the Northern Ireland Customs and Trade Academy (NICTA) to find a definition.

Introduction

This document provides guidance on moving controlled goods using the Trader Support Service (TSS) Simplified Procedure, Full Frontier Declaration and navigating the Online Tariff Tool. If you are moving controlled goods using the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements refer to the guidance on NICTA.

Goods under Prohibited and Restricted (P&R) measures need to fulfil European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) compliance rules. This document doesn’t provide an exhaustive list of all P&R measures that may apply when moving a good from Great Britain (GB) or Rest of World excluding the European Union (RoW excluding EU) to Northern Ireland (NI). Refer to the respective NI/UK Online Tariff to see if goods are controlled.

Overview and definition of controlled goods within the Trader Support Service (TSS)

Goods are controlled if they are subject to special health, licensing or environmental controls and as such must be placed under customs control at the border. Controlled goods must be presented at the border for specific pre-clearance or Border Inspection Post controls.

Goods shown as restricted in the Northern Ireland Tariff must be entered as controlled goods and be accompanied by full supporting documentation such as Home Office licences, veterinary certificates and phytosanitary certificates.

If you are moving controlled goods, you are required to provide information at a consignment (header) and item level when completing an Entry Summary Declaration.

See below for examples

Sanitary Phytosanitary (SPS) goods / Agri‑products

  • Meat, poultry, dairy products
  • Live animals
  • Animal bones/blood
  • Sausage skins
  • Fur
  • Soil
  • Endangered species
  • Fish & fishery products
  • Plants and plant products
  • Fruit and vegetables

Chemical goods

  • Certain hazardous substances, mixtures and articles for their marketing and use on the market

Excise goods

Products subject to excise duty:

  • Tobacco products
  • Unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse
  • Energy products
  • Fuel
  • Alcohol / alcoholic drinks

Fluorinated gases & ozone‑depleting substances

  • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
  • Other fluorinated greenhouse gases (F‑gases)
  • Ozone‑depleting substances (ODS)
  • Products/equipment containing these gases

Military products

  • Products specifically designed or modified for military purposes (controlled by the Export Control Joint Unit — ECJU)

Offensive weapons

  • Certain knives, knuckle dusters, etc. (as per section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988)

Rough diamonds

  • From outside the European Union (EU) and Rest of World excluding the EU

Controlled goods licences and certificates by category

Moving Controlled Goods using the Trader Support Service (TSS)

Before moving goods from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI) or from the Rest of World Excluding the European Union (RoW Excluding EU) to NI, you must ensure you comply with national and international legislation.

Use the questions below to help you prepare the information you will need when moving goods between GB and NI.

What is being moved?

  • Identify the product category and commodity code classification to verify any product specific requirements via the Trade Tariff tool on GOV.UK
  • Verify the technical specifications of your product, the application and the origin of the product

Are the goods controlled?

  • Refer to the Northern Ireland Online Tariff on GOV.UK to check if your goods are considered controlled and require a licence or certificate to move from GB to NI

Examples of required documentation by goods category and the associated guidance

1.   Sanitary Phytosanitary goods (SPS goods)

Websites by region

Further guidance

2.   Chemical goods

3.   Excise goods

4.   Fluorinated gases & ozone-depleting substances

5.   Rough diamonds

Useful information when moving controlled goods

Example: Moving SPS Goods in the TSS Portal

The following is a list of the different types of Common Health Entry Document (CHED) which must be entered for the appropriate product along with the relevant document code:

  • PP – Plants and plant products
  • D – Food and feed of non-animal origin
  • P – Food and products of animal origin
  • A – Live animals

Refer to Appendix 5A (Union codes) and Appendix 5B (Document Status Codes) on GOV.UK to check which Documents Codes and Status Codes are required for your goods. You can find further information in the Document Code Guide on NICTA.

You must make sure the information on your declaration matches the information on the relevant CHED certification. If it does not match, the carrier may need to report for inspection. More information can be found in Moving licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland on GOV.UK.

Note: For products of animal origin (POAO) and high-risk food of non-animal origin (HRFNAO), the status code XW can be used for NI movements where CHED-P or CHED-D is not required, such as a product being imported for research. You must enter the text ‘Waiver claimed’ in the Document Reason field.

XW can also be used for NI movements alongside the relevant Document Code for transit movements from EU-GB-NI where the CHED reference is not required. In this case, ‘NIIMP’ should be entered for the Goods Domestic Status.

More information

Step 1: Decide the right Online Tariff Tool to use based on the information you need and the information you have

For prohibitions and restrictions

Use the Northern Ireland Online Tariff on GOV.UK for prohibitions and restrictions associated with any goods you are moving from GB to NI / RoW Excluding EU to NI.

For Duties, VAT and Excise

Note: Duties do not need to be paid for UK Domestic movements from GB to NI if you are able to declare goods ‘not at risk’. See guidance on Moving goods you bring into Northern Ireland as ‘not at risk’ of moving to the EU on GOV.UK. Other restrictions may still apply to your goods and can be found in the NI Online Tariff for this case.

‘At risk’ explained

  • ‘at risk’ applies to goods that enter NI but may later be sold or consumed within the EU
  • ‘not at risk’ applies to goods that will be for sale to or final use by end-consumers located in the UK

To identify if your goods can be designated ‘not at risk’ and if tariffs apply to your goods movement, see the Tariffs on goods movements to Northern Ireland (NI) guide on NICTA.

What is UK domestic status?

Goods have UK domestic status if they are in free circulation in the UK and all national taxes due have been paid. This will apply to the majority of GB-NI movements unless transiting GB from a third country, or under duty suspense in GB (such as customs warehousing).

Step 2: Find the page for your commodity

Enter the commodity code for the goods you’re declaring into the search field.

Verify that you’ve arrived on the correct page for your commodity and click the Import tab.

Note: You can use the Online Tariff Tool to search for the commodity codes of the goods you are moving using key words related to your goods. There is guidance on GOV.UK on Finding commodity codes for imports into or exports out of the UK, and further information is available in the How to identify your commodity codes guide on NICTA.

Step 3: Identify if your goods are controlled

Navigate to the ‘Select a country’ drop-down menu and choose the appropriate country you are importing from (the goods’ country of origin).

  • For GB to NI movements, if the goods have UK origin (goods made in UK), choose ‘United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) (GB)’
  • If you use the tariff to enter goods not domestic to the UK (such as movements RoW Excluding EU to NI – National duties not paid), use the goods’ country of origin for the non-domestic goods as the first search
    • In the second column you will see the measure types that apply
    • In the third column you will see any conditions that are associated with that measure

If when you click on the Conditions associated with a measure, it shows that you need to provide certificates, licences or other documents with your goods, your goods are considered controlled.

Step 4: Identify import control measures associated with your commodity

In the list, find measures that impose restrictions on the movement of goods. Multiple measures may apply to your good, ensure that you review the full list of measures.

Read the conditions and information under the respective hyperlinks to understand the implications of this control. For example, a document code C644 may be required to be entered to indicate that goods carry claims to be organic, and a certificate is needed to prove that.

If the goods don’t carry that claim, document code Y929 should be entered. This requires no certificate.

See the Appendices section in Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) for an overview of codes across different series and guidance on those that are likely to impact a goods state as controlled.

Step 5: Remember to check footnotes and perform other searches

In addition to controls in the list, further controls may be documented in the footnotes of the commodity page.

Note: The process in this guide may not be exhaustive for identifying all the restrictions associated with the commodity you want to move. As already mentioned, you may need to perform multiple searches.

Criteria for other searches may be:

  • Searching for the country of origin in addition to the country of dispatch
  • Searching for rules that apply to ingredients (or components, precursors, for example) of a good and the origin of that ingredient, that carry over to the result of significant processing

Further guidance can be found in Check your goods meet the rules of origin on GOV.UK.

GOV.UK provides:

Step 6: Identify financial measures associated with your commodity

In order to check the import duties that may be due for your commodity, use the tariff duty calculator which is located via the Import Tab and selecting the link ‘Import duties’.

The tariff duty calculator will help you to identify information you may require for your movement, such as:

  • Excise calculation and additional codes
  • National additional codes (such as VAT or VATZ)
  • Third country duties
  • Suspensions (and the conditions under which they apply)
  • Tariff suspensions

These financial controls are not applicable to:

  • Goods domestic to the UK (national duties paid, free circulation in the UK)
  • Goods not ‘at risk’ of moving to the EU

Guidance on these data field examples is available in the Data guide: TSS declaration data requirements on NICTA.

Step 7: The information found within the NI Tariff can be used to fill in several of the fields in the TSS Portal

The information from the online tariff about your commodity must then be used to complete the relevant fields on the TSS Portal. The online tariff will provide information to complete fields such as National Additional Code, Tax Type and any relevant Document codes.

For guidance on completing declarations and associated fields, consult the appropriate TSS guide based on the declaration type:

I need to know more

There are additional guides available on NICTA to support you with trade into and out of Northern Ireland:

You can also Contact Trader Support Services (TSS) for support on 0800 060 8888.

Changes to guidance and policy

Last updated February 2026.

February 2026: HTML version

September 2025: Hyperlink added for government guidance on moving licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland, and CERTEX introduction.

July 2025: Converted from PowerPoint to Word format. Continuous improvement changes applied throughout the guide.

Related guides

API: Functional Guide

Live Animal Movements to Northern Ireland

Periodic Declaration: General Guidance

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