Contents
- ICS2 Readiness: are you ready for 1 January 2026?
- Important updates coming soon to the TSS Portal
- TSS Tip: ensure your International Maritime Organisation number is correct
- Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) only movements
ICS2 Readiness: are you ready for 1 January 2026?
Transition to ICS2
After 31 December 2025, you’ll no longer be permitted to submit your Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) to the Import Control System Northern Ireland (ICS-NI).
You can continue to submit your ENS into ICS-NI up to this date, but all businesses must transition to Import Control System 2 (ICS2) for ENS submissions via the TSS Portal by 31 December 2025. You must take action now to ensure you are ready for this change.
What actions should you take now?
You will need to communicate with all parties within your supply chain to gather accurate information about the movement of goods.
Traders need to provide information to their haulier. You should focus on the following.
Obtain or provide a 6-digit commodity code
You will need to provide a minimum 6-digit commodity code for the goods that are being moved. Commodity codes can usually be found on shipping documents, such as a commercial invoice or packing list and are normally used in customs declarations. If your goods are controlled, you will need to enter your commodity code at a 10-digit level as you currently do now. To search for a commodity code, consult the Northern Ireland Online Tariff on GOV.UK. If you do not know the commodity code for your goods, detailed guidance on how to classify your goods, including examples, can be found in the How to identify your commodity codes guide on NICTA.
Top tip: A commodity code can be auto-populated in the same way as a goods description using the Trader Goods Profile (TGP) for movements eligible for the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.
Obtain or provide an accurate Goods Description
As an ICS2 mandatory requirement, the goods description in the ENS must be a plain language description that is precise enough to identify the goods. Generic terms, such as ‘consolidated’, ‘general cargo’, ‘parts’, ‘freight of all kinds’ or any other generic description, won’t be accepted, and your ENS will return with an error.
To ensure the quality of descriptions is sufficient, ICS2 implements a list of stop words within the declaration screening process. As a TSS user, the Portal will identify where a stop word has been used and will prompt you to enter another description. Guidance on how to formulate an accurate goods description, with examples, can be found in the Goods Description Guide on NICTA.
Top tip: If you’re eligible for the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements, you can use the TGP to auto-populate this information, as the TSS Portal uses a combined form for gathering information used for Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) and Customs Declarations. Guidance on using the TGP in the TSS Portal can be found in the Trader Goods Profile (TGP) Guide on NICTA.
Obtain or provide buyer and seller details
In some cases, the buyer and seller are different entities to the importer and exporter. Where this is the case, you’ll need to specify their details by providing their name, address and EORI number if known (XI or EU EORI only), as well as providing the consignee and consignor name and address information.
Obtain or provide acceptance and delivery locations for all Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) accompanied movements
If you are a haulier, you’ll need to provide the location of the place of acceptance and place of delivery for all RoRo accompanied movements. Note: There can be more than one location for each, particularly when moving consolidated loads.
Confirm if the goods are moving within a registered shipping container
You’ll need to confirm whether the goods are moving in a registered shipping container. For ENS, the container identification number should be in the format ZZZZ9999999.
You can find out more about the new requirements for Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) for RoRo movements by referring to the ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process on NICTA. If you need further support on ICS2, you can raise a case through the TSS Portal or call the TSS Contact Centre on 0800 060 8888.
Important updates coming soon to the TSS Portal
Several updates to the TSS Portal will be implemented on 23 November 2025, which could affect you. Please review the following details to ensure you’re prepared for these changes and can benefit from the new functionalities.
Addition of ‘EU EORI number for ICS2 Declarant’ within your TSS Company Profile
Hauliers and carriers who submit Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) and hold an EU EORI number (but not an XI EORI number) will now be able to enter their EU EORI number in the TSS Company Profile. This enhancement will enable you to submit ENS to ICS2 using the TSS Portal.
The new field will be accessible for both new registrations and existing hauliers/carriers within the Company Profile section.
If your TSS Company Profile already contains an XI EORI number, no further action is required, and you may continue to submit ENS to ICS2 as usual.
Invalid character checks across TSS Portal forms
A new validation process will come into effect, automatically checking for invalid characters in several fields when submitting forms to ICS2 via the TSS Portal.
If the system detects any invalid characters or combinations, often the result of copying data from external sources such as PDF documents, it will clear the field and advise that invalid characters have been used. You will then be able to amend the information before saving and submitting your declaration, which will help avoid submission errors.
A list of unacceptable characters in accordance with ICS2 can be found on the European Commission website.
Improvements to the ‘Copy Consignment’ feature
The ‘Copy Consignment’ function in the TSS Portal enables you to duplicate previously used ENS consignments, simplifying the process of entering data for new consignments and saving valuable time.
This enhancement is helpful for hauliers and traders who regularly transport similar goods.
With this update, details such as buyer/seller fields and container indicator information will also be copied over to new consignments, reducing manual input and expediting submissions.
You can find step-by-step guidance on utilising the ‘Copy Consignment’ function in the ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process on NICTA.
The following TSS guides will also be updated to reflect all the latest changes:
- Data guide: TSS declaration data requirements
- ENS step-by-step guide for maritime movements from GB to NI
- ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process
- Pre-movement Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI): Step-by-Step guide
- Creating a Goods Movement Reference
- Registration: Step-by-step guide to using TSS
- How to use the TSS Portal
Further guides and resources are available in the Guide Directory on NICTA.
For any queries or assistance about these upcoming changes, call the TSS Contact Centre on 0800 060 8888.
TSS Tip: ensure your International Maritime Organisation number is correct
When completing your Entry Summary Declaration (ENS), it’s always a good idea to check that your International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number is entered correctly in the Identity Number of Transport field. This helps to keep your submission on track and avoid any unnecessary delays.
The ferry operator can provide the IMO number for the vessel crossing to NI.
To help ensure that your ENS is accepted, make sure you:
- Check your IMO number before submitting your ENS
- Remember to review the Identity Number of Transport field, if you change the ‘Type of Movement’
HMRC appreciates the ‘just-in-time’ supply chain nature of some road movements and that while organising these movements the ferry used to transport the goods into NI can change at very short notice. So, HRMC won’t request that you make an amendment if the details change after the declaration has been submitted. This is because they can access the new ferry information through the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS).
Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) only movements
We’ve provided information in previous bulletins about some of the different goods movement options available in the TSS Portal, and it’s important to choose the right one to ensure your goods movements from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI) are successful.
The TSS Portal enables you to submit a safety and security declaration, known as an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) and complete a relevant customs procedure for your goods.
An ENS is mandatory and must be submitted ahead of the goods movement, ahead of arrival in NI. Traders will need to provide the carrier with accurate data. Whilst it’s the carrier’s legal responsibility to submit an ENS, the haulier may assume responsibility for accompanied RoRo shipments.
You can opt to use the TSS Portal to submit an ENS only and complete the necessary customs procedures outside of the TSS Portal, if it’s suitable for your business requirements. To do this, you should complete the ENS Only Reason field during consignment creation, which will stop the process of a Simplified Frontier Declaration from being auto-generated by the TSS Portal.
When else can you move goods using ENS only in the TSS Portal?
- Trailers that do not contain goods, but are under a contract of carriage, require an ENS for GVMS and should be moved using the TSS Portal by completing an ENS only
- Goods that are travelling through NI to another common transit country do not require a customs declaration through TSS into NI, so can move under an ENS only
- Goods entering a ‘Temporary Storage Facility’ and the customs declaration (if required) will not be made using the TSS Portal
- When a separate/standalone Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) or Full Frontier Declaration (FFD) is being completed within TSS, the Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) or FFD MRN should be given to your carrier, who will use it together with the ENS MRN to complete the GMR before the goods arrive.
The ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process explains how to complete your ENS for accompanied and unaccompanied Roll on Roll off movements. If you’re moving goods via maritime, refer to the ENS step-by-step guide for maritime movements from GB to NI.
In Bulletin 208, we’ll provide guidance about when to use the TSS Full Frontier Declaration (FFD) journey.