TSS Bulletin 209th Edition

Published: 18 December 2025|

Contents

Changes to your Entry Summary Declaration – act before 31 December 2025 to avoid delays to your goods movements.

TSS Bulletin publication break

We won’t be publishing the TSS Fortnightly Bulletin on 1 January 2026, as we’ll be taking a scheduled publication break to accommodate the year-end period.

We’ll resume regular publication on 15 January 2026. We appreciate your understanding and wish you a restful and productive end to the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at TSS!

Important update: date change for the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme

If you use the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme (CDWS) the deadline for when you must update the business sector on your account to continue claiming further waivers has changed from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2025.

What has changed?

  • Previous requirement: CDWS users were required to select their business sector, referred to as an ‘undertaking’, from three broad categories – Fisheries, Agriculture, or Other.
  • New requirement: As of 15 December 2025, you must log in to the waiver digital service and update your business sector by choosing from a newly expanded list of sector classifications.
  • Deadline: Before 31 December 2025, all CDWS users must have updated their business sector using the expanded list of sector classifications to continue making claims.

If you do not update your sector information by the deadline, you will not be able to claim further waivers until you do so.

What stays the same?

The process for claiming a waiver on your import declaration remains unchanged. Once your sector information is updated, no further action is needed for waiver claims.

Next steps

Log in to the waiver digital service now and update your sector classification before 31 December 2025.

Additional support and information

By email:

  • Please contact the HMRC NI stakeholder engagement team at [email protected] if you require further support.

On NICTA:

On GOV.UK:

ICS2 Readiness: take action now

Submit your Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) to Import Control System 2 (ICS2).

After 31 December 2025, you will no longer be permitted to submit your ENS to Import Control System Northern Ireland (ICS-NI) using the Movement Type ‘RoRo (Accompanied / Unaccompanied)’.

Be aware that:

  • For all movements submitted after 31 December 2025 you must use the ‘Start a Good Movement’ menu option and, in the ENS form Type of Movement field you must select ‘RoRo Unaccompanied [ICS2]’ or ‘RoRo Accompanied [ICS2]’, as applicable. Existing drafts may need the Type of Movement updated manually to one of these options to avoid rejection.
  • From 1 January 2026, the Type of Movement ‘RoRo (Accompanied / Unaccompanied)’ will temporarily show for technical reasons, but you must not use this option.

Actions to take now

Make sure you:

  • Understand the new ICS2 data requirements.
  • Begin lodging declarations using ICS2 processes as early as possible to avoid delays.
  • Check your timelines for any pre-lodged declarations scheduled to arrive close to 31 December 2025 and make sure ICS2 is used for these declarations.
  • Enter your ENS Movement Reference Numbers (MRNs) correctly in your Goods Movement Reference (GMR). This is essential for ICS2 movements, as it will ensure HMRC’s Trader Integration Micro Service (TIMS) is able to automate the processes to satisfy the requirements for Arrival and Presentation of Goods notifications for RoRo movements via Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS),.

Further information and support

For more information about ENS requirements, refer to the ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process guide on NICTA.

For more information about using GMR automation or creating a GMR, refer to the Creating a Goods Movement Reference guide on NICTA.

Remember, you can raise a case through the TSS Portal or call the TSS Contact Centre on 0800 060 8888, if you need further support on ICS2.

Commodity Code update for January 2026

HMRC updates the Northern Ireland and UK commodity code structure every year to maintain alignment with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and EU Combined Nomenclature. These changes usually take effect on 1 January 2026 and can affect duty rates and tariffs.

Commodity codes may be deleted, merged, or replaced with new ones.

Verifying and updating commodity codes is essential to avoid delays or issues when moving goods. Staying informed of the annual changes and taking action is essential.

What steps need to be taken before these changes become effective?

TSS Tip: for further guidance refer to the How to identify your commodity codes guide on NICTA.

Important update: use the new CHED reference format for Northern Ireland movements

As of 15 September, you must provide Common Health Entry Document (CHED) references for Northern Ireland movements in the new format in the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) Data Element 2/3 ‘Documents and other reference codes’.

For non-Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS) declarations pre-notified to the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES)

The CHED reference format must include letters followed by numbers, and the three full stop (.) characters.

Your reference will be provided on the TRACES NT platform where the CHED was applied for. You can copy and paste this into the Document Reference field at the goods item level in the TSS Portal.

The CHED reference will depend on the CHED type you are using:

  • Document code ‘C640’: Live Animals – ‘CHEDA.XI.yyyy.nnnnnnn’
  • Document code ‘C085’: Plant Products – ‘CHEDPP.XI.yyyy.nnnnnnn’
  • Document code ‘N853’: Products of Animal Origin – ‘CHEDP.XI.yyyy.nnnnnnn’
  • Document code ‘C678’: Feed and Food of Non-Animal Origin – ‘CHEDD.XI.yyyy.nnnnnnn’

Note that:

  • ‘yyyy’ represents the year the licence was issued, for example ‘2025’
  • ‘nnnnnnn’ represents the CHED reference number, for example ‘1234567’
  • The three full stop (.) characters must be included

As an example, for Live Animals, the new CHED format reference would be ‘CHEDA.XI.2025.1234567’.

For NIRMS movements

For NIRMS movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland the CHED reference must be in the format ‘GBCHDyyyy.NIRMS’.

Note that:

  • ‘yyyy’ represents the year the movement took place, for example ‘2025’
  • The full stop (.) character after the year must be included

An example of the CHED format for NIRMS movements would be ‘GBCHD2025.NIRMS’.

Additional information

Visit GOV.UK for general information on moving licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland and details of the licence reference formats to be declared in CDS Data Element 2/3.

TSS Portal update: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

The TSS Portal is sometimes updated to improve user experience. The next update of this nature is currently scheduled for Sunday 11 January 2026. As part of the updates scheduled, you will notice changes to error message formats within the portal, but other functionality remains the same. If you use any Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools these may need updating.

Goods Movement options summary

In previous bulletins, we have provided guidance about the different goods movement options supported in the TSS Portal to help you identify the most suitable choice according to your business requirements.

In summary, the following movement types are possible when moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland:

  • An Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) is mandatory and must be submitted ahead of the goods movement. This is a safety and security declaration The TSS Portal facilitates ENS submission alongside the relevant customs procedures associated with your goods movements (see below) or alternatively you may use the TSS Portal for submitting Entry Summary Declarations only, while completing the necessary customs procedures outside of the TSS Portal.
  • Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) is used when moving goods eligible for the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements as set out in in the Windsor Framework. Only a simplified data set needs to be submitted instead of a full declaration. You may benefit from setting up a Trader Goods Profile (TGP) to auto-populate part of the IMMI, so you don’t need to manually enter that information each time you move the same goods. The goods being moved must be ‘not at risk’ of entering the European Union and one of the parties moving the goods must hold a UKIMS
  • The TSS Simplified Procedure can be used when none of the parties have UKIMS authorisation, or if there is a risk that the goods may enter the EU. It is a two-step customs process where TSS generates a simplified declaration from information provided in the ENS before goods move. You must subsequently submit a Supplementary Declaration providing full information by the 10th calendar day of the month following goods movement.
  • A Full Frontier Declaration is a single customs declaration used to provide detailed information before goods are moved. This can be chosen when the TSS Simplified Procedure or IMMI are not an option, for instance when customs special procedures such as Temporary Admission are being used.

You can find further information for each movement journey type by selecting the Moving Goods from tab in the navigation bar at the top of any page on NICTA.

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