TSS Bulletin 210th Edition

Published: 15 January 2026|

Contents

Welcome back to the TSS Bulletin

Welcome back to the TSS Fortnightly Bulletin. We hope you had a restful break and a wonderful Christmas and that you have a very Happy New Year.

We’re back with your fortnightly round‑up of practical guidance and key changes to help keep your goods moving. From all of us at TSS, welcome to 2026 and thanks for reading.

ICS2 Tips and Essentials

The Import Control System 2 (ICS2) is now mandatory for lodging Entry Summary Declarations for all goods movements into Northern Ireland (NI), including those arriving on Roll on Roll off (RoRo) ferries. If you attempt to submit any Entry Summary Declarations into ICSNI, you will see an error message and your declaration will not be accepted.

Here are some hints and tips for successful submissions when using ICS2.

Tip: Only use valid XI or EU EORI numbers

ICS2 will only accept valid XI or EU EORI numbers, but not GB EORI numbers. The correct format of the EORI number is a maximum of 17 alphanumeric characters that begins with a two-character XI or EU country code, for example XI123456789012.

Check the validity of an EU EORI number online at EORI number validation.

Tip: Confirm full address details of all parties in the shipment

The name and address of the carrier, importer/exporter and consignor/consignee are mandatory in ICS2, so it is important to check you have the full addresses of all parties prior to your goods movement. Buyer/seller details are required where these are different to the importer/exporter.

TSS will auto-populate parties’ details where the party associated with the quoted EORI hasn’t set their details to ‘private’ in their TSS company profile.

Tip: Goods descriptions are checked for data quality

The goods description provided in the ENS must satisfy ICS2 data requirements.

ICS2 doesn’t accept vague and generic terms such as ‘parts’, ‘general cargo’ or ‘freight’ so using these will result in a rejection. You can check the EU list of stop words for an up-to-date list of words and terms not permitted by ICS2.

The Goods Description Guide on NICTA provides further information on how to enter a clear and detailed goods description.

Tip: Know your 6-digit commodity codes

ICS2 requires a minimum 6-digit commodity code for each goods item being moved.

Check the commodity codes for the goods you are moving on the Northern Ireland Online Tariff on GOV.UK.

Tip: Entry Summary Declaration MRNs must be added into the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS)

For RoRo movements, HMRC’s Trader Integration Micro Service (TIMS) automates the Notification of Arrival of Goods and Presentation of Goods via GVMS to satisfy ICS2 requirements.

To benefit from this automation, you must have entered all your MRNs into GVMS or use the TSS GMR Automation service that will do this on your behalf. If any Entry Summary Declaration MRNs are not added to GVMS, the Notification of Arrival of Goods and the Presentation of Goods will not be triggered and you will need to complete these outside of TSS.

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

Tip: Check the identity number of transport

The vessel International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a unique registration number of the ferry, which you can obtain from your ferry operator. The IMO number is required for all RoRo movements in the Identity Number of Transport field on Entry Summary Declarations.

Where the type of movement is ‘RoRo Accompanied [ICS2]’, enter the vessel IMO number, followed by ‘#’ vehicle registration number and trailer number (if applicable) – for example, IMOxxxxxxx#xxxx.

Where the type of movement is ‘RoRo Unaccompanied [ICS2]’, enter the vessel IMO number, followed by ‘#’ then trailer number – for example, IMOxxxxxxx#xxxx.

The vessel information provided in the Entry Summary Declaration must be accurate to the best of the declarant’s knowledge at the time of submission. However, HMRC appreciates the ‘just-in-time’ supply chain nature of some movements and that in organising these movements, the ferry used to transport the goods into NI can change at very short notice. In these circumstances, an amendment is not required as long as HMRC can access the new ferry information through GVMS.

For further information, see:

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

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

Deadline passed: Update your business sector to continue using the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme

As highlighted in TSS Bulletin 209th edition sent on 18 December 2025, to continue using the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme (CDWS) you must update the business sector on your account to claim further waivers.

If you haven’t taken action, you should do so immediately.

What do I need to do?

Log in to the waiver digital service and update your business sector by choosing from a newly expanded list of sector classifications. You will receive prompts on how to do this when you log in.

What happens if I don’t update my business sector?

You won’t be able to claim further waivers until you update your business sector.

What has stayed 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 online service and update your sector classification.

Additional information and support

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

NICTA

How to claim a customs duty waiver guide

GOV.UK

Check if you can claim a waiver for goods brought into Northern Ireland

Report payments and view your allowance for non-customs state aid and customs duty waiver claims

Online Trade Tariff Changes 2026: Is your commodity code affected?

HMRC updates the NI and UK commodity code structure regularly to maintain alignment with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and EU Combined Nomenclature. Although these changes happen throughout the year, a large number have taken effect on 1 January 2026 and can affect duty rates and tariffs.

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

For example, as of 1 January 2026, commodity codes 9607209010 and 9607209090 have ended and are being absorbed into 9607209000.

All the updates can be found on the UK Integrated Online Tariff news bulletin.

Verifying and updating commodity codes are essential to avoid delays or issues when moving goods. It is vital to stay informed of changes and take any resulting actions.

What steps need to be taken to ensure your commodity codes are up to date?

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

TSS Tip – Keep your TSS company profile up to date

To keep your company profile up to date, you should regularly check that the information entered is correct and only authorised users have access to it.

For example, you may wish to benefit from using the ‘Do you want the company name to be private?’ field, to determine whether the TSS can auto-populate certain information onto a goods movement, such as your company name and address. Selecting ‘No’ in this field will allow the TSS to populate your company details into a declaration, reducing manual data entry and speeding up the goods movement process.

This is particularly beneficial to those hauliers or agents/intermediaries who submit goods movements on behalf of a trader.

To make the best use of this field, enter the full name and address of your company into your TSS company profile, including the street, city and post code fields. When entering the street and number information, enter the street number first (if existing) followed by the street name (for example, 6 Trader Lane or Units 5-6 Trader Lane).

Further information can be found in the How to use the TSS Portal guide, and the Registration: Step-by-step guide to using TSS on NICTA.

TSS Portal update – Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

The TSS Portal is sometimes updated to improve user experience, with the most recent update taking place on 11 January 2026. As part of the update, you would have noticed changes to error message formats within the portal, whilst other functionality remains the same. If you use any Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools, these may need updating.

TSS Contact Centre hours of operation:

07:30 – 22:30, 7 days a week

Contact options

Tel: 0800 060 8888

Welsh speakers Tel: 0800 060 8988

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