Assisted Completion Service Guide

Published:

10 June 2022

Updated:

10 August 2025

Contents

    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 & Trade Academy (NICTA) website to find a definition.

    Introduction

    The Trader Support Service (TSS) offers the Assisted Completion Service through the TSS Portal. This service provides you with support with completing Supplementary Declarations on the TSS Portal for goods movements from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI).

    This service provides complimentary, personalised assistance if you require support from TSS agents to complete up to twenty Supplementary Declarations per month.

    This guide will give you an overview of the Assisted Completion Service and how you can take advantage of the support offered.

    More information about Supplementary Declarations in TSS can be found on the Supplementary Declarations page on NICTA.

    What is the Assisted Completion Service?

    The Assisted Completion Service supports the completion of Supplementary Declarations on the TSS Portal.

    The Assisted Completion Service offers complimentary additional support from a TSS agent, who will complete up to twenty Supplementary Declarations per month on your behalf.

    Note: Terms & Conditions apply to the use of the service. You may also see the Assisted Completion Service referred to as the Enhanced Supplementary Declaration Service (ESDS) in the TSS Terms & Conditions and in the TSS Portal.

    How the Assisted Completion Service supports you

    The Assisted Completion Service is complimentary and aims to ease the technical difficulties that you may face when dealing with customs terms, procedures and the TSS declaration system.

    Upon request for assistance with a specific Supplementary Declaration, and subject to meeting the qualifying criteria (see the section in this guide on Conditions for use of the Assisted Completion Service for declaration eligibility), a TSS agent will receive, collate and validate the necessary information. The TSS agent will enter the required information and then submit the respective declaration on your behalf.

    Once the TSS agent has submitted the Supplementary Declaration, you can proceed to making any required duty payments through TSS, if applicable. If duty payments are not required, the Supplementary Declaration will appear in a ‘Closed’ status.

    Benefits of the Assisted Completion Service

    This service eases the process of completing Supplementary Declarations by supporting with the following activities:

    • Identification of required fields at the consignment (header) and item level in the TSS Portal
    • Classification and organisation of the information provided by you that is required for the declaration
    • Validation of information you have supplied (for example, accuracy and customs rationality)
    • Population of information required into the Supplementary Declaration in the TSS Portal
    • Resolution of potential errors (subject to timely, accurate and valid information provided by you)

    Conditions for use of the Assisted Completion Service

    There are some conditions around what types of declarations are supported and volume allowances for the Assisted Completion Service.

    Eligibility

    The Assisted Completion Service supports the completion of Supplementary Declarations with the following criteria:

    • The declaration is linked to an Entry Summary Declaration and a Simplified Frontier Declaration within the TSS platform (for example, the Entry Summary and Simplified Frontier Declarations were not generated outside TSS)
    • The journey was a goods movement beginning in GB and ending in NI

    Note: Supplementary Declarations for direct movements from countries in the Rest of World excluding the European Union (RoW excluding EU) to NI are not supported by TSS.

    • The Supplementary Declaration status is ‘Draft’ or ‘Trader Input Required’
    • The Supplementary Declaration Tax Point Date is less than 330 days old
    • The customs procedure you are using is currently supported by TSS and, if required, you held a Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP) authorisation, formerly known as Customs Freight Simplified Procedure (CFSP), at the time the movement occurred

    Note: The majority of goods movements from GB to NI are ‘Declaration for release for free circulation or end-use (includes 07XX, 40XX, 42XX, 44XX, 61XX PCs)’

    Below gives an overview of the declaration types in TSS, which can be seen in the drop-down in the Which type of declaration do you intend to make? field on the Supplementary Declaration.

    • Release into Free Circulation or End Use: Procedure codes 07XX, 40XX, 42XX, 44XX, 61XX
    • Customs Warehousing: Procedure code 71XX
    • Inward Processing: Procedure code – 51XX

    Note: you must hold your own SCDP authorisation to submit declarations in TSS that require a special procedure. You cannot use the TSS authorisation.

    You can find further details about special procedures and required authorisations using these resources:

    The Assisted Completion Service is available to all traders registered on TSS, with the exception of:

    • TSS customs agents or anyone using a customs agent or intermediary in TSS
    • Traders that have declined the TSS or Assisted Completion terms and conditions

    You can review your Assisted Completion Service entitlement on your Company Profile.

    Below shows the three potential service entitlement states that could be displayed on your company profile.

    • Not available: The TSS account is not eligible to benefit from the service.
    • Declined: The TSS account is eligible to benefit from the service; however, you have declined the invitation.
    • Available: The TSS account is eligible to benefit from the service, and you have accepted the invitation.

    If you have questions about or would like to change your service entitlement state you can contact the TSS Contact Centre for support on 0800 060 8888.

    You can find further information about how to Get someone to deal with customs for you on GOV.UK.

    Volume allowances

    Subject to acceptance of the service you will be offered Assisted Completion for up to twenty Supplementary Declarations per month that meet the criteria highlighted above.

    Note: The allowance of twenty Supplementary Declarations per month is not cumulative. The entitlement counter resets to zero at the start of each calendar month.

    It is not possible to carry forward any outstanding allowance to a new month. Any allowance not used during the current month will be lost.

    The Assisted Completion Service process

    You can ask for Assisted Completion Service support on the TSS Portal or by phoning the TSS Contact Centre on 0800 060 8888.

    Visual representation of how the end-to-end Assisted Completion Service journey works. A full text version of the journey is under the heading of that name on the page.

    Online Self-Service Initiated Journey

    1. Trader clicks the Assisted Completion button on their Supplementary Declaration.
    2. Trader confirms the use of Service.
    3. The TSS Agent creates a case for the requested Supplementary Declaration and Excel template requesting additional data which is linked to the case.
    4. The Trader downloads and completes Excel template, and resubmits the populated Excel template via the case.
    5. If the submission is incorrect or incomplete, the TSS Agent notifies the Trader and supports them in completing the information correctly. The Trader updates and resubmits the template.
    6. When the information is correct and complete, the TSS Agent submits the Supplementary Declaration on behalf of the Trader.
    7. The Trader is notified that the Supplementary Declaration has been submitted and reminded to pay duties (if applicable).

    TSS Contact Centre Initiated Journey

    1. Trader calls the TSS Contact Centre to request help with their Supplementary Declaration.
    2. A TSS Agent explains the Assisted Completion Service to the Trader.
    3. The Trader confirms they want to use the service.
    4. The TSS Agent creates a case for the requested Supplementary Declaration and Excel template requesting additional data which is linked to the case.
    5. The Trader downloads and completes Excel template, and resubmits the populated Excel template via the case.
    6. If the submission is incorrect or incomplete, the TSS Agent notifies the Trader and supports them in completing the information correctly. The Trader updates and resubmits the template.
    7. When the information is correct and complete, the TSS Agent submits the Supplementary Declaration on behalf of the Trader.
    8. The Trader is notified that the Supplementary Declaration has been submitted and reminded to pay duties (if applicable).

    TSS agent raises an Assisted Completion Service case for completion of the Supplementary Declaration

    Once you have confirmed the acceptance of the terms and conditions through the TSS system, an Assisted Completion case (associated to the Supplementary Declaration) will be created, and the TSS agent will be assigned to support you with the Assisted Completion Service.

    The case created will contain the following information. Note: the case will refer to the Enhanced Supplementary Declaration Service (ESDS), which is another term for the Assisted Completion Service.

     

    Field Information
    Category Enhanced Supplementary Declaration Service
    ESDS Declaration Supplementary Declaration Number
    Channel Web
    Contact Username of the individual who clicked Submit Request
    Account Company of the individual who clicked Submit Request
    Assignment Group HGS Assisted Completion
    Assigned to None
    State of case New
    Short Description Assisted Completion Request: SUP000000000#####
    Description TSS are pleased to offer you Assisted Completion – Enhanced Supplementary Declaration Service to support the completion of your Supplementary Declaration…
    Priority 3 – Moderate (set to default)

     

    You provide the required information to complete the Supplementary Declaration via an Excel template on the case

    A TSS agent will request that you provide additional information to complete the Supplementary Declaration. They will attach an Excel template to the case that specifies the required information and format.

    You need to:

    • Complete the template with all required information relevant to the Supplementary Declaration
    • Share the information with the TSS agent by attaching the completed Excel template to the case in the TSS Portal

    See the section below on Information Requirements for full details on the information required.

    TSS agent submits Supplementary Declaration on your behalf

    Once they have received the required information, the TSS agent will:

    • Identify the required fields at the consignment (header and item level) in the TSS Portal
    • Populate information in the relevant fields as required for the respective declaration
    • If necessary, contact you to request additional information
    • Resolve any potential error codes (subject to on-time, accurate and valid information being provided by you)
    • Submit the declaration on your behalf

    Once the Supplementary Declaration has been successfully submitted by the TSS agent, you will be notified of progress through the Assisted Completion Service case in the TSS Portal.

    You will also be informed of any required duties or other charges associated with the goods movement and will need to pay these through the TSS Portal.

    Terms of use for the Assisted Completion Service

    Additional terms of use apply to the Assisted Completion Service, over and above the terms for use of the TSS Portal. You must familiarise yourself with the Terms & Conditions section of the TSS Portal.

    • Although the information you provide will be validated and submitted by TSS, the responsibility to provide on-time, full, true and accurate information/evidence for the completion of the Supplementary Declaration, still lies with you (and not TSS).
    • You are liable for the end declaration. This includes all information pulled from the respective Entry Summary Declaration and the information populated by the Assisted Completion Service.
    • Submission of the Supplementary Declaration in TSS is required by the tenth calendar day of the month following the goods movement.

    You must also have fully reviewed and accepted the Terms and Conditions for use of TSS and the Assisted Completion Service.

    When you select Submit Request, asking for support from the Assisted Completion Service to submit you Supplementary Declaration, you indicate that you understand and agree to the terms and conditions that apply to usage of this service. You also reaffirm that you agree to the terms that apply to use of TSS.

    You should ensure that you fully understand all terms and conditions relevant to this service before submitting.

    Information requirements

    The information required to enable the submission of a Supplementary Declaration through the Assisted Completion Service includes:

    • Type of customs procedure
    • If there will be any NIAID claims (if EU duty applies)
    • UKIMS authorisation
    • Supplier’s invoice number
    • Invoice total
    • Invoice currency
    • INCOTERMS
    • Goods’ origin
    • Goods’ commodity code
    • Number of packages
    • Type of packages
    • Item invoice value
    • Net weight
    • Gross weight
    • Goods description
    • Supplementary units (where applicable)

    The TSS agent will provide you with an Excel template, which you need to populate with the information listed above. All the fields in the Excel template should be populated to ensure smooth processing of the Supplementary Declaration.

    I need to know more

    There are additional guides available on NICTA to support you with goods movements between GB and NI:

    You can also contact the TSS Contact Centre for support on 0800 060 8888.

    Changes to guidance and policy

    Last updated August 2025.

    August 2025: Updated to reflect changes to guidance.

    March 2025: Updated to reflect Windsor Framework amended terminologies and Portal changes.

    November 2024: Updates to references of CFSP to SCDP.

    March 2023: Updated to reflect UCC changes.

    July 2022: Addition of change log.

    June 2022: Guide published to support launch of Assisted Completion Service on 19 June 2022.

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