As part of HMRC’s ongoing improvements there will be a period of downtime affecting of Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), from 23:59pm BST on 3 July 2021 to 5:00am BST on 4 July 2021 (5 hours)
HMRC asks hauliers to ensure that they have completed all GVMS related actions prior to arriving at the port for journeys before 23:59pm BST on 3 July 2021 as it will not be possible to make amendments or updates to Goods Movement References (GMRs) during this downtime.
There are four improvements to the GVMS Service from 4 July 2021:
- Check if an Inspection is needed (GB>NI, NI>GB and EU>GB movements)
The new service enables drivers to check the status of a goods movement (cleared or inspection required) in real-time and confirms what action, if any, needs to be taken.
The service is simple to use and is translated into multiple languages. There is no requirement to sign-up to the service or access through a Government Gateway account. All that is required to access is the Goods Movement Reference (GMR) being used to move the goods.
A link to the driver messaging service will be added to the GMR. This is so that the haulier can share the URL, at the same time they also share the GMR details and GMR barcode with the driver.
This service has been introduced to complement how held/cleared messages are passed to drivers. This does not replace any systems already in place – for example, existing messaging processes set up with haulier HQs or individual processes implemented by carriers.
You should continue to use these existing systems in conjunction with the new service to enable you to be able to check the held/cleared status of goods at any time.
When using this service, you are advised to inform the driver that they should wait until close to the time of disembarkation from the vessel before checking their held/cleared status. This should be no sooner than 10-20 minutes before disembarkation to ensure the final status is confirmed.
You may recall a prototype of this service was walked through at HMRC’s recent GVMS teach-in on 11 May 2021. A YouTube video of this teach-in can be viewed here (note: if you wish to skip straight to the walk through of the service, the prototype was discussed around 24 minutes into the presentation).
- Safety and Security (S&S) Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) Movement Reference Numbers (MRN’s) – Movements from Great Britain (GB)>Northern Ireland (NI) only
This improvement will confirm early in the GMR creation process if a correct S&S Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) reference from the Northern Ireland (NI) Import Control System (ICS) has been added to a GMR. If not, an error message will be returned.
It is important that you always enter correct ENS MRN’s from ICS into a GMR.
An ENS MRN is comprised of 18 alpha numeric characters and will be provided on acceptance of a valid ENS submission in ICS NI.
ICS NI can accessed via:
- trader Front End, you need a Government Gateway user ID and password, if you do not have a user ID, you can create one
- Community System Providers, or
- the free to use – Trader Support Service.
You may want to sign up for the Trader Support Service which:
- will help if you move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring goods into Northern Ireland from outside the UK
- is free to use and will guide you through any changes to the way goods move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- can complete declarations on your behalf.
It can help if you:
- are moving the goods yourself
- act on behalf of someone else
- send parcels between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring parcels into Northern Ireland from outside the UK.
Please note that hauliers (accompanied) and carriers (unaccompanied) have legal responsibility to ensure an S&S declaration has been submitted via ICS NI.
If agreed in terms and conditions, the trader can submit the NI ENS declaration on behalf of the haulier or carrier. This needs to be done a minimum of two hours before arrival in NI, or prior to finalising the GMR, whichever is sooner.
- Indirect Exports (movements from other EU member states to Great Britain via Northern Ireland (NI))
There may be instances where a haulier is moving exported goods from an EU member state through Northern Ireland.
Commonly this occurs when goods are moved from Republic of Ireland through Northern Ireland and then across to GB – typically through the NI ports of Belfast, Larne or Warrenpoint.
In such circumstances from 4 July 2021 hauliers must enter the MRN details from the Export Accompanying Document (EAD) issued in the EU country of export into the GMR. This is an 18-digit Alpha-Numeric number and can be found in the top right-hand corner of the EAD
GVMS will be updated from 4 July and will provide an additional field to allow you to enter EAD MRNs when entering an Export declaration into a GMR.
The current process for making an indirect export from Northern Ireland to GB, including the evidence you need to send to HMRC, is outlined here and will be updated to reflect the need for a GMR from 4 July 2021.
Please note: There will be an additional change to the guidance above in the coming months to improve the Indirect Exports process further. HMRC will send further communications to outline what this means for you closer to the time.
For further details around the export of goods from RoI to GB please refer to the guidance on the Irish Revenue site
- Declarations made orally or by conduct (movements from GB to NI only)
There is a list of goods where declarations can be made by orally or by conduct.
The full list of applicable goods are described here and require a GMR if you are moving goods from GB to NI.
Currently when making such declarations, you are advised to select the “empty” option when creating a GMR. However, from 4 July 2021 a new option allowing you to make “oral or by conduct declarations” will be available in GVMS.
If you select this option, you will be asked to confirm if you are moving under a contract of carriage and if required, you will also be able to provide a S&S ENS declaration MRN from ICS NI.