New Regulations Around Importing Goods from the EU to Great Britain - HMRC's Guidance for Safety and Security Declarations

• Carriers, hauliers, and businesses importing goods from the EU to Great Britain.
• If you already submit declarations for non-EU imports, your process remains unchanged, but you can use simplified data requirements from 2025.

The new safety and security declaration requirements will introduce a simplified data submission process. Importers will need to complete:

• 20 mandatory fields, which apply to all declarations regardless of the circumstances
• 8 conditional fields that only need to be filled out when specific criteria are met, reducing unnecessary data entry.
• 9 optional fields can be completed at the discretion of the importer but are not required.

These changes aim to streamline the process while ensuring border security.

• Act Now: Discuss responsibilities with your supply chain to decide who will handle the declarations.
• System Requirements: You may need to register for HMRC’s Safety and Security Great Britain system and use compatible software or services.

The deadlines for submitting safety and security declarations for imports into Great Britain vary by mode of transport and journey duration. We have detailed key timeframes below - you can visit the HMRC guidance link below to get more information on what is relevant for your business.

Road Transport (Roll-on/Roll-off - RoRo):

• Accompanied Freight: Submit at least 2 hours before the ferry's arrival.
• Unaccompanied Freight: Submit at least 2 hours before the ferry's arrival.

Sea Transport:

• Maritime Containerised Cargo: Submit at least 24 hours before loading at the port of departure.
• Maritime Bulk or Break-Bulk Cargo: Submit at least 4 hours before arrival.
• Short Sea Journeys (e.g., from Ireland, Norway, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Baltic Sea, North Sea, English Channel, or Atlantic coast of Europe up to Algeciras): Submit at least 2 hours before arrival.

Air Transport:

• Short-Haul Flights (less than 4 hours): Submit by the time of actual take-off.
• Long-Haul Flights: Submit at least 4 hours before arrival.

Rail Transport:

• Short Rail Journeys (less than 2 hours): Submit at least 1 hour before the train's arrival.
• Long Rail Journeys (more than 2 hours): Submit at least 2 hours before the train's arrival.

Eurotunnel (Channel Tunnel – Le Shuttle Freight):

• Road Traffic: Submit at least 1 hour before arrival at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, France.

Full guidance on this, as well as information on what is relevant to your business, is available on the link below.