Apply for authorisation for the UK Internal Market Scheme if you bring goods into Northern Ireland

Guide

Last updated: 24 October 2024

The simplified processes for moving goods from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) into Northern Ireland will be introduced when the full Windsor Framework is implemented. The new procedures are called the Simplified Processes for Internal Market Movements.

The UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation gives you access to the simplified processes. This means goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland will:

  • not be subject to the same processes that apply to other goods entering Northern Ireland
  • only need to submit Internal Market Movement Information, a simplified dataset, based on commercial information removing the requirement for a full declaration.

Find out more about simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.

To join the UK Internal Market Scheme, you’ll need to apply online to get authorised. Once you’re authorised, you’ll be able to move your goods as ‘not at risk’ if they are brought into Northern Ireland for sale or final use by end consumers in the UK.

If the goods are moving into Northern Ireland from a country outside both the UK and EU, the end consumers must be located in Northern Ireland.

‘Not at risk’ goods will:

  • not be charged duty if entering Northern Ireland from free circulation in Great Britain

  • be charged UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from outside the EU and the UK

  • be charged UK duty if entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain and the goods were not in free circulation in Great Britain

‘At risk’ goods will be charged the applicable EU rate of duty and you will need to use the full customs process.

The UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation is also required to access UK tariff rate quotas for imports of sheepmeat, poultry and beef into Northern Ireland from certain countries outside the UK and EU.  

Find out what is required if you are applying for UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation when moving sheepmeat, poultry and beef using UK tariff rate quotas.

If you need more information or support when applying for authorisation, you can sign up for the Trader Support Service. The Trader Support Service will also guide you through any changes due to the implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Who can apply

To apply you must be established in the UK.

You must also meet all of the:

  • compliance requirements
  • records, systems, controls and evidence requirements

You’ll need to meet additional processing requirements if you move goods into Northern Ireland to be processed and want to declare these goods ‘not at risk’.

You can find out more about the requirements for the scheme in this guidance.

Applying if you’re established in Northern Ireland or you have a fixed place of business in Northern Ireland

If your registered office or fixed place of business is in Northern Ireland, you must meet all of the following conditions:

  • your human and technical resources must be permanently present in Northern Ireland

  • your goods are sold to, or provided for final use by, end consumers in the UK

  • your customs, commercial and transport records and information must be available or accessible in Northern Ireland

HMRC may visit you to check the records, systems and controls in place for this authorisation.

If you’re established in Northern Ireland, you must apply for the scheme using your Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI) starting XI.

If you move goods to or from Northern Ireland, find out how to get an EORI number starting XI.

Applying if you’re established in parts of the UK other than Northern Ireland

If you’re established in parts of the UK other than Northern Ireland, you must meet all of the following conditions:

  • your customs operations are carried out in the UK
  • you have an indirect customs representative in Northern Ireland, such as the Trader Support Service
  • your customs, commercial and transport records and information must be available or accessible in the UK

HMRC may visit you to check the records, systems and controls in place for this authorisation.

If you’re established in parts of the UK other than Northern Ireland, you can apply for the scheme using either a GB or XI EORI number. You should use an XI EORI number if you hold one.

Compliance requirements

You must:

  • have a good customs and tax compliance record
  • have no record of serious criminal offences related to your economic activity
  • be of good financial standing
  • show a clear understanding of your obligations under this authorisation and how to comply with them

Customs and tax compliance record

Your record is based on the 3 years prior your application. It will be based on all available information including your involvement in any previous businesses.

You must have no record of any serious or repeated infringements of taxation and customs rules.

You must provide details of:

  • the people in charge of your business or exercising control over its management, in particular the registered company directors and board members
  • any employees, including any direct representatives, in charge of your administration related to the movement of goods under this scheme, or any people acting in their own name on your behalf, in relation to the movement of goods under this scheme

HMRC will check the criminal records for any serious criminal offences related to the economic activity of:

  • your business
  • the people you provide in your application

Good financial standing

You must have sufficient financial standing to meet your obligations and fulfil your commitments under the scheme.

You must not be subject to bankruptcy proceedings.

During the 3 years before your application, you must have fulfilled your financial obligations regarding payments of customs duties and all other duties, taxes or charges which are collected on or in connection with the import or export of goods.

Where you have been established for less than 3 years, your financial standing will be checked by HMRC on the basis of records and information that are available.

Understanding your obligations under this authorisation and how to comply with them

You or the people in charge of your administration related to the movement of goods under this scheme:

  • should be able to show a clear understanding of the scheme, how to comply with it, and your obligations in relation to the criteria under this scheme
  • must display sufficient competence in providing accurate information to HMRC in relation to these obligations and applicable procedures

If you would like to find out more information, you can also register with the Trader Support Service to support you.

Records, systems, controls and evidence requirements

You need to give HMRC details of the records, systems and controls you have in place that allow you to accurately determine that goods meet the criteria to move as ‘not at risk’ under this scheme.

When you apply for authorisation, you should give details of the:

  • systems and processes to track goods from import to end-use, such as accounting and logistics systems or stock control processes
  • documented procedures and administrative systems to determine if your goods are ‘not at risk’
  • internal controls and processes that make sure your goods are correctly declared ‘not at risk’
  • types of commercial or transport records you use as evidence that goods are ‘not at risk’, for example, delivery records or inventory systems which confirm the end destination of the goods (you do not need to provide examples of actual records at the point of application)
  • specific software package you use and how you use it to keep your records (for example, the name of your accounting or logistics software or provide a detailed explanation if you have a physical filing system in place)

In your application, you should be able to show that you have systems in place that are appropriate to the size, nature and complexity of your business. For example, if you’re:

  • a large business — you could tell us about the logistical software that you have which tracks goods from import to end-use
  • a small or medium-sized business — you might instead tell us about the internal processes or procedures you have in place, which allow you to document the goods you import and provide evidence they’re ‘not at risk’, like purchase and sales records

When you’re moving goods as ‘not at risk’ under this scheme, you need to keep supporting evidence for each consignment you move into Northern Ireland and this evidence will need to be accessible to HMRC in the UK for 5 years.

The types of evidence to support a ‘not at risk’ declaration include:

  • commercial receipts and invoices
  • VAT invoices
  • commercial contracts and purchase orders
  • delivery receipts
  • consignment notes
  • proof of installation
  • electronic records
  • proof that goods comply with rules of origin (if you have claimed a preferential rate of duty, you can check what proof you should hold)

Even where you’re not responsible for the end destination of the goods, you may still be able to be authorised and move goods as ‘not at risk’ if you can make sure that goods will meet the ‘not at risk’ criteria.

Examples of evidence you could use in this case include:

  • a written and signed declaration from your customer stating that the goods will remain in Northern Ireland
  • evidence that your customer only makes retail sales for final use or end-consumption in the UK from a physical outlet in Northern Ireland
  • evidence that your customer only sells goods that will be for final use by end consumers in the UK and are delivered within the UK
  • commercial contracts and purchase orders showing that goods will be for final use in the UK
  • evidence that the goods are to be permanently installed within the UK

We will check that you can meet the records, systems, controls and evidence requirements of the scheme. To meet these requirements you will need:

  • administrative and internal controls which are suitable for the management of the movement of the goods under this scheme
  • measures in place to make sure that any goods moved under this scheme are only to be sold or used in accordance with the ‘not at risk’ rules
  • to keep evidence for 5 years which shows that each consignment of goods you move under this scheme are ‘not at risk’
  • to keep records that show where you source goods from and how they will be used and sold
  • to be able to have an ongoing understanding of the operations and activities of any other businesses that you act as a supplier to, and to make sure any goods you supply to them meet the ‘not at risk’ criteria
  • internal controls that can prevent, detect and correct errors and any illegal activities within your organisation
  • to manage your records in line with accounting principles applied in the UK
  • to either integrate your records for goods movements under this scheme into the accounting system you use, or, when records are held separately, to have processes in place allow for cross-checks between records relating to purchases, sales, stock control and movement of goods
  • procedures in place for protection against loss of information and the archiving procedures ― keeping of historical records, including the assessment, back-up and protection of records for 5 years
  • to be able to give HMRC electronic or physical access, when asked, to your records in a suitable format
  • internal instructions in place to make sure that the relevant staff are aware of how to tell HMRC about any compliance difficulties
  • appropriate procedures in place for the handling of prohibited and restricted goods in accordance with relevant legislation, if you move any prohibited and restricted goods
  • to be able to determine whether goods you bring into Northern Ireland correspond to Category 1 or Category 2 goods, under the fully implemented Windsor Framework.

Read about which goods are considered Category 1 and Category 2 in Annex IV of ‘Decision of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee on laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework’.

Additional requirements

When you apply for authorisation under the UK Internal Market Scheme, you’ll be asked if you move goods that are subject to processing, and if you meet the additional processing requirements.

If you do not meet these processing requirements, you’ll not be able to move goods which will be subject to processing in Northern Ireland as ‘not at risk’.

To be able to move goods that will be subject to processing as ‘not at risk’ goods, you’ll need to meet one of the following criteria:

  • your annual turnover is less than £2 million
  • you’re importing sheepmeat, poultry and beef using UK tariff rate quotas into Northern Ireland from countries outside the UK and EU
  • your goods are for one of the approved purposes

The approved purposes are:

  • food for sale to end consumers in the UK
  • construction — where the processed goods form a permanent part of a structure that is constructed and located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity
  • directly providing health or care services in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity
  • non-profit activities in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity, where there is no subsequent sale of the processed goods
  • the final use of animal feed on premises located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity

If you’re moving goods subject to processing in the construction, health and care services, non-profit or animal feed sectors, you may do so even if you sell on the eventual product to one subsequent entity.

For example, you could import animal feed that will be sold on to a farmer (who is the one subsequent entity), provided the farmer is the final entity in the supply chain and will use the animal feed in Northern Ireland.

Once authorised, you’ll then be able to move your goods for processing as ‘not at risk’ in line with the treatment of other goods.

These additional requirements for declaring goods ‘not at risk’ apply only to goods which will be processed in Northern Ireland.

You can check the additional requirements for goods subject to processing in declaring goods you bring into Northern Ireland ‘not at risk’ of moving to the EU.

If you’re a newly established business

If you’re a newly established business, you will need to provide records approved by the directors, partners or sole proprietor, to enable an assessment of anticipated turnover, examples include:

  • latest cashflow
  • balance sheet
  • profit and loss forecasts

What you will need

To apply for authorisation, you need:

  • your EORI number starting GB or XI

  • the details of your business, its directors, the people in charge of the business and the people responsible for the movement of goods under this scheme — include their date of birth, National Insurance number and address

  • your company number, your Unique Taxpayer Reference if you’re a sole trader or a partnership or your Charity Commission number if you’re a charity that has one

  • the date your business was incorporated or date you commenced trading

  • your document of establishment or proof of your permanent business address

  • your annual turnover for the most recent complete accounting period — where you have not yet traded for a complete accounting period, you need to provide your anticipated turnover and supporting evidence, such as latest cash flow, balance sheet, and profit and loss forecasts

  • the estimated number of ‘not at risk’ annual declarations

  • your UK Trader Scheme authorisation number if you were already authorised under this scheme

  • details of your business premises in the UK, where we can visit you to check the records, systems and controls in place for this authorisation

  • details of the intended use of the imported goods, including a description of the type of goods and if they will undergo any type of processing

  • to provide evidence or an explanation to show how you meet the records, systems, controls and evidence requirements, such as relevant internal processes and procedures documents

You’ll also need to need the following if you have one:

  • your VAT registration number

  • your Trader Support Service number

  • name and address of your customs representative

If you move goods that will be subject to processing in Northern Ireland, you’ll need to provide details of the addresses of where the goods will be processed.

If you manage prohibited and restricted goods, you’ll need to provide an explanation or evidence of the procedures you have in place for managing and handling these goods.

How to apply

You’ll need to apply online to be authorised.

You’ll need to either:

  • sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password (if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in)
  • use your email address to get a confirmation code that you can use to sign in

Apply now

You will get an email to confirm that HMRC has received the form, this email will contain a unique reference number.

You do not need to do anything further until HMRC write to you regarding your application.

After you’ve applied

You’ll get a notification once your application has been approved for authorisation.

If your application is approved, we’ll send you a letter with your UK Internal Market Scheme authorisation number. You must use this number for goods that you move on and after the date that you’re authorised.

You can move goods you bring into Northern Ireland as ‘not as risk’ if they’re for sale to or final use by end consumers located in the UK.

You must tell us if:

  • you have any difficulties in complying with the scheme
  • there are any changes to the information you provide in your application

You must keep supporting evidence for 5 years which need to be accessible at an address that we can visit in the UK.

If we visit you to check the records you told us about in your application, you must be able to provide us access to your:

  • records
  • systems
  • controls

You can use the Trader Support Service to help you make these declarations.

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