Moving qualifying goods from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK

Last updated 20 February 2024

The arrangements for moving food and animal feed goods from Ireland and Northern Ireland to Great Britain have changed.

For further details on the new food and animal feed definition of qualifying goods for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) purposes read moving food and animal feed from Northern Ireland to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

Which goods are qualifying Northern Ireland goods

Your goods will be qualifying Northern Ireland goods if they are in free circulation in Northern Ireland - that means not under a customs procedure or in an authorised temporary storage facility.

Your goods will be qualifying Northern Ireland goods if they are in free circulation in Northern Ireland before you move them from Northern Ireland to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

For food and animal feed goods to be exempted from sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks and controls, they will need to be dispatched from a registered Northern Ireland food or feed establishment. For more detailed guidance on the movement of qualifying food and animal feed, read moving food and animal feed from Northern Ireland to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

Goods processed in Northern Ireland

If your goods were processed in Northern Ireland, they’ll still qualify if all the components were in free circulation in the UK.

Goods that started their journey in the EU

For goods that started their journey in the EU and come to Great Britain through Northern Ireland, you should make sure you comply with customs export requirements in your home member state.

If your goods are valued below €3,000 you may choose whether to declare these for export in your home member state or to HMRC.

Find out what to do when goods which were declared for export in an EU country leave Northern Ireland, for either Great Britain or another non-EU country.

You cannot move goods through Northern Ireland to avoid the UK tariff or import processes. You may receive penalties, and your goods may be seized and destroyed if you move goods through Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose.

If you move qualifying Northern Ireland goods

Directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

For almost all traders, when your goods leave Northern Ireland for Great Britain, there will be:

• no export declaration
• no exit summary declaration
• no import declaration on arrival in Great Britain
• no customs duties to pay
• no VAT to pay at point of arrival
• no changes to how your goods arrive at ports in Great Britain

Moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods through Ireland

You do not need an import declaration on arrival in Great Britain if you move qualifying Northern Ireland goods from Northern Ireland through Ireland to reach Great Britain, unless you’re moving: 

• excise goods 
• endangered species 
• goods related to weapons of mass destruction (for example, fissionable material) 

You can read more about this in notices made under the Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.  

You should let your haulier or carrier know if you are moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods through Ireland to reach Great Britain.  

What evidence you will need

You or the person moving the goods may also be asked to produce on demand: 

• a travel document, issued in the UK, setting out the destination of the goods (to show that the goods are only passing through Ireland) 
• evidence that the goods are qualifying goods (this can be commercial, transportation or official documents)  

Commercial, transportation or official documents include:

• customer orders 
• contracts  
• correspondence  
• copy invoices  
• advice notes  
• consignment notes  
• packing lists  
• insurance and freight charges  
• evidence of payment  
• credit transfer documents  
• business records  

When moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods through roll on roll off (RoRo) ports, you or the person moving the goods on your behalf will need to create a goods movement reference showing the movement of these goods.

When you create your goods movement reference, select the ‘oral or by conduct declaration or no declaration required’ option in the Goods Vehicle Movement Service.

At inventory linked ports or other locations not using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (for example, maritime or air freight movement), you or the person moving the goods will need to show that the movement is of qualifying Northern Ireland goods when creating a booking with the carrier. This will allow qualifying Northern Ireland goods to be released from inventories or local systems without needing electronic declarations.  

You will need to comply with some Irish customs requirements to exit through a port in Ireland and should check Irish customs guidance. 

If you import goods directly from Ireland into Great Britain you’ll need to follow the normal process for importing goods into the UK. 

Goods where an import declaration is required in Great Britain  

When moving Irish goods and other goods which need an import declaration from Ireland to Great Britain, you will need to make declarations in the Customs Declarations Service, or work with a customs intermediary to do this on your behalf. 

Traders, hauliers and carriers will need to follow Goods Vehicle Movement Service processes at roll on roll off (RoRo) ports. 

You will not need to pay UK customs duties and you will not be charged if:  

• your goods are qualifying Northern Ireland Goods  
• no revenue is due to be paid, secured or manually calculated  

In these instances, Data Element 4/3 can be left blank on your import declaration and you should enter code 1RV in Data Element 1/11. The VAT should be charged and accounted for by the seller.

Using transit to move goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

You do not need to use Common or EU transit to move goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain indirectly through Ireland. If you choose to use transit then you should use the normal process for moving your goods to common or EU transit countries.

You will need to submit an export declaration in Northern Ireland if your goods are going to an office of destination in Great Britain, but if the goods are qualifying goods then you will not need to pay customs duties or make an import declaration after the transit movement ends in Great Britain.

When to submit an export declaration

There are some limited exceptions, when you need to submit an export declaration for a movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. These are if your goods are:

• under a customs special procedure in Northern Ireland
• in an authorised temporary storage facility
• on a list of goods for which specific processes apply, based on specific international obligations binding on the UK and EU, that apply when you move goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

For goods that started their journey in the EU and come to Great Britain through Northern Ireland, you:

• should make sure you comply with customs export requirements in your home member state
• may choose whether to declare your goods for export in your home member state if they are valued below 3,000 euros

Goods for which specific conditions apply by virtue of UK or EU international obligations when moved from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

Specific conditions apply to the following goods:

• endangered species
• fluorinated gas (F gas) and ozone depleting substances
• hazardous chemicals
• persistent organic pollutants
• drug precursor chemicals
• mercury and mercury added products
• rough diamonds
• genetically modified organisms
• firearms
• atlantic tuna
• dissostichus spp (toothfish)
• torture goods

In addition to the requirement for export declarations, further requirements may apply for these goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. Find out more about moving goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.

Moving excise goods directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

If you move excise goods directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain there’ll be no changes and no new customs procedures.

You do not need to submit an:

• export declaration in Northern Ireland, subject to some limited exceptions
• import declaration in Great Britain

Moving excise goods from the EU to Great Britain through Northern Ireland

If you move excise goods from the EU to Great Britain through Northern Ireland you’ll need to submit an import declaration to either:

• account for UK excise duty
• declare the goods into excise duty suspension

You do not need to:

• pay customs duties if your excise goods are qualifying goods and you’ve not moved them through Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose
• submit an import declaration if you are a passenger carrying qualifying excise goods for your personal use in your accompanied luggage

Placing qualifying Northern Ireland goods on the market in the rest of the UK

You will not need any new regulatory approvals to place your qualifying goods on the market in Great Britain.

There is further guidance that applies depending on what type of goods you are placing on the market in Great Britain. Find out more about moving goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland.