CDS Issues - HMRC Statement

13 Mar 2023

We are writing to update you on the progress we have made resolving the issue that has been affecting some import declarations made through the Customs Declaration Service.

We have continued processing the stuck declarations using the additional information we received from colleagues at the Department for Business and Trade over the weekend. While the vast majority of these have now been released, we are still working through some final files and therefore have decided to leave the Business Continuity Plans that we have previously outlined in place until further notice. For clarity, this means:

• At GVMS locations, hauliers can provide a 'declaration by conduct' GMR type for goods affected by the issue. These can be validated by carriers as normal.

• At maritime Temporary Storage locations, carriers and shipping agents are authorised to use contingency manifest codes (e.g. 'C' or 'T2' status, depending on the inventory system used) for these goods if possible.
• At air freight Temporary Storage locations, as an exceptional mitigation on this occasion, agents and operators are permitted to release non-controlled goods on the location’s inventory system if possible (CCS-UK have issued further guidance to their users on this option). Traders should contact their Community System Provider (CSP) for more information.
• Traders should use the options above wherever possible. If they are unable to use these options, they are advised to contact the CDS helpdesk and provide their unique consignment number (UCN) and MRN if this is available. HMRC and Border Force are manually releasing non-controlled goods from the frontier. A C130 form will not be required where goods are stuck at an inventory linked Temporary Storage location.

If you have already contacted the National Clearance Hub or CDS Helpdesk, please do not call or email again to check on the status of your request – this will impact the team’s ability to work through as many manual clearance cases as they can.

We will update you again when a decision is made to lift these Business Continuity Plans.

We appreciate this has caused frustration and disruption, and we apologise for the inconvenience.