Customs Single Window for the Republic of Ireland - next phase 11 Jan 2023

6 Jan 2023

The Customs SW / Certex system has been in operation in Ireland since 2015, and has been designed to provide a more efficient release of certain goods at the European Border. The latest phase of SW was implemented in October 2022 which introduced stricter applications of business rules on import declarations.

The next phase will be implemented on 11 Jan 2023. This won’t directly impact exporters in Great Britain, but if you import plants or plant products from the Republic of Ireland, find out what your business needs to do to prepare for the next phase of SW.

Who is affected by the next phase?

Those businesses who import goods that require any of the following certificates:

• Common Health Entry Document (CHED)
• Certificate of Inspection for Organic Conformity (COI).

What will change under the SW and when?

The next phase on the 11 January 2023 will introduce electronic validation for all CHED and COI certificates declared on an import declaration. If a declarant attempts to submit a customs declaration with an invalid certificate number from this date for any CHED or COI, the declaration will be rejected.

A further phase is scheduled to go live in February 2023. This will involve matching of the following data declared on the customs import declaration, and the related CHED/COI:

• Certificate reference number
• CN code (up to the first 8 digits)
• Net mass or supplementary units.