Windsor Framework: Businesses urged to prepare for new rules for movement of parcels between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

New arrangements for the movement of parcels and freight between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland come into force on 31 March.

The changes are part of the Windsor Framework, a deal reached between the UK government and the European Union to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol which led to issues with goods moving through Northern Ireland following Brexit.

Under the changes, businesses sending parcels from Great Britain (GB) to businesses in Northern Ireland will need to submit a customs declaration via the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).

The process will be dealt will as part of the service offered by parcel carriers, but businesses will be required to provide extra information and may need to pay duty.

UK Internal Market Scheme

To reduce the burden on businesses, the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) has been introduced which allows GB businesses to ship B2B parcels to Northern Ireland without having to submit a full international customs declaration and incur duty.

The goods must be for sale to, or final use by, end consumers located in the United Kingdom. The scheme is for goods eligible to be declared as 'not at risk'. 'At risk' goods will be charged the applicable EU rate of duty.

Details on how to apply for UKIMS are here.

When approved for UKIMS, a trader goods profile will be automatically created. This holds records about the goods you are moving and can be used to auto-populate the UKIMS information you are required to provide.

For goods sent from GB to consumers in Northern Ireland for personal use, there are no individual customs declarations. No duty will be payable and you will not have to present goods to customs authorities.

If you send goods to consumers your carrier will collect standard consumer data such as the recipient's details and a description of the goods. You should check with your parcel carrier to understand their processes.