Excise movement and control system — service availability and issues
Updated 20 November 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-movement-and-control-system-emcs-service-availability-and-issues/emcs-service-availability-and-issues
Service availability
If you’re trying to create, sign in or reset your user ID or password, check for known problems with Government Gateway.
Sign in to excise movement and control system (EMCS).
Planned downtime
None.
Service issues
Validation in EMCS
We are aware that the EMCS is not currently accepting the option ‘Guarantor not required for qualifying UK to UK movements’ in Box 11a of the electronic Administrative Document (eAD). This is not being accepted where a UK warehousekeeper is dispatching excise duty suspended goods (with an excise product code other than B000, W200 or W300) to another UK warehouse.
As a temporary fix, the ‘Guarantor not required for qualifying UK to UK movements’ option should not be used at this time. You should select the ‘Consignor’ option in Box 11a of the eAD. You will have the option to enter your approval number in Box 12a. If you leave Box 12a blank, then you should complete the name and address fields in Boxes 12c to 12f.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
French EMCS update
We are aware that following an update to French EMCS, some movements consigned from France are operating under fallback procedures.
This may include movements from France to Northern Ireland consignees.
Any expected movements should be received and processed as normal until a corresponding French Administrative Reference Code (ARC) has been raised.
Historic messages
We are aware there is an issue with some traders receiving historic messages the first time they call for messages on the new EMCS service. This issue should only occur on the first attempt.
If you continue to experience this issue, contact the helpdesk.
Other issues
If you need help with anything not listed here, contact Excise Movement and Control System: general enquiries.
Other services
Check availability and issues for other services.