Guidance

Get ready for safety and security declaration requirements for importing goods from the EU

Published 14 October 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-new-safety-and-security-declaration-requirements/get-ready-for-safety-and-security-declaration-requirements-for-importing-goods-from-the-eu

From 31 January 2025, any goods imported from the EU to Great Britain must be covered by a safety and security declaration (also known as Entry Summary Declarations or ENS).

Making things easier

From 31 January 2025, the amount of safety and security data required on an Entry Summary Declaration will be reduced.

There will be 20 mandatory fields which must be completed for all declarations.

There will also be 8 conditional fields which only need to be completed in certain circumstances.

The remaining 9 fields will be optional to complete or leave blank.

If you already submit safety and security declarations for imports from countries outside the EU (or already voluntarily submit them for EU imports), you don’t need to change your existing systems or procedures if you don’t want to.

However, you can benefit from the reduced dataset by only completing the mandatory and any relevant conditional fields from 31 January 2025.

Find more information about safety and security requirements on imports and exports.

What you can do now

  • businesses that are ready to start submitting safety and security declarations before 31 January are encouraged to do so
  • speak to your supply chains now to agree who is responsible for completing declarations for EU to Great Britain imports from 31 January 2025, and the most suitable method for doing so. If you need more advice, you may want to speak to your trade representative

What you need to know

  • businesses that export from Great Britain to the EU or import from countries outside the EU are already required to submit safety and security declarations
  • carriers or hauliers are legally responsible for submitting safety and security declarations - a party other than the carrier, such as the importer or an intermediary, can lodge the declaration on the carrier’s behalf, although the carrier is still responsible for making sure the declaration is submitted
  • if you already submit declarations for Rest of World imports you won’t need to make any changes and should continue to submit declarations as you do currently - but you may be able to benefit from some of the changes from 31 January 2025

Submitting safety and security declarations

Safety and security declarations are submitted into an IT platform called S&SGB.

There are different options for submitting declarations, such as purchasing specialist software or using customs agents/intermediaries.

Find more information about making an entry summary declaration.

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