Guidance

General Notes on Reading Data Element Completion Rules

Updated 9 October 2024

The CDS BIRDS Declarations and Customs Clearance Request completion instructions relate to Customs Declaration Service (CDS), Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS) and Customs Clearance Requests ((CCRs) inventory releases previously referred to as C21s) for import purposes only.

It does not cover completion instructions for:

• written import customs declarations
• written export customs declarations
• CCR for export purposes
• Final Supplementary Declarations (FSD)

For Data Element completion guidance for written import and export customs declarations and export CCRs and (FSDs), please refer to the appropriate Declaration Completion Instructions.

Data Element overview table

The table shown, at the start of each data item, identifies in column:

1. Whether the BIRDS or CCR requires the completion of the Data Element (Declaration Categories)
2. The number and type of characters allowed in the field (Field format)
3. The number of times the Data Element may be used at header level (Number of occurrences at header level)
4. The number of times the Data Element may be used at item level (Number of occurrences at item level)

For example:

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
BIRDS, C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	a2	1x	99x

Declaration Categories:

The Data Element completion rules provided in this document indicate for which Declaration Categories of the Data Element is required, for example, DE 1/1 needs to be completed for category: C21 Imports (C21i).

The table below explains which Declaration Categories there are for Inventory Imports:

Declaration Categories	Description
BIRDS	Bulked Import Reduced Data Set
C21i	(Air) Port Customs Clearance Request (CCR) – Imports
C21i EIDR NOP	(Air) Port Customs Clearance Request (CCR) – Imports released using Entry in Declarants Records (EIDR) where the import C21 is also used to provide the Notification of Presentation (NOP). The C21i EIDR NOP data set should only be used for inventory releases where a Procedure Code from the CDS Declaration Instructions for Imports Appendix 1, is used. It must not be used for inventory releases using a Procedure Code from this collection (Procedure Codes commencing with 00).

Appendix 23: Declaration Category Data Sets (C21i and C21i EIDR NOP) and Appendix 25: Declaration Category Data Sets provides a detailed breakdown of the specific Data Element that is needed for each Declaration Category.

The tables in Appendix 23 and Appendix 25 also provide a cross reference from the new element Data Element number to the previous SADH box reference number for correlation purposes.

The data set tables in Appendix 23 and Appendix 25 also state whether the Data Element is mandatory in all cases, optional for the declarant or dependant on the circumstances being declared.

Field Format

The column showing field format in the table at the start of each Data Element indicates the requirements for the data type and the data length. The codes for the data types are as follows:

• a: alphabetic
• n: numeric
• an: alphanumeric

The number following the code indicates the admissible data length.

The following further rules apply:

• If there are no dots between the character type indicator and the length of the field indicator, then the Data Element has a fixed length and the full number of characters must be completed. For example: a2 indicates that 2 alpha characters must be used.
• Where there are two dots before the length indicator mean that the data has no fixed length, but it can have up to a maximum number of digits, as specified by the length indicator. For example: an..4 indicates that a up to maximum of 4 alpha numeric characters may be used.
• A comma in the field length means that the Data Element can include decimals, the digit before the comma indicates the maximum length of the Data Element. The digit after the comma indicates the maximum number of digits that may be used after the decimal point.

For example, n..16,2 means:

• The maximum field length is 16 digits.
• A maximum of two decimal places may be used.
• If both decimal places are used, a maximum of 14 digits may be declared prior to the decimal place.
• If only 1 decimal place is used, a maximum of 15 digits may be declared prior to the decimal place.
• If no decimal places are used, the full 16 digits may be used to indicate the whole number.
• You cannot declare 16 digits plus 2 decimal places.

Examples of field lengths and formats:

• a1: 1 alphabetic character, fixed length
• n2: 2 numeric characters, fixed length
• an3: 3 alphanumeric characters, fixed length
• a..4: up to 4 alphabetic characters
• n..5: up to 5 numeric characters
• an..6: up to 6 alphanumeric characters
• n..7,2: up to 7 numeric characters in total including maximum 2 decimal places

Please Note:

Where the field specifies:

• Alpha characters only, it must be completed in upper case. For example, “Field Length a2” to be completed in capitals i.e. GB.
• Alphanumeric fixed length code, it must be completed in upper case. For example, “Field Length an5” to be completed in capitals e.g., GEN45.
• Alphanumeric free text fields, these may be completed in upper or lower case.

Data Groups:

Within CDS the Data Elements are grouped into sections:

Group	Description
1	Message Information (including Procedure Codes)
2	References of Messages, Document, Certificates and Authorisations
3	Parties
4	Valuation Information and Taxes
5	Dates, Times, Periods, Places, Countries and Regions
6	Goods Identification
7	Transport Information (Modes, Means and Equipment)
8	Other Data Elements (Statistical Data, Guarantees and Tariff Related Data)

Each Data Element will begin with the number of the Data Group it belongs to, for example, Exporter Name and Address, which is included under ‘Data Group 3: Parties’ therefore begins with number 3. Its Data Element number is 3/1.