Guidance

Group 2: References of Messages, Document, Certificates and Authorisations

Updated 9 October 2024

DE 2/1 Simplified Declaration/ Previous Documents (Box 40: Declaration/ Previous Document)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS), C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	Document category: a1 + Previous document type: an..3 + Previous document reference: an..35 + Goods item identifier: n..3	9999x	99x

This Data Element (DE) is mandatory.

For import inventory linked BIRDS declarations and Customs Clearance Requests (CCRs):

The Inventory Reference Number (UCN) must be declared in DE 2/1 using the Document Category ‘Z’, followed by Previous Document Type code ‘MCR’ at header level.

All Declaration Categories:

This Data Element must always be completed to identify a previous declaration or previous document(s).

The completion of a DUCR is only mandatory at imports for CCRs where the goods are to be declared using Entry in Declarants Records (EIDR) or they are subject to an electronic licence control.

The DUCR must be declared in DE 2/1 using the Previous Document Type codes ‘DCR’. A previous declaration, or document, is identified by category, type, reference and the goods item number of the previous document. The goods item number element in DE 2/1 may be omitted where the previous document comprised a single goods item.

The Procedure Code completion notes in Appendix 1 give guidance on the codes expected to be used in specific circumstances for the procedure concerned. They are not a definitive guide however and should be read in conjunction with the full list provided in Appendix 3: DE 2/1: Previous Document Codes.

Each previous document entered in DE 2/1, is declared as an alpha numeric code (an..42), made up of four components:

First component: Document Category (a1)

The first component (a1) consists of a letter and is used to distinguish between the three categories mentioned below:

• the declaration for temporary storage represented by ‘X’
• the previous document, represented by ‘Z’.

Second component: Previous document type (an..3)

The second component (an..3), consists of a combination of digits and/ or letters, serves to identify the type of document:

• Choose the appropriate code from the list in Appendix 3: DE 2/1: Previous Document Codes.

For example, code: MRN (to represent the transit declaration ref no.).

Third component: Previous document reference (an..35)

The third component (an..35) represents the data needed to recognise the document.

Enter:

• The identification number or another recognisable reference of the document

For example, the MRN of the transit declaration.

Fourth component: Goods item identifier (n..3)

The fourth component (n..3) is used to identify which item of the previous document is being referred to:

• The goods item number on the summary declaration, temporary storage declaration, transit declaration or other previous document.
• This should be separated from the document reference number by ‘-‘.

For example: 2 (to identify that this reference refers to the second item on the previous document).

Where the previous document referred to contained only a single goods item, this component may be left blank.

Please note that the item number to be declared in this component is the item number from the previous document. It is not the item number from the current declaration.

Notes:

On paper BIRDS declarations or CCRs the details are separated with a dash in the format (category-type-reference-goods item no. (for example, Z-380-12345-1)).

Electronic Licences:

Where an electronic licence is associated with a Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR), the DUCR must be declared in DE 2/1. To ensure successful matching, the DUCR entered to CDS should be the same as the one entered on the electronic licence.

Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR) Completion Rules for Entry in Declarants Records (EIDR) goods being released on a CCR:

A DUCR and the optional part must be unique and should comply with the rules and format as detailed in the ‘Recommended Format of the DUCR’ section below.

The declaration of a DUCR is mandatory for EIDR Notice of Presentation (NOP) clearance requests. The same DUCR must be supplied on all linked declarations, for example, EIDR NOP with any supplementary declaration. The DUCR must contain the (EORI) number of the EIDR authorised trader. The EORI number must start with a ‘GB’ or ‘XI’ prefix.

It is important that EIDR traders enter their own declaration UCR numbers (DUCRs) into DE 2/1 Simplified Declaration/ Previous Document (third component using previous document type code ‘DCR’) as these are used to provide the audit trail between the EIDR NOP, any linked supplementary declarations and any commercial documents.

The DUCR is the main reference to the CDS declaration for simplified procedures purposes and can incorporate commercial references so that there is a single reference for accessing all related information in trade and customs computer systems. The DUCR must contain the EORI number of the EIDR authorised trader.

Recommended Format, where required, of DUCR for all CCRs:

The recommended format of the DUCR reference number in the UK is the WCO format, which is created from the following components:

• ‘Year’ - is the year in which the DUCR was allocated. For example, ‘3’ if allocated in 2023, ‘2’ if allocated in 2022 and ‘1’ if allocated in 2021. Therefore, for the year 2023, ensure the year component of the DUCR entered onto the electronic licence contains the single ‘3’ digit and not ‘23’. In 2022, enter the year as a single ‘2’ digit and not ‘22’.
• ‘Country’ - is the country where the DUCR was allocated. The country code must be ‘GB’ prefixed if the goods are being imported into Great Britain. Enter ‘XI’ if the goods are being imported into Northern Ireland unless a specified exception applies.
• ‘EORI’ - is the identity of the trader as known to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In the UK this is the 12-character EORI number. This must be the EORI number of the simplified procedures authorised trader.
• ’-‘ - is a dash.
• ‘Reference’ - is a unique series of characters that the trader, whose GB or XI EORI number is included in the DUCR, devises and which provides an audit trail within traders’ commercial records. This component of the DUCR is restricted to numbers, upper case letters and certain special characters.

An example DUCR for an import into GB is as follows: ‘3GB000000000000-12345’

This example DUCR would have been issued in 2023, in the UK, for an EORI number ‘000000000000’, and with a trader reference number of ‘12345’.

An example DUCR for an import into NI is as follows: ‘3XI000000000000-12345’.

This example DUCR would have been issued in 2023, in NI, for an EORI number ‘000000000000’, and with a trader reference number of ‘12345’.

DE 2/2 Additional Information (Box 44)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
BIRDS, C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	Coded version (Union codes): 1 + an4 OR (National codes): a1 + an4 OR Union/ National code followed by a free text information: an..512 (Imports)	1x	99x

The Data Element must be completed when an Additional Information (AI) statement is required.

All Declaration Categories:

Only Additional Information (AI) Code RRS01 (GVMS releases) may be declared at header level on the customs declaration. All other AI codes must be declared at item level.

Where goods are being declared at a GVMS location (see Appendix 16S), a Goods Not Arrived (pre-lodged) Additional Declaration Type must be declared in DE 1/2. Where the declaration has been pre-lodged because the goods are being released from a GVMS location, Additional Information Code ‘RRS01’ must also be declared in DE 2/2 and a GVMS location code from Appendix 16S declared in DE 5/23.

Enter any Union and/ or National codes which apply followed by any free text information for the Additional Information (AI) code as required. See Appendix 4: DE 2/2: Additional Information Statement Codes for details of the codes which may be used, including any additional free text information which may be required by the specific AI codes.

Up to 99 AI codes can be declared at item level in DE 2/2.

Where a single goods item comprises of both Union and National AI codes declared in DE 2/2, any Union Codes (beginning with a number) must be declared first.

The Procedure Code and Additional Procedure Code completion notes in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 give guidance on the AI codes expected to be used in specific circumstances for the procedure concerned. They are not a definitive guide however and should be read in conjunction with the full list provided in Appendix 4: DE 2/2: Additional Information Statement Codes.

Where the AI code completion rules in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 specify different rules to the main AI code guidance in Appendix 4: DE 2/2: Additional Information (AI) Statement Codes, the rules specified in Appendices 1 and 2 take precedence.

DE 2/3 Documents produced, certificates and authorisations, additional references and DE 8/7 Writing off (Box 44)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
BIRDS, C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	Document type (Union codes) a1 + an3 + OR (national codes): n1 + an3 + Document identifier and part: an..35 + (document identifier: an..30, part: an..5) Document Status: a2 + Reason: an..35 + Issuing authority name: an..70 + Date of validity: n8 (yyyymmdd) + Measurement unit and qualifier, if applicable: an..4 + Quantity: n..16,6	NA	99x

Declaration Category BIRDS:

This Data Element is mandatory on a BIRDS declaration.

All Declaration Categories:

Enter any Union and/ or National document codes which apply followed by any additional details required for the specific goods item.

This data element must be completed when an authorisation or document is required to release the goods from the border.

For example:

• an authorisation is required to release the goods using EIDR, or
• the goods are being released using an ATA carnet and the carnet requires endorsement.

DE 2/3 and 8/7 requirements are combined for the purposes of completing the declaration. The details for writing off are to be declared alongside the document code details.

Writing off details are only required for C21i CCR where a licence needs endorsement and the licence refers to a specific quantity.

The UK Global Tariff (UK GT) or Northern Ireland (NI) Online Tariff will identify any specific measures and document codes which may be required by goods declared in DE 6/8.

Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes contains details of all documents and other reference codes which may be declared in this data element, a description of their usage and provides guidance on the details to be declared against each code.

The Procedure Code and Additional Procedure Code completion notes in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 give guidance on the document codes expected to be used in specific circumstances for the procedure concerned. They are not a definitive guide however and should be read in conjunction with the full list provided in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

Where the document code completion rules in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 specify different rules to the main document code guidance in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes, the rules specified in Appendices 1 and 2 take precedence.

Where a 0 requires both Union and National document codes to be declared in DE 2/3, any Union Codes (beginning with a letter) must be declared first.

Each document type code has eight components: not all components are mandatory for all document codes.

First Component: Document Type Code (an4) mandatory for all document codes declared

The first component is a 4 figure Document Type Code. See Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes for a list of document codes which should be declared in specific circumstances. The Document Code appendix should be read in conjunction with Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 for information on which Document Codes should be declared in order to declare specific commodities or use specific customs procedures.

Second Component: Document Identifier and Part (an..35), see additional notes on the second components format for licences in the section below

The second component comprises of two sub-components.

Sub-component 1: Document Identifier (an..30) mandatory for all document codes declared

This sub-component is the document identifier. This is the reference number, as specified against the document type code in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes. This must identify the unique document, authorisation, licence or certificate being declared.

Sub-component 2: Multi Line Document (Document Part) (an..5) conditional, see the specific document code completion notes for details

Enter the line item (part) as required for the particular document.

For example, some licences cover many products with each defined as a line. The document part sub-component is used to identify the line number when required.

If omitted it defaults to 1 and the attribution applies to the first (or only) line of the licence.

The line item number of the document is to be appended to the document identifier (completed in the first sub-component) separated by a dash (-).

For example: X0021234/16-3

Third Component: Document Status Code (a2) conditional, see the specific document code completion notes for details

The third component is a Document Status Code (a2). A full list of the document status codes may be found in Appendix 5B: DE 2/3: Document Status Codes.

The document status code should be declared, as specified, by each document code.

The specific document status codes which may be used with each document code is specified in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

Certain document type codes (for example, authorisation numbers) will not usually require a status code to be declared and where applicable this is specified against the document code in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

A ‘Document identifier’ and ‘Reason’ must still be input when a waiver status code is used. When declaring a waiver this can be entered as, for example, ‘Exempt’ in each field.

Fourth component: Reason (an..35) conditional, see the specific document code completion notes for details

Enter a free text description of the Reason where required by the Document Status Code. A reason must be supplied for some status values. For example: Status code UP, reason entered “eaten by dog, replacement in post”.

Fifth Component: Issuing Authority (an..70) conditional, see the specific document code completion notes for details

Enter a free text description of the Issuing Authority. This should be specific enough to identify the governing body responsible for issuing the licence or certificate.

Sixth Component: Date of Validity, if required (n8) conditional

The date of validity, if required, must be entered in the following date format: yyyymmdd.

Licences and non-preference certificates:

The date to be declared is the expiry date for the licence or certificate. Where the Document Code for the licence or certificate is listed in Appendix 5C: DE 2/3: Document and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types, a date of validity must always be declared.

Electronic Licences:

Where an electronic licence is associated with a DUCR (for example DEFRA licences such as CHEDs), the DUCR must be declared in DE 2/1 at header level. To ensure successful matching, the DUCR entered to CDS should be the same as the one entered on the electronic licence.

For details of which licence types require a DUCR to be provided, please refer to Appendix 5C: DE 2/3: Document and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types.

Seventh component: Measurement unit and qualifier, if applicable: an..4 + conditional, see the specific document code completion notes for details

This is only required where a specific quantity and measurement type has to be decremented against a specific document. For example, a licence has been issued for a total quantity of liquids in litres.

Where the specific document requires a measurement unit and/ or qualifier to be declared, enter the appropriate code for the commodity’s/ document’s measurement unit type using the list provided in Appendix 20: DE 8/7 and 4/4: Measurement Unit Codes.

For example, if the document requires a quantity in litres, enter the measurement unit code of LTR. The quantity of litres being declared should be entered against the eighth component: quantity.

If no quantity or measurement unit/ qualifier is required, this data element should be omitted.

Eighth component: Quantity (n..16,6)

Enter the quantity being attributed to the specific document identifier (second component). Any decimal places declared (up to a maximum of 6 places) must be deducted from the total number of characters available for this component. For example, if 3 decimal places are used, then only 13 whole numbers may be used in front of the decimal place.

For example, if the document requires a quantity in litres, the measurement unit code of LTR will have been entered in the seventh component (measurement unit), followed by the quantity of litres being declared as a value here, in the eighth component, for example, 12.05.

Write-off amounts

When declaring a waiver status code (XX or XW as appropriate) for the following document codes:

• 9005;
• 9100;
• 9101;
• 9102

a write-off amount must be included in the seventh and eighth components of DE 2/3 with an amount of ‘0’ after a recognised measurement unit (for example, ‘KGM0’).

Open licence types

Please note that when declaring an open licence, a write off amount must be included in the seventh and eighth components of DE 2/3 for open licences. The amount entered should be shown as ‘0’ after a recognised measurement unit (for example, ‘KGM0’).

Authorisation for customs procedures

If 2 or more procedures apply (for example OP and IP) the details for each should be entered as separate document references.

Authorisations are declared as a document reference in DE 2/3, using a document code from the list in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes. The authorisation should be declared in the format outlined in the example below.

Enter the authorisation document reference held to use a customs procedure. This code consists of:

• Document Code an4
• Country Code a2;
• Decision type an..4;
• Unique identifier for the decision an..29

For example, for an authorisation for Entry in Declarant’s Records (EIDR):

Document code	Document identifier: country code	Document identifier: authorisation type code	Document identifier: authorisation number
C514	GB or XI	EIR	The EIDR authorisation number

The corresponding GB or XI EORI number of the Holder of the Authorisation should be declared against the appropriate authorisation type code in DE 3/39. The Authorisation Type codes may be found in Appendix 6: DE 3/39: Authorisation Type Codes.

Authorisation document codes (DE 2/3) and the GB or XI EORI number of the Holder of the Authorisations (DE 3/39) are only required where a full authorisation is held.

The Procedure Code and Additional Procedure Code completion notes in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 give guidance on the minimum authorisation document codes required to be used in specific circumstances for the procedure concerned. They are not a definitive guide however and should be read in conjunction with the full list provided in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

For imports into Northern Ireland (NI):

With the exemption of:  

• Diverting goods to free circulation and/or home use that were previously entered to a freezone prior to the introduction of XI EORIs
• Certain transit and special procedures authorisations where a specific legal exemption under Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act (TCTA) 2018 or Regulation (EU) No. 952/2013 (Article 170) and/or Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2446 (Articles 5 and 6) applies
• Excise authorisations and approvals

Any other authorisations and approvals declared must be NI specific and have an ‘XI’ country code prefix.

Documents, Licences and Certificates:

These document codes are only required where a document, licence or admissibility certificate has to be endorsed using the C21i.

A list of the applicable licence types and the document code to be used for each type may be found in Appendix 5C: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types.

The completion rules for the specific licence or certificate which may be used for imports can be found in Appendix 5A: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

For imports into Northern Ireland (NI):

The document reference for the licence must be the one issued by the relevant issuing government department. If the document reference contains prefix ‘GB’, then the reference number declared in DE 2/3 must contain prefix GB. In all other instances, the prefix must be ‘XI’.

Status codes for Documents, Licences and Certificates:

A status code must always be declared for these types of documents. Enter the appropriate status code for the type of licence from the list of the document status codes which may be found in Appendix 5B: DE 2/3: Document Status Codes.

The status must be permitted for the licence type and the commodity. The details of the specific status codes which may be used for each licence type will be specified against the relevant document code in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

	Electronic	Paper (held by Trader): attached	Paper (held by Trader): not attached	Held by issuing authority
Part attribution, for instance, licence still valid and will be used in future.	EP	AP	UP	IP
Surrendered, for instance, licence still valid but will not be used in future.	ES	AS	US	IS
Exhausted, for instance, nil balance.	EE*	AE	UE	IE
Already attributed on simplified declaration.	EA	JA	UA	IA
‘Late’ declaration after licence removed from CDS.	EL	—	—	—
Below de minimis.	XB	XB	XB	XB
Waiver claimed.**	XW	XW	XW	XW
Goods covered by the commodity code do not require a licence (ex-heading).	XX	XX	XX	XX

*Status Code EE should only be used where the specific goods item exhausts the licence quantity.
**Where a document code permits the use of status codes ‘XX’ or ‘XW’, a statement supporting the use of those status codes must be provided in the fourth component: Reason (an..35) of DE 2/3.

Department for Business and Trade

The declaration that the goods are subject to the Open General Import Licence is not required except for sensitive goods.

Document Reference/Identifier and Part for licences (second component)

Enter the Document Reference/Identifier and Part, format: an..35.

The Document Reference for a licence is formatted: < country code > < licence type > < licence identifier > -< Part >.

Only enter a separator between the licence identifier and the part number. The licence identifier is not supplied when the status identifies that a particular licence is not being declared.

< country code > For all UK government department/agency issued licences/AFCs/ permits (including those which were originally issued in another member state, but which were subsequently re-issued - including any ‘extracts’ - by a UK government department/agency) enter ‘GB’.

For licences issued in another member state enter the relevant country code, for example for France enter ‘FR’.

< licence type > as identified in Appendix 5: DE 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes.

< licence identifier > enter the licence identifier allocated by the issuing authority. If the licence does not have a reference enter the title of the licence. A licence identifier is not supplied when the status identifies that a particular licence is not being declared (for instance, status code is in the x-series).

DE 2/4 Reference Number/ UCR (Box 7: Reference Number)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
BIRDS, C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	an..35	1x	1x

This data element is for optional use by the declarant to record a commercial reference for their own purposes and may be left blank.

All Declaration Categories:

This field is not supported by CDS as a key to the clearance request and is in addition to any Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR), declared in DE 2/1.

Where a reference number is provided in DE 2/4, it is recommended that the WCO format for the DUCR is used.

Recommended format for the DUCR:

The format of the reference number may take the form of the WCO DUCR, which is created from the following components:

• ‘Year’ - is the year in which the DUCR was allocated. For example, ‘9’ if allocated in 2019, ‘0’ if allocated in 2020 and ‘1’ if allocated in 2021. Therefore, for the year 2019, ensure the year component of the DUCR entered onto the electronic licence contains the single ‘9’ digit and not ‘19’. In 2020, enter the year as a single ‘0’ digit and not ‘20’. Where a DUCR is required for electronic licencing requirements, this must be declared in DE 2/1.
• ‘Country’ - is the country where the DUCR was allocated.
• ‘EORI’ - is the identity of the trader as known to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In the UK this is the 12-character EORI number.
• ’-‘ - is a dash.
• ‘Reference’ - is a unique series of characters that the trader, whose EORI number is included in the DUCR, devises and which provides an audit trail within traders’ commercial records. This component of the DUCR is restricted to numbers, upper case letters and certain special characters.

An example DUCR is as follows: ‘9GB000000000000-12345’

This example DUCR would have been issued in 2019, in the UK, for an EORI number ‘GB000000000000’, and with a trader reference number of ‘12345’.

Notes:

This data element can be declared once at header and once per item.

The DUCR must also be declared, as required, in DE 2/1 (Previous Documents) using the previous document code ‘DCR’ for EIDR NOP clearance requests.

DE 2/5 LRN (No Previous Reference)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
BIRDS, C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	an..22	1x	N/A

This data element is mandatory.

All Declaration Categories:

The declarant must enter a unique reference number for the transaction.

The Local Reference Number (LRN) must be:

• Unique to the transaction
• Within a 48-hour period
• For the submitting trader.

Declarations submitted, within a 48-hour period, by a user identity with a duplicate LRN will be rejected.

DE 2/6 Deferred Payment (Box 48 - Deferred Payment)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
C21i	an..35	2x	NA

This data element is only required on a C21i where deferment is being used to pay or secure any revenue due, prior to the release of the goods.

All Declaration Categories:

The payment of tax and duty may be deferred at importation by importers and declarants/ representatives approved by customs for this purpose.

This data element must be completed when codes E or R are declared in DE 4/8 (Method of Payment).

Enter the Deferment Account Numbers (DANs) of the deferment accounts to be used to:

• Defer the payment of the customs duty and other charges (for example, excise duty), or;
• Provide a deferred deposit.

A Great Britain (GB) Duty Deferment Account (DDA) can only be used for imports into GB and a Northern Ireland (NI) DDA can only be used for imports into NI. 

Other associated guarantees, such as the Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG), must be for GB or NI respectively. Details on how to declare the guarantees can be found in the completion instructions for DE 8/3.

The deferment account details should be entered in the following format:

Code	Details to be declared	Description
1DAN	Deferment account number (n7)	The deferment account to be used for all charges, unless 2DAN is also declared.
2DAN	Deferment account number (n7)	When 2DAN is used, only import VAT will be charged to 2DAN. All other deferred charges will be lodged against 1DAN.

Please note where customs duty is being paid or secured by deferment then:

• Document codes C505 and C506 must also be declared in DE 2/3 (Document Codes)
• Authorisation type codes CGU and DPO declared in DE 3/39 (Holder of the Authorisation) and
• The Customs Comprehensive Guarantee details entered in DE 8/2 (Guarantee type) and 8/3 (Guarantee Reference Number)

The above requirement does not need to be met when deferment is only being used for other taxes

Using more than one deferment account

All the duty and tax may be deferred to the importer’s, declarant’s or representative’s account, or alternatively, the VAT and non-VAT charges can be split between the two different deferment accounts. When payment is being deferred to more than one deferment account, both deferment account numbers (DANs) must be entered in this data element.

Please note, two deferment accounts cannot be declared when they both belong to the importer.

When two deferment numbers are present, only VAT amounts will be processed against the deferment account for ‘2DAN’.

All other amounts deferred will be processed against the deferment account for ‘1DAN’.

There is no restriction on which DAN (the importer’s, declarant’s or representative’s) is used for ‘2DAN’.

Notes:

A declarant/ representative acting on behalf of an importer must not use the importer’s deferment approval number without first being authorised to do so.

This authority may either be:

• Specific authority: which relates to one particular consignment. Form C1207S must be completed by the importer and retained by the agent/ representative as evidence that they have authority to use the importer’s deferment account. This must be provided to customs on request. Document code ‘1207’ must be declared in DE 2/3 (Document Codes) providing the date and location details as declared on the C1207S.
• Standing authority: Alternatively, an importer may give standing authority to their agent using form C1207N, which covers all consignments (see How to use your duty deferment account) for full details and examples on giving authority to use deferment accounts).

If the clearance request is processed as a paperless clearance request, evidence of the authority must be retained at the trader’s registered premises (for 4 years) and may be subject to audit by customs.

DE 2/7 Identification of Warehouse (Box 49: Warehouse ID)

Declaration Categories	Field format	No. of occurrences at header level	No. of occurrences at item level
C21i, C21i EIDR NOP	Warehouse type: a1 + Warehouse identifier: (including Country Code): an..35	1x	NA

All Declaration Categories:

This data element is used to declare premises ID for goods being:

• Entered to a customs warehouse or
• Removed from a free zone/freeport.

The premises declared in DE 2/7 must have been approved by the UK(GB or NI) or one of the EU member states (NI only).

Enter the ‘Identity of the warehouse’, which is in two components:

• Type
• Warehouse identifier including Country Code

Do not enter any separator or space between the two parts.

Separate clearance requests are required for goods subject to different Procedure Codes and entered to or removed from different premises. The Procedure Code notes explain these restrictions in more detail.

First Component: Type (a1)

Enter, as appropriate, one of the following codes:

Code	Warehouse type
R	Public customs warehouse type I
U	Private customs warehouse
Z	Free zone

Second Component: Warehouse Identifier (including Country Code) (an..35)

The warehouse identifier consists of two parts:

• The identification number of the warehouse
• The Country Code for the authorising country

In the UK:

• customs warehouses have a 7-digit reference
• excise warehouses have a 13-digit reference
• the Isle of Man Free Zone is 0000006 - Isle of Man
• Freeports* should declare the identification number for the Freeport Customs site

*The Freeport Business Authorisation number should be declared in DE 2/3.

If the warehouse identity is not a UK allocated code (suffixed by ‘GB’), the premises name and address must be supplied as an AI Statement in DE 2/2 Additional Information, using AI code ‘PREMS’.

For imports into Northern Ireland (NI)

For the Country Code of the Warehouse Identifier, ‘GB’ may only be used for: 

• Excise premises 
• Goods that were entered to a freezone prior to the introduction of XI EORIs that are now being diverted to free circulation and/or home use 

All other premises declared in DE 2/7 must use ‘XI’ as the Country Code.

Notes:

An example of a Customs Warehouse Identification reference number is R1234567GB:

• Where R denotes a Type I public warehouse
• 1234567 denotes the authorisation number for the warehouse
• GB denotes the authorising Member State

An example of an Excise warehouse identity is YGB00001234567GB:

• Where Y denotes a non-customs warehouse
• GB00001234567 is the 13-character excise warehouse identifier
• GB denotes the authorising Member State

For goods being entered to a customs warehouse or removed from a free zone/freeport:

• All the goods on a clearance request related to (re)import to customs warehousing or free zones/freeports must be entered to the same customs warehouse or removed from the same free zone/freeport (declared in DE 2/7 (Identification of Warehouse)).