Official Statistics

Customs declarations for international trade in goods in 2022: methodology notes

Published 16 May 2023

Key data notes and understanding

The following details how the underlying data has been processed to produce the figures provided in this release:

• Data has been sourced from both Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF), as of 23 March 2023.

• Data includes all successfully submitted declarations to HMRC via CDS or CHIEF for international trade. This may include declarations which have subsequently been cancelled or rejected, but not those that were rejected at the point of submission to CDS or CHIEF. It does not include declarations by conduct or oral declarations which have not subsequently been submitted to CDS or CHIEF.

• The latest generation of customs declaration data has been used, which reflects the most recent stage of each individual customs declaration.

• Migration from CHIEF to CDS has progressed throughout 2022, primarily with imports. To date, there is no evidence that this has impacted overall declaration volumes submitted to HMRC.

• The date of a given customs declaration has been based on date of clearance for imports and date of entry for exports.

• The partner country of a given customs declaration has been based on the country of dispatch for imports and the country of destination for exports.

• Customs declarations for trade movements between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB) have been excluded, in addition to UK trade movements with the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the UK continental shelf.

• Customs declarations for trade movements between Northern Ireland and the European Union are not mandated, however a small number are submitted, which have been categorised under ‘Other’.

• Customs declarations for goods imported from or exported to multiple partner countries that span different regions (i.e. both EU and Non-EU countries) have also been categorised under ‘Other’.

• Customs declarations where partner country information was not provided have also been categorised under ‘Other’. Missing partner country information can arise where it is not mandatory to provide this information, from for example, use of certain customs procedures or facilitations.

• Customs declarations where port of entry/exit was not provided have been categorised as ‘Unknown’. Missing port code information is most commonly associated with customs declarations for goods exiting a Customs Warehouse.

• The port code ‘DEU’ is used by declarants for pre-lodged declarations of goods whose route via either Dover or the Eurotunnel was not yet determined at the time of submission.

• The ‘Other’ declarant representation category captures declarations which are not defined as self, direct or indirect representation. All declarations in this ‘Other’ category are exit summary declarations. This declaration type is only available for exports.

• Declaration types have been grouped into the following categories:

  • Standard customs declarations – declarations which require full details of goods being imported or exported (codes ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘D’ and ‘E’)

  • Simplified frontier declarations (SFD) – declarations which are submitted to release goods which have arrived at the frontier (codes ‘C’, ‘F’, ‘G’ and ‘H’)

  • C21 – a clearance form which requests the release of goods at a location with an inventory linked system (codes ‘J’ and ‘K’)

  • Supplementary declarations – declarations which require full details of goods being imported or exported having used the SCDP facilitations (codes ‘Q’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’)

  • Exit Summary Declarations (EXS) – export declarations that are required when safety and security requirements for a full customs export declaration have not been fulfilled.

• CHIEF incomplete declarations are declared using declaration types A & D, In CDS, the equivalent of a CHIEF incomplete declaration is made using additional declaration type B & E – where allowed. In both cases, any revenue due will be collected against the incomplete declaration and no supplementary declaration will be submitted.

• Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand throughout. The sum of breakdowns may therefore not sum to totals given.

Key data caveats and limitations

Figures are provisional and may be subject to change:

• Figures will remain static if the underlying administrative customs declarations data recorded by CDS and CHIEF at the given date of extraction does not change.

Limitations of declaration volumes as a measure of trade in goods:

• Declaration volumes are a useful metric for measuring the approximate number of unique consignments of imports and exports, however, they are not reliable measures of trade volume. Data on trade value and net mass are better indicators of UK trade performance and are published on a monthly basis in the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS).

Change in declaring behaviour over time:

• The declaring behaviour of declarants is not necessarily consistent over time.

• Declarants may increase or decrease the number of customs declarations they submit for equivalent volumes of goods for a variety of reasons, such as a change in the way they may use certain customs facilitations, and they may do so at any point within a given period.

Impact of Staged Customs Controls (SCC) on 2021 and 2022 data:

• Throughout 2021, the introduction of temporary Staged Customs Controls allowed GB importers of non-controlled EU goods the opportunity to defer submission of the full customs declaration for up to 175 days after the movement of goods. From 2022 onwards, SCC was only available for use on non-controlled goods being imported from the Republic of Ireland.

• Some customs declarations for goods moved using SCC in 2021, may have been submitted to HMRC in 2022, due to the extension to deferral deadlines.

• This had a reducing effect on the number of received customs declarations for EU imports in 2021, most notably in the first few months of the year. Conversely, this may have had an increasing effect to 2022 volumes.

Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and European Union (EU) exit on 2021 data:

• International trade continued to experience a unique combination of factors throughout 2021. These included, but are not limited to, COVID-19 lockdowns across the UK and in many of our international trading partner countries, alongside changes in the trading relationship with Europe. It is impossible to say what impact each of these factors had in isolation on the 2021 customs declaration volumes.

• Since 1st January 2021, following the end of the EU exit transition period, customs declarations have been required for GB imports from the EU and GB exports to the EU. Prior to 2021, customs declarations were only required for UK imports and exports with Non-EU countries.

Impact of the Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS) facilitation:

• The introduction of the BIRDS facilitation has allowed authorised declarants the option of grouping together multiple low value consignments into a single customs declaration.

• This will have had a reducing effect on the number of submitted customs declarations for all imports in 2021.

Impact of Customs Warehousing on customs declaration volumes:

• Data includes declarations for goods both entering and exiting a Customs Warehouse, with the potential for more than one Customs declaration being submitted for a single consignment of goods.

• Customs declarations for goods exiting a Customs Warehouse do not contain data for the original port of entry which make up many submitted import declarations.

Impact of unarrived customs declarations:

• When goods are imported or exported to and from the United Kingdom, HMRC needs to be notified that the goods have physically arrived at UK border locations.

• HMRC is aware of cases where this has not occurred, meaning HMRC is unable to clear these goods.

• Therefore, declarations for goods that were not cleared by customs will not be included in this release.

Other data caveats:

• Entry and exit location codes used within this release may not have equivalent trade data available in other trade in goods publications.

• Figures for the number of customs declarations in this release have been compiled from both CDS and CHIEF data, of which have different data requirements.

• Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) do not feature in this release as they are not submitted to CDS or CHIEF.

Terms and definitions

Customs declaration

An electronic submission of data which provides legally required information about the goods being imported/exported, including the customs procedure which the goods are being entered to.

Consignment

A shipment of goods sent by a single exporter which is destined for a single importer. A customs declaration has the potential to be made up of multiple consignments

Consignor

The business responsible for sending a consignment of goods (exporter)

Consignee

The business responsible for receiving a consignment of goods (importer)

Declarant

The business submitting a customs declaration

Self-representation

Where the importer or exporter is also the declarant in the submission of a customs declaration (no use of a third-party declarant)

Direct representation

Where a third-party declarant business is acting in the name of and on behalf of the importer/exporter in the submission of a customs declaration, whereby the third party must hold written authority of their power to act as the direct representative

Indirect representation

Where a third-party declarant business is acting in their own name but on behalf of the importer/exporter in the submission of a customs declaration, whereby both parties accept joint liability for all information provided

Customs Declaration Service (CDS)

CDS records the information collect from customs declarations and has been introduced to replace CHIEF.

Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF)

CHIEF records the information collected from customs declarations

Entry date

The date in which the entry is lodged onto CDS or CHIEF, which can be done prior to the goods being presented to customs (pre-lodgement)

Acceptance date

The tax point for imported/exported goods. At ports of entry/exit that allow for pre-lodgement of declarations, the acceptance date reflects when the goods arrived at or departed from the UK. At other ports of entry/exit, it reflects the date in which the goods are declared to a customs procedure (e.g. into free circulation)

Clearance date

The date when the customs authority releases the goods having carried out whatever checks they deemed necessary

Simplified Customs Declaration Procedure (SCDP)

A customs facilitation that gives authorised businesses the option of submitting a customs declaration in two parts - an initial simplified declaration or making an entry in their records, to allow goods to move across the border quickly, with a subsequent full declaration being required by the 4th working day of the following month

Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS)

A customs facilitation that gives authorised businesses the option of grouping together multiple low value consignments into one bulked declaration with reduced information required

Customs Warehousing

A customs facilitation that allows businesses to store goods with duty or import VAT payments suspended, until such goods are either released into free circulation, re-exported or moved to another customs procedure

Additional information

The information contained in this section provides supporting material for this release.

• UK Trade Tariff: volume 3 for CDS

• UK Trade Tariff: volume 3 for CHIEF

• Key differences between CDS and CHIEF

• Simplified Customs Declaration Procedure (SCDP)

• Customs warehousing

• UK port codes (entry / exit)

• Exit Summary Declarations (EXS)