5. National Transit

Explains the guidance specific to movements using National Transit procedures.

UK Transit is a movement of goods under duty suspense between 2 points in the United Kingdom. For example, a movement of goods arriving to a port that are to be moved inland to an External Temporary Storage Facility (ETSF). 

To access any of the UK National Transit authorisations you will need to be authorised.

5.1 UK Transit Authorised consignor simplification

As an authorised consignor you can:  

  • dispatch goods without needing to present the goods and transit accompanying document to customs at the customs office  

  • send your departure notification message to the relevant office electronically

5.2 UK Transit Authorised consignee simplification

As an authorised consignee you can:  

  • receive goods without needing to present the goods and transit accompanying document to customs at the customs office  
  • send your arrival notification message to the relevant office electronically  
  • receive automatic permission to unload the goods (if the goods are not subject to further controls or inspections by the customs office)

To apply for authorised consignee status you will need to have an approved temporary storage facility at the location where you would like to operate as an authorised consignee. The approved temporary storage location will need to be an external temporary storage facility which allows you to store goods in your premises for up to 90 days.

5.3 UK Transit Use of Seals of a Special Type

If you start a UK Transit movement you can apply to use seals of a special type, requiring you to be authorised  

If the holder of the procedure is authorised to use seals of a special type, the details of the make, type and number of seals affixed should be entered into the relevant data elements within the declaration as determined in the authorisation letter. The seal must be affixed before the goods are released. 

UK Transit - using an electronic transport document (ETD) as a transit declaration to place goods under the UK transit procedure  

An airline company can be authorised to use an electronic transport document (ETD) as a transit declaration. 

The authorisation to use the ETD is granted to airline companies which fulfil the criteria for this simplification. Two significant criteria in granting this authorisation are: (i) that the ETD must contain the data required in a transit declaration; and (ii) that those data must be made available to the customs authorities at departure and at destination to allow the customs supervision of the goods and the discharge of the procedure.

To apply, applicants will need to contact the National Simplifications team. This can be done by:

HM Revenue & Customs
National Simplifications Team
BT-CCTO
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1EH