HMRC is changing its customs declaration system

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department has begun updating its customs declaration system by gradually phasing in the new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and replacing the existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system.

It is expected that importers will complete the move over to CDS early in the coming year, while exporters will shift to CDS in March 2019. Therefore, it follows that CDS and CHIEF will run concurrently for a short period of time.

To prepare for this change in systems HMRC encourages users that import or export from/to outside of the European Union to visit the CDS website and inform themselves on how the upcoming changes will affect businesses.

To link to the HMRC Customs Declaration Service (CDS) website please click here.