Please note that if you are:
- moving goods under Common Transit Convention (CTC) with a Transit Accompanying Document (TAD); and
- those goods are moving from EU to GB, or between NI and GB (in either direction)at a port that has adopted the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS),
these movements and the TAD MRN must be pre-lodged with a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) by the haulier before you travel.
Providing a GMR to your carrier at check in will notify the customs office of transit that goods have been brought into GB or NI under transit. This is a requirement of the Common Transit Convention.
The requirement for a GMR is in addition to any others needed in the country of departure – for example: SI Brexit system for movements from France or the Pre Booking Notification system for movements from Republic of Ireland.
A list of ports that have adopted GVMS can be found here
Please note that utilising GVMS will allow for seamless movements through ports and will ensure hold ups are kept to an absolute minimum. Registration for the Goods Vehicle Movement Service is straight-forward and you can register via the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-for-the-goods-vehicle-movement-service
Once registered for GVMS you can obtain a Goods Movement Request via this additional link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-goods-movement-reference
If a GMR is not provided at port of Exit
Please be aware that failure to provide a valid Goods Movement Request for Common Transit Convention movements at check-in may result in:
- Drivers being turned away at the port of Exit until a valid GMR is presented or
- The Office of Transit not being completed to mark entry into GB or NI. This is a breach of the CTC requirements and may cause further delays to your journey upon arrival at the GB or NI port or at your Office of Destination due to additional processing/checks.
Therefore, when moving Common Transit Convention goods into GB or NI Ports adopting GVMS, please ensure you always provide a valid GMR which contains your TAD MRN at the port of exit
Line of Sight between HQ and Drivers
In addition to the above a reminder to all hauliers of the necessity for a clear line of sight between your Headquarters (HQ) and drivers to ensure that cleared/held messages from GVMS are passed to the person in control of the goods and that they attend for checks where GVMS indicates they are required to do so. Failure to report for inspections means that hauliers have failed to meet customs control and transit requirements.
Haulier businesses/HQ’s should therefore check that mechanisms are in place to ensure messages are provided to drivers including processes for escalating messages outside of office hours. You should also stress to drivers the importance of meeting the customs control requirements. HMRC are working to improve the medium for sharing information to hauliers/drivers and will provide more information in future. However, for now please ensure you are familiar with your responsibilities for the sharing of held/cleared messages and ensuring the person in control of the goods attends for checks where required.
More information around haulier responsibilities including line of sight and moving goods under Common Transit Conventions in our recent GVMS Haulier Webinars. These can be accessed via: the following links: