Make an export customs declaration

You must have an export declaration cleared by customs before your goods leave Great Britain. This includes goods going to the EU.

Decide who makes the declaration

Get ready to declare

To make declarations yourself, subscribe to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).

Have ready your EORI number, your Unique Taxpayer Reference, the business address HMRC holds on its customs records and your business start date. Sole traders also need a National Insurance number. You can then use HMRC's online export declaration service or commercial software that connects to CDS.

You also need:

• The value from your invoice: the price you are selling at, or the market value if you are not selling. List any freight or export insurance included in the price separately.
• Any licence the goods need. Controlled goods such as firearms, military items and dual-use items need an export licence, and plants and plant products need registration first.
• Proof of origin, if the goods qualify for a reduced or zero rate of duty in the destination country.

Declare before the goods leave

Submit the declaration and get clearance before the goods leave. The last time you can do it depends on the final mode of transport:

• By road or inland waterway, at least one hour before departure.
• By air, at least 30 minutes before departure from a UK airport.
• By sea without a container, at least two hours before the goods leave port.
• By sea in a container, at least 24 hours before loading, or at least two hours before leaving port if the cargo is going to Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland or a port on the Baltic, North, Black or Mediterranean seas.
• By rail, at least two hours before the goods leave the UK, or at least one hour before arrival at the office of exit if the journey from the station where the train was formed takes under two hours.

Some departure points require an arrived declaration, which must be submitted before the goods start their journey to the border. Your forwarder or the port can tell you if yours does.

At the border, you or your transporter need the master reference number from the declaration, the invoice and any licences or certificates. Customs may inspect the goods before they cross. If they are held, the National Clearance Hub can help.

Confirm the goods have left

HMRC needs a departure message to close the declaration, and this has been a legal requirement for all exports since 1 January 2022. At most ports, systems such as the Goods Vehicle Movement Service send it for you. Without it, your declaration is not official evidence that the goods were exported. You can still use commercial evidence to zero-rate the sale for VAT, and you must keep that proof of export for six years.

Correct a mistake

You can amend a declaration until customs clears it. After that, the statistical record can be amended for up to three years. Goods can be held at the border if you lack the right licences or if they fail inspection, so check the code, value and licences before you submit.

Use simplified declarations if you export often

HMRC can authorise regular exporters to declare in two parts: basic details before the goods leave, and a supplementary declaration within 14 days of departure. You cannot use this route for most goods that need an export licence. You need a good customs compliance record over the last three years, a regular pattern of declarations and records kept for at least four years.