8.1 Border Target Operating Model
On 27 February 2023, the UK and EU agreed the Windsor Framework, providing a fundamentally new set of arrangements to restore the smooth flow of trade within the UK internal market; safeguard Northern Ireland’s place in the Union; and address the democratic deficit that was otherwise at the heart of the original Northern Ireland Protocol. Further detail on the arrangements giving effect to the Windsor Framework is available here.
The Border Target Operating Model ensures, further to the Windsor Framework, that Northern Ireland businesses will continue to benefit from unfettered access when moving goods to Great Britain. This confers those advantages on Northern Ireland traders moving Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (QNIGs), ensuring they do not face any barriers when moving goods to Great Britain either directly from Northern Ireland or indirectly via Ireland, except for an extremely limited subset of goods such as endangered species.
From 31 January 2024 non-qualifying goods will face full customs controls and the requirement for pre-notification and certification when moved directly from Ireland via Irish ports to Great Britain. All ports will be required to apply full customs controls to non-qualifying goods and goods such as excise goods moving from Ireland to Great Britain, meaning that these goods must have a valid declaration and be customs cleared to be able to proceed to their destination. Customs controls for non-qualifying goods and goods such as excise goods moving via Northern Ireland ports will remain unchanged. The relevant Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements will also need to be followed for non-qualifying Sanitary and Phytosanitary goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or via Ireland, depending on the risk categorisation of the goods, as detailed elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model. Safety and Security declarations will be required for goods moving directly from Ireland to Great Britain from October 2024, when the current EU waiver ends.
Guidance on which goods qualify for unfettered access when moving from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK is available here and will be updated in due course to reflect the latest operating arrangements as set out in the Border Target Operating Model.
8.2 Protecting Unfettered Access for Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods
The Border Target Operating Model underlines the protection of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and extends these protections to indirect movements to Great Britain via Ireland. This is in order to ensure a continued and unwavering commitment to unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses.
Since January 2021, the definition of a Qualifying Northern Ireland Good has remained unchanged with this status conferred on any good that is or has been present in Northern Ireland without being subject to customs supervision, restriction or control, or Northern Ireland processed products. This will remain the case for many businesses, however following extensive engagement with agri-food and farming stakeholders in Northern Ireland, new arrangements will apply for traders moving food and feed products when the Border Target Operating Model is introduced.
To ensure the benefits of unfettered access are more squarely focussed on Northern Ireland traders, and taking account of business feedback, food and feed products will need to be owned or processed in Northern Ireland by a Northern Ireland registered or approved food or feed business in order to be considered a Qualifying Northern Ireland Good for Sanitary and Phytosanitary purposes and exempt from Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements.
Northern Ireland businesses engaged in the manufacture, processing, sale or handling of food are already required to register with their District Councils or to be approved by the Food Standards Agency. Animal feed businesses are also already required to be registered or approved with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. This places no new burdens on Northern Ireland businesses moving food and feed in order for their goods to be considered Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods.
Where food and feed products are not owned, or processed in Northern Ireland by a Northern Ireland registered or approved food or feed business, these goods will be subject to the relevant Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements, depending on the risk categorisation of the goods, as detailed elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model. The UK Government will work closely with the Scottish and Welsh governments to deliver these, and further details will be provided in due course.
8.3 Milestones
For non-qualifying goods, whether moving from Northern Ireland or Ireland to Great Britain, we intend to implement the model through two major milestones:
- 31 January 2024
- i. The introduction of pre-notification requirements (except for low risk plants and plant products) and full customs controls.
ii. The introduction of health certification on imports of medium risk animal products, plants, plant products and high risk food and feed of non-animal origin from the EU.
- From 31 October 2024
- i. The introduction of documentary and risk-based identity and physical checks on medium risk animal products, plants, plant products and high risk food and feed of non-animal origin from the EU.[footnote 5]
ii. The requirement for Safety and Security declarations for imports into Great Britain from the EU or from other territories where the waiver applies will come into force from 31 October 2024. Alongside this, we will introduce a reduced dataset for imports and use of the UK Single Trade Window will remove duplication where possible across different pre-arrival datasets – such as Safety and Security, Sanitary and Phytosanitary, and pre-lodged customs declarations.
8.4 Import Processes
Direct Northern Ireland – Great Britain
Customs
Arrangements for both Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods as well as non-qualifying goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain will remain unchanged. This means Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods will continue to benefit from unfettered access to the Great Britain market with no new checks and controls, while non-qualifying goods will need to complete customs declarations and, if arriving in GB in certain locations, must manually notify HMRC of the arrival of their goods by the end of the working day following their movement.
Export declarations, checks and controls on exit from Northern Ireland continue to apply to an extremely limited group of Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods subject to certain international obligations binding on the UK and EU, such as the movement of endangered species.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
Arrangements for Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain will remain unchanged. Traders moving food or feed products must be registered or approved in Northern Ireland to continue to qualify for unfettered access to the Great Britain market as noted above.
Powers to act to deal with threats to food or feed safety, or of pest disease outbreaks, remain available across the UK. For example, movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain of certain live animals meeting the Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods definition continue to be subject to pre-notification, certification and checks at destination.
When moving non-qualifying goods via Northern Ireland ports to Great Britain, you will need to follow the relevant Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements depending on the risk categorisation of your goods, as detailed elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model.
At a minimum, the importer will be responsible for pre-notification of all relevant goods (except low risk plants and plant products) from January 2024 using Great Britain’s import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS), aligning with the requirements currently in place for all other EU imports. Medium and high risk goods will also require official certification. Sample documentary checks will take place on these goods where applicable.
Following the introduction of documentary and physical checks at west coast ports, goods may be subject to identity and physical checks on entry to Great Britain, in line with their risk categorisation.
Indirect Northern Ireland – Ireland – Great Britain
Customs
When moving Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods via Ireland to Great Britain, in the vast majority of cases you will no longer need to complete electronic import customs declarations for your goods movements.
At ports using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), hauliers will still need to complete a Goods Movement Reference (GMR), but for most goods movements hauliers will only need to indicate they are moving Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods. At inventory linked ports or other locations, similar processes will be used to permit Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods to be released from inventories or local systems without requiring electronic declarations.
Hauliers and drivers will need to have access to commercial evidence if asked to confirm that their goods are Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods. They will also need access to a travel document issued in the UK setting out the destination of the goods, to show that the goods have merely passed through Ireland.
We will update guidance on these requirements ahead of 31 January 2024 and will provide traders and hauliers with time to understand the new arrangements.
When moving non-qualifying goods or goods such as excise goods to Great Britain via Ireland you will have to follow the core import requirements set out elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model, the Border Operating Model, and in guidance, which will also list those goods which are subject to import requirements.
To meet customs requirements, traders importing non-qualifying goods and goods such as excise goods into Great Britain from Irish ports will need to make their customs declarations in the Customs Declarations Service (CDS), or work with a customs intermediary to do this on their behalf. Traders, hauliers and carriers will need to follow GVMS processes at ports using GVMS:
- Traders will need to provide the reference numbers from their declarations to the person moving their goods.
- Hauliers will need to include references for all pre-lodged import declarations in a GMR in GVMS containing the vehicle registration number (or trailer if unaccompanied) which must be presented to the carrier before boarding.
- Carriers will need to ensure that all freight movements have a GMR and must send HMRC details of all GMRs (an embarkation notification) after the vessel has left.
- Drivers or those moving goods will need to follow instructions on entry into Great Britain on whether they need to get their goods checked by customs on arrival or if they are able to continue their journey.
At inventory-linked ports or other locations, traders will need to follow standard processes to ensure goods are presented to customs, declared and cleared before they can be released to free circulation in Great Britain.
Goods moving under the Common Transit Convention (CTC) will continue to follow the CTC and GVMS requirements that currently apply for movements between Northern Ireland or Ireland and Great Britain.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
If you are moving Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods via Ireland to Great Britain, your goods will benefit from unfettered access, and you will not be subject to Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements as detailed elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model. As noted above, we have ensured that those moving food and feed products need to be registered or approved through existing processes in order to be eligible as Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods to Great Britain.
When moving non-qualifying goods to Great Britain via Ireland, you will need to follow the relevant Sanitary and Phytosanitary import requirements depending on the risk categorisation of your goods, as detailed elsewhere in the Border Target Operating Model.
At a minimum, the importer will be responsible for pre-notification of all relevant goods (except low risk plants and plant products) using Great Britain’s import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS), aligning with the requirements currently in place for all other EU imports. Medium and high risk goods will also require official certification.
From 31 January 2024, sample documentary checks will take place on these goods where applicable.
Following the introduction of documentary and physical checks at west coast ports, goods may be subject to identity and physical checks on entry to Great Britain, in line with their risk categorisation.
8.5 Countering Avoidance
It is not permitted to move goods through Northern Ireland to avoid the UK tariff or other customs processes. Alongside existing customs anti-avoidance rules, we will ensure measures are in place to prevent avoidance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary import processes and, therefore, abuse of the arrangements for Northern Ireland’s unfettered access to the Great Britain market.
Where traders move goods for an avoidance purpose and therefore seek to bypass import checks and controls where these are required, traders may be subject to financial penalties, as well as Sanitary and Phytosanitary penalties and enforcement action, up to and including seizure, destruction or criminal sanction.
