Instructions for business pre-notifying the arrival of a consignment at a Northern Ireland Point of Entry

From the 1st January 2021, you must follow the steps below to pre-notify the arrival of a consignment of SPS goods at a Northern Ireland Point of Entry.

What you need to have;

  • Access to TRACES NT (Getting Started Help);
  • Details about the expected time of arrival of the consignment at the Northern Ireland Point of Entry;
  • Details about the means of transport for the arrival of the consignment of SPS goods at the Northern Ireland Point of Entry;
  • Any supporting documentation and/or certification;
  • A Northern Ireland address for the importer when creating the CHED Part 1.

Step 1. Pre Notify arrival of consignment of SPS goods at least 24 hours in advance

  • From 1 January 2021, you are required to pre-notify the arrival of the consignment of SPS goods into a Northern Ireland Point of Entry at least 24 hours before the consignment is expected to arrive in Northern Ireland.
  • You pre notify the arrival of a consignment by completing Part One of the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) on TRACES NT and completing the following steps.
  • When a user registers on TRACES NT, the operator responsible for creating the notification must be a "natural or legal person in the member state". To create a CHED, the operator needs valid “Responsible for Load” (RFL) access. An importer based in Northern Ireland, with an NI address, can have both importer and RFL activities on TRACES NT.
  • You must link to an existing operator. If the operator does not exist, the operator must be created on TRACES NT. When creating an operator, add an activity from drop down list (for example, RFL if creating a CHED). Once the activity is added, you must assign a responsible authority (for example, DAERA) to ensure the validation request goes to the correct authority.

Step 2. Provide details of arrival of consignment of SPS goods on the CHED part 1

  • Box I.10 – Prior Notification - Enter the expected date and time of arrival of the SPS consignment at the Northern Ireland Point of Entry on the CHED part 1. Note – this is not the date and time of pre notifying the consignment.
  • Box I.13 – Means of Transport – You MUST always enter information identifying the (a) vehicle registration number and (b) trailer identification number or (c) container number which is being used for the arrival of the consignment of SPS goods into Northern Ireland on the CHED part 1.
  • Different requirements apply to vehicles and unaccompanied goods. Information must be unique to the mode of transport and this may be a vehicle registration number, trailer number or container number. In order to facilitate checks and reduce the likelihood of delays, the trailer number where available must be recorded.   
  • In addition, where a seal has been put in place, the seal number must be recorded.
  • The Goods Movement Reference (GMR) from your customs declaration must also be supplied, if available.

Step 3. Provide any relevant supporting documentation and/or certification required

  • Please note: Official certificates may be required for the movement of your consignments from GB to Northern Ireland.
  • For example, Export Health Certificates (EHC) may be required for the movement of animal products and live animals, and phytosanitary certificates (PSC) may be required for movements of plants and plant products.
  • Official certification is obtained from the relevant competent authority of the country the goods are arriving from – for EHCs and PSCs, DEFRA is the competent authority and provides information on obtaining certification.
  • These certificates will need to be obtained before goods are transported from GB to Northern Ireland.
  • These need to be uploaded  on TRACES NT as colour-scanned digital EHC documents. Please note: the document(s) may be too large to be sent as one file. DAERA will therefore accept them if sent in two parts.

If this information is not notified, it may result in additional checks on your goods at the point of entry and delay the movement of the goods through the point of entry in Northern Ireland. 

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