Preparing for the arrival of CDS 18/05/22

HMRC have been working on a replacement for the Customs Handling Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) clearance system for a number of years. With the import side of their new system, the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), now fully functional, HMRC plans to move all imports from CHIEF to CDS in the coming months. 

We anticipate that the last import clearances allowed using CHIEF will be September 30 2022, while exports will continue to use CHIEF until early 2023. This means there are a number of preparations that need to be made. 

What will change? 

As an importer, you’ll need to provide some additional details. Customs now require four address fields to be completed. They are replacing the current Consignor & Consignee fields with: 

•  Supplier (if different from the seller) 
•  Seller 
•  Buyer
•  Importer (if different from the buyer)

If you use customs facilitations such as warehousing, IPR, simplified frontier declarations and deferment, you’ll have a comprehensive customs guarantee (CCG) that will also need to be provided to us on a one-off basis. 

Where goods are imported that are licensable or potentially licensable (e.g. dual use), there is now an additional code in the tariff. Tariff numbers will need to be updated and the extra code provided where required. 

Other considerations 

Direct payments to HMRC will no longer be available. If you have a deferment account and exceed the monthly limit the only way to top this up will be through the Government gateway, and this will need to be actioned directly with customs. It’s important that you have someone within your organisation who understands the process and is authorised to add funds on your behalf. You will no longer be able to change the method of payment once an entry has been submitted. 

Our teams will be reaching out to customers with requirements in the coming weeks, but the information above should help you to prepare the information and data that will be needed in advance. Should you have any initial questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.