HMRC has written to industry stakeholders with an update on the technical issues currently being encountered on the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), which the IOE&IT Daily Update reported on yesterday (27 March).
The secretariat of HMRC’s Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) has said that the issue is affecting GVMS users who are trying to add import declaration references generated from the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) to their Goods Movement References (GMRs).
GVMS recap
GVMS is the system used at ports adopting the ‘pre-lodgement’ model for clearing declarations, whereby hauliers submit all declarations required for a particular goods movement in advance of travelling to the port.
The haulier is not permitted onto a ferry crossing the border unless they have a GMR – a reference that links together all the required declarations.
Fix
The JCCC has said that officials have identified the issue and are currently testing the fix. If this testing is successful, the fix should be deployed today (28 March).
JCCC has said that it apologises for any “frustration” or “inconvenience” caused.
Business continuity plan
In the meantime, a “limited business continuity plan” is in place and JCCC will notify industry as to when this will be withdrawn.
For now, hauliers are being advised to create a ‘declaration by conduct’ GMR in situations where CDS declaration references cannot be added to the GMR. These GMRs will be validated by carriers as normal, though goods will remain under customs control.
Hauliers moving goods with any document that needs to be processed by Border Force must still attend an Inland Border Facility or a port inspection facility on arrival. Border Force may continue to place holds on consignments of interest or controlled goods.
Where goods have been moved under a declaration by conduct GMR, they must be manually arrived, the JCCC has said.
