Businesses are being urged to prepare ahead of new arrangements for parcels and freight under the Windsor Framework coming into effect.
Firms that move goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain could save both time and money by using a number of newly-introduced simplified processes.
The Windsor Framework, agreed between the UK and EU in February 2023, was put in place to ensure the smooth flow of goods within the UK internal market.
Guidance
HMRC said:
“Following the guidance issued in September 2024, there has been extensive preparatory work undertaken for the new arrangements for the movement of goods from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland by parcels or freight set out in the Windsor Framework.
“As a result, and subject to the relevant procedures, the new arrangements as set out in the Windsor Framework are planned to take effect from 1 May 2025.”
The simplified processes for Internal Market Movements contain a range of facilitations and the processes are there to ease the process of moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
These optional processes include:
· A simplified dataset known as the Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI)
· A Trader Goods Profile (TGP) to support the completion of the IMMI
· A new Entry in Declarant’s Records (EIDR) authorisation available to UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) authorised traders, known as UKIMS-EIDR
Vicky Goddard, the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s key stakeholder and partnerships director, said:
“The benefits of applying these new simplified processes will support movements if you meet the requirements. It provides a way of declaring your goods not at risk, as long as you can evidence this.
“The IMMI simplifies the required information and the TGP pre-populates information onto the IMMI to speed up the administrative process.”
UKIMS
To access the simplified processes, firms must be UKIMS authorised.
UKIMS is an authorisation that allows you to declare your goods ‘not at risk’ if they are brought into Northern Ireland for sale or final use by end consumers in Northern Ireland (and Great Britain, in the case of movements from Great Britain), and meet all the other criteria to move under UKIMS.
These other criteria include:
· The goods must be ‘not at risk’ of moving into the EU
· The goods must be in free circulation
· Direct transport from GB to NI (including transit goods so long as the transit starts in GB and ends in NI)
· The goods must be ‘standard goods’ or ‘category 2 goods’
Parcels
There is also a new arrangement for parcels, with separate routes for consumers and businesses.
Consumers can send packages to friends, family and businesses, subject to weight limits. A parcel containing a single item can weigh up to 100kg, and a parcel that is made up of multiple items can weigh up to 31.5kg.
Business-to-business (B2B) parcels movements will move in line with current B2B freight arrangements. Consumer parcels that do not meet the weight requirements will also have to follow the B2B freight arrangements. It is important that any business that sends or receives B2B parcels, which does not currently have a UKIMS authorisation, applies as soon as possible. This ensures that you’ll be ready when the new arrangements take effect.
Resources
There are several resources that are available to support businesses with upcoming changes to the movement of goods or parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, helping businesses understand the implications and how they should be getting ready.
The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade has a dedicated resource page for the Windsor Framework.
The government has a dedicated resource page to helping traders move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
You can also watch the above video with Simon Pettigrew, HMRC’s head of stakeholder engagement, where he talks through the changes.
