HMRC has contacted Chartered Accountants Ireland to advise that HMRC are currently writing to all declarants importing goods from the rest of the world (“ROW”) to NI using the CHIEF service to let them know they can continue to use CHIEF for a “short time longer.” HMRC have confirmed that this will be until 31 October 2021.

From 31 August 2021, all import declarations for airfreight movements had been due to move to the Customs Declaration Service (“CDS”) from CHIEF.

The decision to delay moving air freight declarations from CHIEF to CDS is based on feedback from industry and this Institute at recent HMRC meetings. HMRC state that they recognise the challenges, “including that the TSS guidance for air freight movements will not be live until Tuesday [31 August]”, leaving little time to prepare.

When we sought clarification on the timeline, HMRC told us that importers using CHIEF for ROW to NI movements should move to use CDS or the Trader Support Service (TSS) as soon as possible. New TSS functionality was released that allows a ROW-NI airfreight movement to be made on TSS. The use of CHIEF for all ROW to NI declarations will end on 31 October 2021, from that date onwards all ROW to NI imports (including airfreight movements) must be declared on CDS.