From 31 January 2025, Safety & Security Entry Summary (ENS) declarations have been legally required for all consignments entering Great Britain, including Remain on Board goods. If you are operating as a haulier or logistics provider, you must ensure your declarations are compliant with this requirement.
Legal Responsibility for ENS Declarations
The legal obligation to submit the ENS declaration lies with the carrier. This is defined as the operator of the active means of transport bringing the goods into the customs territory of Great Britain. Where an intermediary or agent submits the ENS on behalf of the carrier, that intermediary is generally responsible for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the data provided.
Ongoing Non-Compliance Identified
Border Force, via the Freight Enforcement and Data Assurance Team (FEDAT), continues to observe widespread non-compliance, particularly in the accuracy and timeliness of submissions. These declarations play a critical role in Border Force’s frontier risk assessment processes. Despite previous notifications and engagement, unacceptable levels of inaccuracy remain.
The fields most frequently completed incorrectly include:
- Expected Date and Time of Arrival
- Identity of Means of Transport at the Border
- Container or Trailer Number
- Customs Office of First Entry
Enforcement Action to Be Taken
Carriers and intermediaries have had nearly six months to make necessary adjustments. As there has been limited improvement in the accuracy of submissions, Border Force will now begin immediate enforcement action in cases where declarations are incorrect—particularly in relation to:
- Identity of means of transport at the border
- Container or trailer number
Compliance action may include the issuance of a Customs Civil Penalty.
Data Requirements: Identity of Means of Transport at the Border
- For accompanied Roll on/Roll off (RoRo) and Channel Tunnel (Road 3) traffic, you must enter the Vehicle Registration Number of the vehicle crossing the border.
- You must not enter holding values such as “TRUCK” or insert the trailer number in this field.
- For unaccompanied RoRo, you must enter the IMO Ship Identification Number.
- Entries must be made without spaces or special characters.
Data Requirements: Container or Trailer Number
- If goods are moved in a container or on a trailer, you must enter the correct, unique identifier for that container or trailer.
- Holding values such as “TRAILER” must not be used.
- Where a container is loaded on a trailer, the container number takes precedence.
- Trailer numbers must match those registered with the appropriate national authority.
- Entries must be made without spaces or special characters.
Data Requirements: Customs Office of First Entry
- For Dover RoRo traffic, the correct port code is GB000040.
- For Channel Tunnel traffic into Folkestone (Road and Rail), the port code is GB000060.
Optional Entry of Safety & Security MRN into GVMS
While not mandatory, it is strongly recommended that the Safety & Security Movement Reference Number (MRN) is included within the Goods Movement Reference (GMR) for the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS).
Further Information
For further guidance on Safety & Security ENS declarations, please refer to the official government resource:
www.gov.uk/guidance/making-an-entry-summary-declaration
For a full list of required data fields, consult the section titled “Entry summary declaration data elements for the S&S GB service.”
