Alinea Customs has heard multiple reports of excise goods being seized at port of Dover due to GVMS errors made by the haulier.
These include:
- Hauliers generating two separate Goods Movement References (GMR) and allocating an Entry Reference Number (ERN) for each client, when they are carrying groupage to two individual consignee from one consignor warehouse. In this case, both loads were seized by Border Force due to suspected fraud and inaccurate documentation under Section 167 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, and a BOR 156 Seizure Information notice was issued.
- How to resolve? Only a single Goods Movement Reference may be generated per crossing. Whether groupage is occuring, and whether their are multiple different addresses on the ERNs does not affect the GMR.
- Hauliers generating a Goods Movement Reference, but failing to allocate the Entry Reference Number (ERN) provided by the customs agent to it. On this occasion, the Border Force seized the excise goods Section 167 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, and a BOR 156 Seizure Information notice was issued, due to suspected fraud and inaccurate documentation.
- How to resolve? The ERN provided by the customs agent must be allocated to the GMR to order to remain compliant.
Alinea Customs is in close communication with the Border Force, and will seek to cooperate with both the Border Force and HMRC on every occasion to ensure that hauliers and respective logistics companies have adequate training and information on how to declare their customs and transit documentation appropriately.
Instructions on how to use the Goods Movement Vehicle Service
Failure to comply with the GVMS requirements will result in expensive seizure of goods, and wasted resources, proving a costly and unfortunate mistake to make.
Alinea Customs offer the facility to use GVMS to generate a GMR on behalf of a haulier, for a small fee, providing they can authorise us to use their account. However, we would recommend that this remains the responsibility of the transport company to administer, as due to being an external agency we may not be able to fully supervise the process, if groupage is occuring.
Register for the GVMS : here
Non-UK companies will have to set up a GB EORI and government gateway account through provision of their:
- Company registration details
- Non- UK commercial address
- EU VAT registration number
- Date of company registration
- Mobile phone/smart device/smart app
Log into GVMS with your government gateway code: here
Generate a new GMR
You can create a draft GMR and return to complete it anytime within 28 days. If you do not make any updates within 28 days, your GMR will expire and you cannot use it. The draft GMR is not complete, and is only issued so transport bookings can be made. You will need to add the details listed below to complete it, and use it to move goods through the port.
You will need to provide details about:
- the crossing (direction of movement, ports of arrival and departure)
- the vehicle (either vehicle or trailer registration number, or container reference number)
- the declarations (type of declaration and associated reference numbers)
Where is this crossing going from and to?
- Decide on the route of crossing
1. About your crossing
- Select the planned route
2. About your vehicle
Will the driver be travelling with the vehicle on the crossing?
- If the driver is travelling with the vehicle you only need to add the vehicle registration number (VRN) to the GMR.
- If the goods will be unaccompanied on the crossing you only need to add either trailer registration numbers (TRNs) or container reference numbers (CRNs) to the GMR.
3. About your declarations
- Confirm if the vehicle contains goods
- Confirm transport contract details
- Enter declaration reference numbers
These must be entered for all consignments entered on a groupage load, in addition to if the GMR is generated when carrying goods to one consignor. Once all of the sections are completed, a full GMR and bar code will be generated.
Alinea Customs can assist logistics and transportation companies with comprehensive training in use of GVMS, in order that they maintain professional compliance. To discuss any questions further, please contact our team on 020 7 101 4242 or customs@alineacustoms.com.
