Hi, It's the CustomsLink customer service team here. It's been another busy week, especially for the new GMR and IPAFFS pre-notification rules introduced beginning of January.
Something we have noticed over the last couple of weeks is that the same customs issues keep cropping up for our customers. Here's a short summary of some of the things and how you can solve them.
DON'T LEAVE YOUR CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS TO THE LAST MINUTE
I know it sounds obvious, but it's really important that you don't leave your import/export declarations and Port Passes (GMRs PBNs, Logistics Envelopes etc) to just before you arrive at port. We are super efficient at CustomsLink and can solve most of your customs requirements, but it still takes time. We're amazing, but we don't have super powers! Please make sure you give yourself plenty of time to sort your paperwork and get it submitted. Being stuck at port because your documents aren't ready is potentially very costly. Struggling? Message our team.
MAKE SURE YOUR CUSTOMS BROKER IS PROVIDING THE CORRECT INFO
Recently we've been contacted by quite a lot of customers who are finding that their current customs broker aren't putting the correct information on their declarations. Missing/wrong information includes RRS01 references, incorrect journey details and not knowing the difference between an inventory linked, non-inventory linked and GVMS port. As a company with years of supply chain experience from our Freightlink freight ferry booking business, we don't make these mistakes. Get in touch if you need some help.
PUT THE RIGHT REFERENCE NUMBERS ON YOUR GMR
Customers are trying to input Movement Reference Numbers (MRNs) rather than Entry Reference Numbers (ERNs) on import GMRs. The only time the MRN is required on an import GMR is if it is a transit declaration. The ERN can found at the top of the import declaration and consists of three numbers followed by six numbers, one letter and the date in DDMMYYYY format.
TICK POSTPONE VAT IF YOU WANT TO POSTPONE IT
When making an import declaration through the CustomsLink platform, make sure you tick the postpone VAT box if you want to postpone VAT. This will prevent any issues and delays with your customs declaration.
That's it for now. We know a lot of the new customs requirements seem hard to begin with, so if you need any customs advice, message our team.
