The Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR) and the optional Part suffix is the main reference key to any Customs Handling of Import & Export Freight (CHIEF) declaration. It is also the primary data item for matching import consignments containing plants, flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables on the CHIEF Import declaration and any Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates (PEACH) Advance Notification.
The standard format of a DUCR to be used in the National Export System is up to 35 characters, in 4 parts as follows: -
- 1st part - year in which the DUCR was allocated i.e., ‘2’ for 2022
- 2nd part – the country where the DUCR was allocated, typically GB for UK exports
- 3rd part – EORI number of the trader (12 characters), followed by a hyphen (-)
- 4th part - Unique series of characters, devised by the trader to enable an audit trail within their commercial records. This part is restricted to numbers, upper-case letters and certain special characters, namely 0 to 9, A to Z or a hyphen (-)
Example based on the above: 9GB123456789012-ABC1234
