How to move parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for parcel carriers

This guidance is for parcel carriers and operators who send parcels by direct transport from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland between

• consumer-to-consumer (private individual in Great Britain sending parcels to another private individual in Northern Ireland for personal use)
• consumer-to-business
• business-to-consumer
• business-to-business

Correspondence sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain is exempt from any requirements. You do not need to share data with HMRC for correspondence sent to Northern Ireland. This includes letters, postcards and printed matter.

In addition to standard requirements, there may be additional requirements when you’re sending sanitary and phytosanitary goods in parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Consumer parcel movements

Business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business, including returns and consumer-to-consumer parcels can be moved without

• customs declarations
• safety and security requirements
• customs duty
• presentation of goods to customs authorities

The goods you move must meet all the following criteria

• the parcel is sent by a UK established business or individual
• the parcel is moved by an authorised carrier under the UK Carrier Scheme where required
• the parcel is sent to or from a consumer
• the parcel weighs no more than 31.5 kilograms or 100 kilograms if it is business-to-consumer or consumer-to-business and contains a single item
• the goods are not subject to specific domestic or international law restrictions (also known as ‘category 1 goods’), such as the Russia sanctions regime or EU trade defence measures

If your goods do not meet these criteria, you’ll need to send the parcels in line with the business-to-business parcel movements section in this guide.

The UK Carrier Scheme

The UK Carrier Scheme is an authorisation that allows parcel carriers to move eligible consumer parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without completing customs or safety and security declarations.

A parcel carrier in this case, is an operator who moves parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. To be authorised, you must meet the following criteria

• be established in the UK and if you’re not established in Northern Ireland, you must have an indirect customs representative established in Northern Ireland
• not have committed any serious or repeated infringements of legislative or regulatory requirements within 3 years before your application
• have a high level of control of your operations, including a system to manage commercial and transport records
• comply with the obligations on authorised carriers moving eligible consumer parcels

Moving parcels if you’re authorised under the UK Carrier Scheme

You’ll need to know whether the parcel should follow the business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business, consumer-to-consumer or business-to-business requirements using the information from the sender of the parcel.

You’ll also need to collect and provide data on consumer parcel movements to HMRC from the commercial information you receive from the sender when the shipment or postage is purchased. For example, the details of the sender and recipient and a description of the goods.

For movements between consumers, parcel carriers should provide the data on the movement to HMRC up to 24 hours after the delivery.

For movements between a business and a consumer, parcels carriers should provide the data on the movement before the delivery is completed.

You can read the data requirements for parcel carriers who move parcels under the Windsor Framework. You can find out more on how to submit this data.

Check if you can apply for the UK Carrier Scheme.

Obligations for senders and recipients

Businesses or consumers in Great Britain sending a parcel by direct transport to an individual residing in Northern Ireland for personal use, or a consumer in Great Britain returning goods to a business in Northern Ireland will need to supply their parcel carrier with information. For example

• a description of the item inside the parcel
• whether they are a private individual or business

Read information on the data required for individuals and data requirements for businesses.

Moving goods to Northern Ireland from outside the UK 

Goods sent to Northern Ireland from outside the UK cannot move under the UK Carrier Scheme, even if moved to Northern Ireland through Great Britain.

Read more information on how to move goods in and out of Northern Ireland.

If you’re moving goods into Northern Ireland, from outside either the UK or EU, that are £135 or less in value then you must include the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) number on the customs declaration, if this is provided by the online marketplace or seller.  

IOSS cannot be used for sales of low value goods that are located in Great Britain at the point of sale to consumers in Northern Ireland. Find out more about VAT Import One Stop Shop Scheme.

Business-to-business parcel movements

Parcels that are sent from a business in Great Britain to a business in Northern Ireland have the same requirements as goods moved using freight. If they are eligible, parcels can be moved under the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.

Goods that are moved using the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements do not need a full customs declaration and no customs duty is charged.

One of the parties must be authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme to use the simplified processes. This is usually the sender or recipient of the goods or the carrier. You’ll need the authorised business to provide details of their authorisation to you, including the authorisation number and associated EORI number.

A full customs declaration is required if none of the parties involved in the parcel movement, are authorised under UK Internal Market Scheme or the goods are not eligible to use the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements.

Customs duty may be charged and calculated according to the Northern Ireland Tariff.  In some cases, there will be no customs duty due. For example, goods in parcels that are £135 or less.

If customs duty is due, there are schemes available to waive the duty or where eligible, reimburse duty. For example, if you can provide evidence that the goods did not enter the EU. Find out more on how to bring goods into Northern Ireland without paying duty.

You can find more information about the simplified process for Internal Market Movements