Since the UK’s departure from the EU, imports from EU countries into Britain have been exempt from safety and security declarations, until now.
Here’s what you need to know about the new import requirements
From January 31 2025, all businesses importing goods in the UK need to comply with new UK safety and security declaration requirements. Goods must be declared before they arrive in the UK to avoid fees and other penalties.
The new declaration form is simpler than the current process and brands and businesses that are compliant will be able to trade more easily. This is because legitimate goods are less likely to be held up at the border and illegal or dangerous goods will be stopped.
The new form has:
- 20 mandatory fields to complete
- 8 conditional fields which need to be completed in certain circumstances
- 9 optional fields which you can choose to leave blank
The new safety and security declarations need to be submitted via Safety and Security Great Britain (S&S GB). In order to submit, you will need: a Government Gateway account, a Great Britain Economic Registration and Identification (EORI) number.
If you are already submitting EU import declarations, you can continue to do so as normal. However, you may want to switch to the new system to save time.
It is important to note that the person in charge of filing the declaration is the person who brings your goods into the country.
According to the Government: ‘Carriers or hauliers are legally responsible for submitting safety and security declarations – a party other than the carrier, such as the importer or an intermediary, can lodge the declaration on the carrier’s behalf, although the carrier is still responsible for making sure the declaration is submitted.’
If you haven’t set up your business on Safety and Security Great Britain, you need to:
- develop in-house software through the HMRC developer hub
- buy compatible software – there’s a list of developers available on the government website
- hire a Community System provider
You can find out more about the new safety and security declarations here.
If you need more information about trading globally, the British Beauty Council’s Trade Hub includes everything you need to know, click here to learn more.
