FAQs & Resources

No, there are NO on-boarding fees or subscription charges. You simply pay a flat rate per consignment.

As a CustomsPro customer you will not need to have your own DTI badge. ChannelPorts have extensive coverage across all RoRo ports in the UK.

Yes, you can stop using the CustomsPro system when you choose.

CustomsPro should not be used for the export of Excise goods, particularly when these goods are in a Duty Suspended state. The reason behind this restriction lies in the requirement of including the Electronic Case Management System (ECMS) reference in a specific field of the export declaration. Unfortunately, CustomsPro currently does not support the inclusion of this critical information.

If you have any shipments of this nature, we kindly request that you refrain from entering them onto CustomsPro. Instead, please open a support ticket with us, and our support team will take it from there. They will be responsible for completing the necessary declaration on your behalf. As part of this process, our staff will also reach out to the exporter, if needed, to confirm whether the goods are indeed duty suspended. In such cases, they will obtain the required ECMS number. If the goods are duty paid, an ECMS number is not necessary.

To aid in identifying Excise dutiable goods, please take note that the first 4 characters of the commodity code are as follows:

2203 (Beer)

2204 (Wine)

2205 (Fortified Wines)

2206 (Ciders/Perry)

2207 (Ethyl Alcohol)

Furthermore, please be aware that goods covered by a commodity code starting with 2208 (spirits such as Whisky, Vodka, etc.), as well as 2402 (Cigarettes) and 2403 (Tobacco), ChannelPorts prohibit involvement in the clearance of these goods.

Yes. Once your IT department have reviewed the CustomsPro API we can provide access to the CustomsPro sandbox for testing prior to going live.

Customs clearance will be required before the goods arrive at the border. To avoid costly delays and downtimes, it is worth establishing cooperation with a professional customs clearance organisation such as ChannelPorts as early as possible.

Yes, the “UNN” reference provided in the IPAFFS declaration is required to lodge your customs declaration in CDS – our team can handle both declarations for you.

At the moment we only support import declarations with the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and export declarations with Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) . Please contact us for more information.

ChannelPorts is authorised to complete and stamp these documents. Please get in contact here to discuss your needs.

You are invoiced at the beginning of the month for the declarations you have made in the previous month. You will only be invoiced for the successful transactions made through CustomsPro.

You must give at least 4 working hours notice before the goods arrives in the UK for ‘roll-on, roll-off’ freight. IPAFFS allows you to submit applications at least 5 days in advance.

As a CustomsPro customer you will be charged a single flat fee for all standard export clearances. T1 Transit documents are also free of charge if these are completed alongside the export declaration.

The onboarding process typically takes 12 working hours.

From July 2022, special checks will apply to plant and animal products, and these goods will be subject to additional phytosanitary or veterinary inspections.

These requirements include various categories of goods, from live animals and seedlings to used farm machinery and firewood. For example, a phytosanitary certificate (PC) will be required for the import of seedlings, root and tuber vegetables, non-frozen fruit, cut flowers, certain types of seeds, etc. More information can be found on the government pages on importing plant and animal products.

Yes, you will need to be EORI (Economic Operator Registration Identification) number registered. You can find the link here that will take you through that process.

ATA Carnets will need to be presented at an approved premise to be endorsed, you can find a list of approved premises here.