Customs Clearance Services in Dover, Kent
Import, export and transit declarations for traffic crossing the short straits, filed from an office in Ashford a few minutes from the Sevington border facility.
Clearance for Traffic Crossing Through Kent
Roughly the same set of declarations comes up on every short straits job. These are the ones we file, and where each is explained properly.
Import Declarations
Entries into CDS for goods landing in the UK off a ferry or shuttle.
Export Declarations
Outbound entries and the accompanying document the driver presents.
Transit, T1 and T2
Movements opened and discharged at an office of departure or destination.
Safety and Security
Entry summary declarations, required on EU to GB arrivals since 31 January 2025.
ICS2 for the EU Side
Pre-arrival filings into the EU, mandatory for road since 1 April 2025.
Freight Across the Straits
Trailers on these crossings, booked by the same desk that writes the entry.
The Full Customs Service
Everything above, plus classification, valuation and the French envelope.
Z-Clear Portal
Your movement references and documents in one place instead of an email thread.
How a Short Straits Movement Runs
Dover and Eurotunnel work on the pre-lodgement model. Nothing is declared at the barrier, which is why everything has to be right before the vehicle books in.
Declare Before the Vehicle Books In
The customs entry is lodged in advance, on CDS for the Great Britain side. There is no space at the port to hold freight while paperwork is sorted out, so a declaration raised at the ferry terminal is already too late. Getting the invoice and packing list to us early is the single most useful thing a shipper can do.
Wrap It in a Goods Movement Reference
The driver cannot board on a stack of separate numbers. A goods movement reference is created in the Goods Vehicle Movement Service and the declaration references are attached to it, so one barcode represents everything on the vehicle. Carriers check it exists before boarding, and an incomplete one turns the truck away at the check in lane.
Roll Off, or Get Directed Inland
If nothing is flagged, the vehicle leaves the port and carries on. If the movement needs a transit office, an ATA or TIR carnet endorsing, or an SPS inspection, the driver is directed to an inland facility instead. Knowing which of those applies before departure is what stops a two hour detour becoming a lost day.
Sevington, and the Two Jobs It Does
The facility on the edge of Ashford is described loosely as an inspection site. It is actually two separate operations sharing a postcode, run by two different authorities, and confusing them is how loads end up in the wrong queue.
The Inland Border Facility
For customs purposes Sevington acts as a government office of departure on outbound journeys and an office of destination on inbound ones, covering traffic through both Dover and Eurotunnel. That is where common transit movements are opened and discharged, and where carnets and protected species paperwork are dealt with.
- Common Transit Convention movements, now running on NCTS Phase 6 since 1 June 2026
- ATA and TIR carnets requiring physical endorsement
- CITES checks on protected species and products made from them
The Border Control Post
Separately, Defra runs a border control post on the same site, carrying out sanitary and phytosanitary checks on goods entering through the Kent crossings. It operates around the clock, every day of the year, and covers products of animal origin, plants and plant products, and high risk food and feed of non-animal origin.
- SPS documentary, identity and physical checks, with unloading bays and cold storage on site
- Health and phytosanitary certification is a separate obligation from the customs entry
- The UK and EU agreed an SPS arrangement in principle in May 2025, intended to take effect around mid 2027, but it is not concluded and today's rules still apply in full
What Changed in January 2025
Dover Western Docks was removed from the list of inland border facilities that month, so it no longer performs that role. Oversized and hazardous vehicles that cannot use Sevington are handled at Stop 24 instead. If your instructions to drivers still name Western Docks, they are out of date and worth rewriting before someone follows them.
Ashford, Which Is the Useful Place to Be
Our head office is at Eureka Park in Ashford, a short drive from the Sevington inland border facility and close to both the Dover road and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone. We do not keep a Dover address for the sake of the search results.
Being here matters in ordinary ways rather than dramatic ones. We know how the inland facility behaves at four in the morning, we know which queries come from where, and we are in the same time zone and the same county as the traffic we are clearing.
Zelir Logistics Ltd
The Cobalt Building, 1600 Eureka Park, Ashford, Kent TN25 4BF
+44 1233 516081, answered 24 hours a day, including weekends and bank holidays
Sevington is minutes away. The Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone and the Port of Dover are both a short run down the M20.
- Send the documents. Commercial invoice, packing list and the movement details, by email or through the portal.
- We check first. Codes, values, origin and any licence or certificate the goods need before they travel.
- We file to CDS. Filed as your representative or in your own name, against the procedure code the movement calls for.
- References go to the driver. Entry numbers passed straight to whoever is building the goods movement reference.
- We stay with it. If the load is routed or held, we deal with the authority holding it and tell you where it stands.
What Local Actually Buys You
Four things that make a difference on a crossing that takes ninety minutes and a customs process that should take less.
Round the Clock, Both Ends
The Defra post at Sevington runs 24 hours a day, and our desk is staffed to match the sailings.
Roles at One Site
Sevington is an inland border facility for customs and a border control post for SPS. Different queues, different rules.
AEOC Status Held Here
Authorised by HMRC in our own right, alongside BIFA and FIATA membership.
Google Rating
From 46 reviews left by importers, exporters and hauliers whose loads we clear.
Dover Customs Clearance FAQs
How long does customs clearance take at Dover?
We will not put a number on the whole process, because most of it is not ours to control. What is ours is the filing, and most declarations are submitted within minutes of the documents arriving, with the majority clearing on submission. After that it depends on whether HMRC or Defra select the consignment. A routed load waits for the check, however good the paperwork was.
Who raises the goods movement reference, you or the haulier?
Usually the haulier or the driver's operator, because it is tied to the vehicle rather than to the goods. We give them the declaration references to put inside it, and we check the movement is complete before departure. Where we are also moving the freight, both halves are ours and there is nobody to chase for a missing number.
My load needs an SPS check. Where does it go?
For goods entering through Dover or Eurotunnel, to the Defra border control post at Sevington, which handles products of animal origin, plants and plant products and high risk food and feed of non-animal origin. That is a separate process from the customs entry, with its own certification, and the vehicle attends the post rather than clearing at the port.
Do you have an office in Dover itself?
No. Our head office is in Ashford, which is where the inland border facility is and where most short straits customs work is genuinely done. Declarations are filed electronically, so what matters is not a Dover doorway but being close enough to the facility and the routes to know how they behave. Our other office is in Dublin.
Can you clear traffic through Folkestone and Eurotunnel too?
Yes. The shuttle at Folkestone runs on the same pre-lodgement basis as the Dover ferries, uses the same goods movement references and feeds the same inland facility at Sevington. From a customs point of view the two routes are handled identically, and we file for both. Tell us which crossing is booked and we will work to it.
What do you need from me before the truck leaves?
The commercial invoice, a packing list, the EORI numbers for both parties, the incoterms, and the vehicle and crossing details. For controlled goods, add the licence or certificate. If a transit movement is involved we need the office of destination as well. Anything missing, we ask before filing rather than after HMRC rejects the entry.
Crossing at Dover or Folkestone this week
Send the paperwork and the crossing details and we will tell you what the movement needs before the driver is anywhere near the port.