Import Control System 2 (ICS2) Services
ICS2 filings for goods entering the European Union, including the short straits traffic that turns up at Calais and Coquelles every night. Master level, house level, or both from one place.
Where ICS2 Sits in a UK to EU Movement
ICS2 is the European Union's advance cargo information system. It is one filing among several on a typical outbound load, and it is the one that can stop the goods before they ever get on a boat.
The Export Entry First
Goods have to leave the UK properly before anything worries about them arriving.
Transit If It Is Moving On
T1 and T2 movements, and the Phase 6 route for combined entry summary data.
The Same Filing Inbound
How entry summary declarations work coming the other way, into the UK.
Dover and the Tunnel
Clearance for the crossings where the pre-arrival window is measured in minutes.
Road Freight to Europe
We move freight on this lane too, so the filing is written by people who know the route.
Forwarders and Consolidators
House level filings for groupage where one trailer holds many consignments.
The Real ICS2 Timeline
ICS2 did not switch on in one go. It arrived in three releases, mode by mode, each with a window for operators who were not ready on day one. Knowing which release your traffic came in under still explains a lot about how your filings behave.
Release 1, March 2021
Pre-loading advance cargo information for air, covering postal and express consignments. A minimum dataset filed before goods were loaded onto an aircraft, aimed at explosives risk rather than customs value.
Release 2, March 2023
Full entry summary declarations for all air traffic, bringing in carriers, freight forwarders, express operators and postal operators. Deployment windows ran on into October 2023 for operators granted extra time.
Release 3, June 2024
Maritime and inland waterway went live on 3 June 2024, with carrier deployment windows running to December 2024. Road and rail followed on 1 April 2025, which is the date that mattered to anyone driving a trailer.
September 2025 Onwards
ICS1 was switched off on 1 September 2025 and ICS2 became the single system for every mode. Some member states held limited temporary derogations after that, mostly for road and rail filing through transit.
Where That Leaves You Today
Since 1 June 2026 the position is simple to state and harder to run. Every consignment entering the European Union needs a valid entry summary declaration, whatever the mode of transport. It is either filed straight into ICS2 or carried inside the transit declaration through NCTS Phase 6 in the countries that have opted in. There is no remaining category of load that gets in on the strength of a manifest, and there was never a January 2024 deadline, whatever you may have read.
Master Level, House Level, and Who Files What
Most ICS2 arguments are really arguments about this. Multiple filing lets two parties each lodge the part of the data they hold, and it only works if both parties know they are doing it.
Master Level
The carrier's filing. It covers the transport contract at the top of the chain, the vehicle, vessel or aircraft, the route, and the consignments as the carrier sees them. Whoever is legally the carrier owns this, and it is the filing the customs authority ties to the arrival of the means of transport.
House Level
The forwarder's or consolidator's filing. In groupage, one trailer carries consignments for twenty different customers and the carrier has no visibility of what sits behind each house bill. The party that does hold that detail files it, referenced against the master so the two halves join up.
Where It Falls Apart
Split responsibility is efficient until one side assumes the other has it covered. These are the failures we see most often on groupage into the European Union.
- A house filing lodged with no matching master filing, so the data has nothing to attach to.
- The carrier assuming the forwarder is filing house level, while the forwarder assumes the carrier is filing everything.
- Goods descriptions written as "freight all kinds" or "general cargo", which is not an acceptable description and invites a request for more information.
- A six digit commodity code missing on a house consignment where one is required.
What ICS2 Wants in the Dataset
ICS2 asks for more than the old system did, and the extra fields are the ones people are least likely to have to hand when a load is being booked.
The Consignment Detail
A plain language description of the goods and, at house level, a six digit commodity code. Package counts and types, gross mass, container and seal references where they apply, and the transport document references that let the filing be matched to the shipment on arrival.
The Parties and the Route
Consignor and consignee with full addresses, the buyer and seller where they are different parties, place of acceptance and place of delivery, the countries the goods pass through, and an EORI for the parties that need one. Vague or partial addresses are one of the more common reasons a filing is rejected.
Referrals and Do Not Load, in Practice
ICS2 does more than collect data. It answers back, and the answer can arrive before the goods have moved.
A Request For Information
Customs come back asking for a better goods description, a clearer address or additional detail. It is not a refusal, but it is a clock starting. Answered quickly it changes nothing. Ignored because it landed in an unmonitored mailbox at two in the morning, it becomes a held load.
Do Not Load
The strongest response. The consignment must not be loaded onto the means of transport heading for the European Union. On air freight that means it does not go on the aircraft. On road it means the unit should not be presented for the crossing. Loading anyway puts the problem at the frontier with the vehicle attached to it.
Control at Arrival
The filing is accepted but the consignment is flagged for a check when it lands. The load moves, and then stops. Knowing this in advance is worth a great deal, because it is the difference between telling a customer the delivery will slip and having a driver phone in from a control bay to ask what is happening.
The Short Straits Leave No Margin
Deep sea traffic gives you a day of notice. A trailer leaving a warehouse in Kent at eight in the evening for the last shuttle does not. Road and rail came into ICS2 on 1 April 2025, and the operators who struggled were not the ones with complicated cargo. They were the ones whose booking data arrived in pieces.
We sit in Ashford, twenty minutes from the tunnel, and we work on ferry time. Filings go in against the crossing, not against the next working day, and if a response comes back we act on it while the vehicle is still somewhere it can be turned around cheaply.
- We confirm who the carrier is. Master level belongs to them, and the filing has to say so correctly.
- We take the consignment data once. House level detail comes from the same paperwork as the customs entry.
- We file ahead of the crossing. Against the sailing or shuttle the vehicle is actually booked on.
- We watch for responses. Requests for information and load decisions get picked up overnight, not in the morning.
- You get the references. Sent back so the driver, the traffic desk and the customer are all looking at the same numbers.
Why Operators Bring ICS2 Work Here
A third of what we do is moving freight ourselves, which is why the filing side is set up around vehicle timings rather than office ones.
Modes Covered
Road, rail, maritime and air filings, with road the overwhelming majority of what we handle.
Filing Levels
Master and house level, filed separately or together depending on where the data sits.
Response Cover
Someone is watching for referrals through the night, when most short straits freight moves.
Authorised
AEOC authorised, BIFA and FIATA members, working out of Ashford and Dublin.
ICS2 FAQs
Does ICS2 apply to my traffic if I only run road freight to France?
Yes. Road and rail joined ICS2 on 1 April 2025, and since 1 June 2026 every consignment entering the European Union needs a valid entry summary declaration in any mode. A loaded unit crossing to Calais or Coquelles is in scope, whether it is a full load for one customer or groupage for thirty.
If I am a forwarder, do I file or does the carrier?
Often both, which is what multiple filing is for. The carrier lodges master level for the transport itself, and the party holding the house bill detail lodges house level against it. The problem is never the split, it is the assumption. Decide it per trade lane, write it down, and make sure the references match.
Is the ELO part of ICS2?
No, and this trips people up regularly. The Enveloppe Logistique Obligatoire is a French Smart Border requirement for roll on roll off movements, mandatory since 20 April 2026. It gathers your existing references into one barcode for the crossing. Your ICS2 filing has to exist first, because the envelope points at it rather than replacing it.
What actually happens on a do not load?
The consignment must stay off the means of transport bound for the European Union. In air freight that is enforced at the shed. On road it depends on the operator acting on the message, so someone has to be reading it. We deal with the underlying reason, refile or amend as needed, and tell you when the load is free to move.
Do I need an XI EORI to move goods to Northern Ireland?
Movements into Northern Ireland have their own arrangements, and whether you need an XI EORI depends on your role in the movement and what you are moving. It is worth ten minutes on the phone rather than a guess, because getting it wrong tends to show up at the point where the goods are already on their way.
Can you file ICS2 for us if another broker does our customs entries?
Yes, and we do it for hauliers and forwarders who keep their customs declarations elsewhere. We need the consignment data and clarity on who the carrier is. If the entry and the filing are being raised by two different parties, we will tell you which references need to match before the vehicle moves.
Get your EU filings in before the crossing
Tell us the lane, the mode and who is carrying, and we will set the filings up so nothing is waiting on a reference that does not exist yet.