Customs Clearance for Exports from Ireland
Exporting out of Ireland splits into two different jobs. Goods going to Great Britain need an Irish export declaration, a boarding notification and a British import entry. Goods going to continental Europe by way of Britain need a transit movement that keeps their Union status intact across a third country, and that is the one that goes wrong in the same place every time. We handle both from Dublin and Ashford, and most declarations are submitted within minutes of your paperwork reaching us.
Export Declarations in Revenue's AES
Irish export declarations are filed in Revenue's Automated Export System (AES), which went live on 21 March 2023. AES replaced two systems at once: AEP for export declarations, and the separate eManifest system. It is fully operational, Revenue maintains a public interface test environment for software developers, and AEP is no longer used for export declarations. The work sits alongside our GB export declaration services on the same desk.
AES covers both the export declaration and the Exit Summary Declaration (EXS) for goods moving directly or indirectly to countries outside the EU, so the two are no longer separate exercises in separate places.
The Declaration and the MRN
Once we lodge the export declaration, AES returns a Master Reference Number (MRN). That MRN is the thread running through everything else in the movement. It goes into the Pre-Boarding Notification for the ferry, it is what the driver's paperwork is checked against, and it is what eventually evidences that the goods left the Union.
To file we need the exporter's EU EORI, the consignee, a real goods description with commodity codes, value, currency, incoterm, weights, package details, the customs procedure, the office of exit and the transport details.
Proof of Export and VAT Zero Rating
The commercial reason to care about a clean export declaration is VAT. Supplies of goods exported outside the EU are zero rated, but the zero rating depends on holding evidence that the goods actually left. The export MRN and the certification of exit from AES are the backbone of that evidence, sitting alongside your commercial and transport documents. In practice the problem is housekeeping rather than the rule: declarations that are lodged but never see an exit confirmation leave a gap that only surfaces at a VAT audit. We watch movements through to exit and flag the ones that do not close out.
Exporting From Ireland to Great Britain
A GB bound load needs the Irish export declaration in AES, a Pre-Boarding Notification for the ferry, a British import declaration in CDS at the other end, and a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) in HMRC's Goods Vehicle Movement Service so the vehicle can be checked in for the GB leg.
The PBN applies to all vehicles booked in as freight on a RoRo ferry, and it is an envelope of MRNs rather than a declaration, so the declarations have to be pre-lodged before the goods leave for the terminal. Responsibility sits with the haulier, who can delegate it, and we do that as a standalone job.
The UK Land Bridge to Continental Europe
The land bridge is still available and still legal. The UK is a contracting party to the Common Transit Convention, so goods can cross Britain under transit rather than going through full British import and export clearance. That is a different job from customs clearance at Dover, which is what a load actually entering Britain needs.
It Is a T2, Not a T1
This is the error we correct most often, and it is not a small one.
- T2 is internal Union transit. It is the correct procedure for Union goods moving from one member state to another through the territory of a common transit country. Irish or other EU goods travelling Ireland to Britain to France, Belgium or the Netherlands move under T2, which preserves their Union status throughout.
- T1 is external transit. It covers non-Union goods on which import duties are still outstanding, plus a narrow set of Union goods such as those exported with CAP refunds or from intervention stocks.
Put Union goods on a T1 across the land bridge and you have effectively stripped their Union status for the journey. What should have been a straightforward arrival in France becomes goods presenting as non-Union at the office of destination, with duty exposure and a proof of status argument. It is recoverable, but it costs a day. Ask for a T2, and check the document says T2. Our T1 and T2 transit clearance covers movements in both directions.
The Guarantee
Transit needs a guarantee: either a comprehensive guarantee, held at a 100, 50, 30 or 0 per cent waiver level depending on your authorisation, or an individual guarantee per shipment. Air only and rail only movements are exempt. Road is not, so the land bridge always needs one.
A handful of loads a year is usually an individual guarantee job. Regular volume justifies a comprehensive guarantee with a reduction, and the holder's own AEO status feeds into the waiver level available to them. We can also lodge movements under our own arrangements.
NCTS Phase 6 and the GB Goods Movement Reference
The transit declaration is filed in NCTS. Ireland deployed NCTS Phase 6 on 1 September 2025 and the UK moved to NCTS Phase 6 on 1 June 2026, so both ends of the land bridge run a bigger, stricter dataset than Phase 5. Thin consignee or itinerary data that used to be tolerated now fails validation.
For the British leg the haulier needs a GMR, and the transit MRN can only be added to a GMR once it has been released to transit, which on a land bridge movement happens before the vehicle departs. That is the practical reason declarations cannot be left until the driver is at the terminal. The haulier also needs a UK EORI to use the British systems.
The ENS on Re-entry to the EU
When the vehicle re-enters the EU on the far side of Britain, a safety and security entry summary declaration is required in ICS2. Irish transit declarations cannot carry it, because Revenue's NCTS-P6 system cannot include ENS data, so the ENS is always a standalone filing. Assume you owe one on every land bridge movement.
Goods entering Great Britain are also within the GB safety and security regime, which began on 31 January 2025 for EU imports and whose legal responsibility sits with the carrier rather than the broker. Confirm with your haulier who is filing it rather than assuming.
What Else the Land Bridge Needs
- A PBN for the Irish ferry leg. Revenue's guidance expressly contemplates inbound T2 transit PBNs holding both the ENS MRNs and the transit MRNs.
- TRACES registration if you are moving animals, animal products, hay or straw.
- A plan for the office of destination, or authorised consignee status, so the transit can be discharged without a detour to an inland facility.
Direct Sailings as the Alternative
A direct sailing from Ireland to a continental port is an intra-EU movement: no transit declaration, no guarantee, no GB EORI, no GMR, no third country safety and security filing and no boarding notification. What you pay is sailing time and less frequent departures. The land bridge buys road speed and frequency, and charges you in paperwork, guarantee capacity and a longer list of things that can stop the truck.
Irish government guidance notes that direct continental routes are available and avoid the potential delays associated with the land bridge. That guidance has not been refreshed since 2022 and there is no current official comparison, so treat routing as a commercial decision on your own lanes. We are happy to price both, whether the leg you need is road freight into Britain and Europe or part and full load haulage onward from the port.
How We Work on Irish Exports
We file the export in AES, raise the transit where one is needed, build the PBN, and watch the movement until the office of destination discharges it and AES confirms exit. Being on both sides of the water means the Irish declaration and the British leg sit with one team, not two agents at three in the morning.
Zelir Logistics holds AEO authorisation (AEOC) from HMRC on the UK side, though not in Ireland. We are members of BIFA and FIATA, rated 5.0 from 40+ Google reviews, and open 24 hours, and you can read more about who we are. A lot of our work comes from other forwarders and hauliers who want the customs leg covered without giving up the traffic.
- File the export in AES. The declaration goes in and AES returns the MRN.
- Raise the transit. Where the movement needs one, with the guarantee arranged before departure.
- Build the PBN. The boarding notification for the ferry leg, holding the declaration MRNs.
- Watch it to exit. Until the office of destination discharges the movement and AES confirms exit.
- One team, both sides. The Irish declaration and the British leg handled by the same people.
Irish Export FAQs
Which system do I use for export declarations from Ireland?
Revenue's Automated Export System, AES, which went live on 21 March 2023 and replaced both AEP for exports and the old eManifest system. AES handles the export declaration and the exit summary declaration together, and returns a Master Reference Number that carries through to the Pre-Boarding Notification and, ultimately, to your proof that the goods left the Union.
Do I need a T1 or a T2 for the UK land bridge?
For Union goods moving from Ireland to another member state through Britain, it is a T2. T2 is internal Union transit and preserves the Union status of the goods across the common transit country. T1 is external transit for non-Union goods with duty outstanding. Using a T1 by default is a common and costly mistake at the office of destination.
Do I still need a separate ENS if the goods are travelling under transit?
Yes, for anything touching Ireland. Revenue states that its NCTS Phase 6 system cannot include entry summary declaration data inside the transit declaration, so safety and security has to be lodged separately in ICS2. Plan for a standalone ENS on every land bridge movement rather than assuming the transit declaration has absorbed it.
What proof do I need that goods have actually been exported?
Zero rating a supply for VAT depends on holding evidence that the goods left the Union, and the export MRN with the certification of exit from AES is the core of that, supported by your commercial invoice and transport documents. The practical risk is declarations that never close out at the office of exit, leaving a hole that only appears at audit.
Is the UK land bridge still worth using?
It is still available under the Common Transit Convention, and for time sensitive lanes the road speed can justify it. What it adds is a transit declaration, a guarantee, a GB Goods Movement Reference, a UK EORI for the haulier and a separate ENS on re-entry to the EU. Irish government guidance points out that direct sailings avoid those potential delays.
Can you handle the transit guarantee for us?
Usually yes. You can hold your own comprehensive guarantee, at a waiver level that depends on your authorisation, or take an individual guarantee per shipment, or we can lodge the movement under our arrangements. Which is cheaper depends entirely on volume. If you are moving a few loads a year, per shipment is normally the sensible starting point.
Land bridge or direct sailing, we will file either
Tell us the lane and the deadline and we will price both routes, with the declarations, the transit and the guarantee accounted for.