Customs Clearance for Imports into Ireland
Ireland is an EU member state, so a load leaving Great Britain for Dublin or Rosslare is an export from one customs territory and an import into another. We file both sides, and most declarations are submitted within minutes of your paperwork reaching us.
What Has to Exist Before the Truck Boards
Different system, different EORI, a separate safety and security filing, and a boarding control at the ferry that stops the vehicle if any of it is missing. Four separate things, and missing one means the vehicle does not travel. The third is the one people forget.
GB Export Declaration
Filed in CDS before the vehicle leaves Great Britain. We handle the GB export declaration as part of the same movement.
Irish Import Declaration
An Irish import declaration, or a transit declaration, filed in Revenue's Automated Import System. Our import declaration services cover both ends.
Entry Summary Declaration
Safety and security data for the goods, filed in ICS2. This is the filing most often assumed to be someone else's job.
Pre-Boarding Notification
The envelope that ties the reference numbers together. Without it the ferry operator will not check the vehicle in.
Import Declarations in Revenue's AIS
Irish import declarations are filed in the Automated Import System (AIS), Revenue's national import platform. AIS went live in November 2020 and took over from the legacy AEP import system when dual running ended on 31 March 2021. AEP is no longer used for import declarations.
Most filers still work in AIS V1, built on EUCDM version 5.1. Revenue is upgrading to AIS V2, aligned to EUCDM version 6.2, in two parts. Centralised Clearance for Import phases 1 and 2 went live in January 2026, and the National Import upgrade is scheduled for September 2026. The dataset gets more prescriptive with each version, so loose goods descriptions and thin valuation builds tend to start bouncing.
The Pre-Boarding Notification
A Pre-Boarding Notification (PBN) is required for all vehicles booked in as freight on a RoRo ferry. Created in Revenue's Customs RoRo Service, it is not a declaration: it is an electronic envelope carrying the Master Reference Numbers of every declaration covering the goods on that vehicle, under one PBN ID. Revenue publishes port specific guidance for Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort. Declarations must be pre-lodged before the goods leave for the terminal, because the PBN needs their MRNs, and the PBN then returns a status of good to proceed to check-in, incomplete, or not good to proceed.
Who Is Responsible, and Who Can Do It
Responsibility sits with the haulier, who may delegate it to a declarant, importer, exporter, clearance agent or logistics company, and usually does, because the haulier rarely holds the MRNs. We build PBNs for hauliers and for other forwarders as a standalone job.
What Happens Without One
The ferry operator will not check the vehicle in, and Revenue's guidance is that it will be instructed to leave the port area. Vehicles travelling through the passenger channel do not need a PBN.
Safety and Security: the ENS Nobody Files
An entry summary declaration (ENS) must be lodged in ICS2 for goods entering the EU, and Revenue states that ICS2 has been fully operational for all modes since 1 January 2026. For a truck on a ferry between Great Britain and Ireland, Revenue applies the short sea shipping deadline: at the latest two hours before the ferry arrives at the first Irish port of entry. Responsibility sits with the road haulier operating the truck, which is the active means of transport when it drives off the ferry. Most hauliers assume the ferry operator files it. They do not.
Transit Does Not Carry Your ENS Into Ireland
Elsewhere in the EU, NCTS Phase 6 can carry safety and security data inside the transit declaration. Ireland deployed NCTS Phase 6 on 1 September 2025, but Revenue is explicit that its NCTS-P6 system cannot include ENS data in a transit declaration, and that a separate ENS must be lodged in the Import Control System.
So a standalone ENS is always required for goods arriving into Ireland, including movements under T1 and T2 transit clearance. The ENS MRN goes into the PBN alongside the import or transit MRNs, so no ENS means an incomplete PBN, which means no boarding.
EORI: a GB Number Will Not Work in Ireland
To declare in Ireland you need an EU EORI. A GB EORI cannot be used to make declarations in the EU. HMRC's own guidance says you need either an EORI from an EU country or an XI EORI with a permanent establishment in Northern Ireland, and otherwise a customs representative. An Irish established business registers with Revenue through ROS. Revenue also requires the Eircode on every EORI registration, or declarations get rejected.
A second layer catches GB sellers shipping DDP. Under the Union Customs Code the declarant must generally be established in the customs territory of the Union (UCC Articles 18 and 170), so a business that is not EU established cannot lodge in its own name and needs a representative.
We act as both direct and indirect representative in Ireland. Talk to the Dublin desk before you quote DDP into Ireland.
- Direct representation. We lodge in your name and on your behalf, which suits an Irish established business that simply wants the filing done.
- Indirect representation. We lodge in our own name on your behalf, which is what a GB business without an EU establishment usually needs in order to import at all.
- Joint liability, agreed up front. Indirect representation makes us jointly and severally liable for the customs debt alongside you, so we agree the terms up front rather than switching it on by default.
Import VAT and Postponed Accounting
Postponed accounting lets VAT registered traders account for import VAT on the VAT3 return instead of paying it at the border, so it is declared and recovered in the same return, subject to deductibility. It applies to imports from any third country including Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland, which stays inside EU VAT rules for goods.
It is not automatic. It is available to traders registered for both VAT and Customs and Excise, and Revenue expects compliance to be demonstrated on request. Traders registered for both at the end of 2020 got entitlement automatically. Newer traders must register for C&E and obtain an EORI first.
- Records. Records kept under section 84 of the VAT Consolidation Act 2010.
- A clean record. Across VAT, excise and customs.
- Evidence of standing. Solvency and tax clearance, shown on request.
- Notice of Exclusion. Revenue can serve one, with 30 days to appeal to the Tax Appeals Commission, which matters if you have set up a new Irish entity to hold the import.
Otherwise VAT is payable at importation on the customs value plus duty and other charges, usually through a deferred payment account that is not debited until the fifteenth of the month following import.
Low Value Consignments: the 1 July 2026 Change
From 1 July 2026 the EU abolished the €150 customs duty relief on low value consignments and introduced a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item, running until 1 July 2028, after which normal duties apply. The €3 is charged per item by tariff classification, not per parcel, so a mixed carton is not one charge.
Revenue implemented this in AIS, where procedure code C07 is obsolete, replaced by F53 for non-IOSS business to consumer consignments and 1LV for consignments under €150. This is a customs duty change only, and import VAT and IOSS rules are unchanged. If you ship small parcels into Ireland, duty now applies to almost everything.
How We Work on Irish Imports
We hold both sides of the movement. The GB export goes out of Ashford, the Irish import through Dublin, and the ENS and the PBN sit with the same people, so one team can see why a PBN is incomplete instead of three parties emailing each other about it.
Irish traffic runs on the same desk as our full customs clearance service, and where the load needs a vehicle as well as an entry it can go on our own road freight fleet. Paperwork reaches us by email or through the Z-Clear customs portal, whichever suits you.
- Both sides, one team. The GB export, the Irish import, the ENS and the PBN handled by the same people.
- AEO Authorised (AEOC). Held from HMRC on the UK side, though not in Ireland. We are also BIFA and FIATA members.
- Open 24 hours. The desk is staffed around the clock because ferries do not run to office hours.
- What we control. Our submission time, and how fast we chase a query.
- What we do not control. A Revenue routing decision, a physical examination or a sailing. We will say which you are looking at rather than guess at a time.
Irish Import FAQs
Do I need a PBN for every load going to Ireland?
You need a Pre-Boarding Notification for any vehicle booked in as freight on a RoRo ferry. Vehicles travelling through the passenger channel do not. The PBN is not a declaration, it is an envelope holding the MRNs of the declarations covering the goods, and it has to reach "good to proceed to check-in" status before the ferry operator will check the vehicle in.
Who is responsible for creating the Pre-Boarding Notification?
Responsibility sits with the haulier, but the haulier can delegate it to a declarant, importer, exporter, clearance agent or logistics company. In practice the party holding the declaration MRNs is best placed to build it, which is usually the customs broker. We create PBNs for hauliers and for other forwarders as a standalone service, without needing to handle the declarations too.
Can I use my GB EORI number to import into Ireland?
No. A GB EORI cannot be used to make customs declarations in the EU. You need an EU EORI, which for imports through an Irish port means an Irish one issued by Revenue, or you appoint a customs representative established in the EU to act for you. Revenue also requires an Eircode on every EORI registration or declarations are rejected.
Does a transit declaration cover the safety and security entry for Ireland?
No, not for Ireland. Revenue states that its NCTS Phase 6 system cannot carry entry summary declaration data inside the transit declaration, so a separate ENS must be lodged in ICS2. That applies whether the goods move under T1 or T2. The ENS MRN then has to appear in the PBN, so without it the PBN stays incomplete.
How late can the ENS be filed for a GB to Ireland ferry?
Revenue treats a truck on a ferry between the UK and Ireland as short sea shipping, so the ENS must be lodged at the latest two hours before the vessel arrives at the first Irish port of entry. Responsibility sits with the road haulier operating the truck, because the truck is the active means of transport on arrival, not the ferry.
Is postponed accounting for Irish import VAT automatic?
No. It is available to traders registered for both VAT and Customs and Excise, and Revenue expects you to demonstrate compliance on request, including records, solvency and tax clearance. Traders already registered for both at the end of 2020 got entitlement automatically. Revenue can also issue a Notice of Exclusion, which carries a 30 day right of appeal.
Send us the Irish leg and the GB leg together
Tell us what is moving into Dublin or Rosslare, and we will tell you what has to be filed, who has to file it and by when. Or get a quote for Irish clearance.