The Republic of Ireland has introduced a temporary relaxation around a new requirement for safety & security ENS (Entry Summary) declarations for freight arriving from Great Britain.
Entry from Great Britain into the Republic, which remains an EU member state, requires new customs procedures, including ENS declarations.
The ENS must be submitted to Irish customs in advance of the goods departing GB, with the carrier responsible for ensuring this is done.
The temporary easement comes a week after the rule came into force as GB left the EU’s customs authority.
Stena cancellations
The move comes as Stena, one of the two main ferry operators carrying freight from Holyhead in Wales to Dublin Port, said it was cancelling a dozen sailings next week due to "a decline in freight volumes during the first week of Brexit”.
Passenger business for ferry operators is also highly curtailed during the latest Covid-19 lockdowns in both the UK and Ireland.
Emergency code
Ireland’s customs authority, the Irish Revenue Commissioners, said the easement would allow an ENS to be produced without all the normally required information.
Instead, it has issued an emergency code that would allow hauliers to submit an ENS without the detail required to generate an Irish PBN number – required from 1 January for hauliers to enter freight into the Irish Republic.
The PBN is the Irish equivalent of the UK’s Goods Movement Reference number.