HMRC has written to CILT to make its members aware that there are some examples of customs import declarations being entered into Automated Entry Processing (AEP) which is Irish Revenue’s ‘old’ import declaration system.
Irish officials are keen to stress that traders should not use AEP for RoRo movements. AEP will now be shut down by the end of March.
On that basis, although Irish officials can accept AEP declarations for RoRo movements they are more prone to issues especially when the declared journey of the goods does not replicate the actual journey of the goods. This can cause the AEP declaration to ‘lapse’ and therefore it cannot be used for the purposes of the Pre Boarding Notification.
Traders should only use AIS for the submission of import declarations when goods are moving by RoRo.
Irish Revenue has identified occasional degradation in performance during times of peak processing in its AIS system resulting in delayed responses to declarations and other messages lodged by trade. While filing patterns vary depending on a variety of factors, it is clear that the highest number of transactions occur in the late afternoon and evening.
Revenue is actively working with their software provider to increase capacity at peak processing times.
Traders are reminded that they can pre-lodge their customs declarations by as much as 30 days - this facilitates those who are in possession of all necessary information to file their declarations well in advance of the arrival of their goods and ensures they will be unaffected by peak load processing. Irish Revenue acknowledges that there will be occasions where a sailing is imminent and an MRN has yet to issue from AIS.
As an easement to cater for this specific set of circumstances only , traders can select “Empty” when creating the PBN. In such circumstances, the customs status of the goods actually being transported will need to be regularised upon arrival and consequently the vehicle will receive a red routing from Revenue - “Call to Customs”.
Irish Revenue will work with the trader/haulier at the port upon disembarkation to ensure that the customs formalities are completed as quickly as possible.