NCTS5 (UK): National transit problem / HMRC workaround

HMRC have advised that they have found a problem with NCTS5 National Transits and have given the following statement:

Declaring National Transit movements into NCTS5

We are aware that there are some issues declaring National Transit movements in NCTS5, for either Great Britain to Great Britain (GB - GB) or Northern Ireland to Northern Ireland (XI - XI). We understand that users are experiencing a rejection of the IE001 Anticipated Arrival Record (AAR) at the Office of Destination. A fix will be implemented when we switch to NCTS5 final state rules on 22 January 2025.

What this means for you

Until the fix is in place, in order to declare National Transit movements into NCTS5, you will need to enter an Office of Transit code in the declaration, to enable the procedure to be arrived in NCTS at the final point of destination.

For the office of transit, you can either:

• Enter the office of destination code (if it can be used as an office of transit). You can check here to see if the office of destination is also listed as an office of transit; or,
• Enter GB000004, which is a new code that has been temporarily added as an office of transit for National Transit movements. This office can be found in the EU customs office list and is selectable in either your software or the free to use web portal.

If you require further assistance arriving a movement, please contact the relevant Office of Destination.

What happens next

We will continue to issue communications about NCTS5, until we switch to final state rules in January 2025. You can find all of our Transit updates on gov.uk.

Thank you

HMRC