LIVE 30th November 2023 | The UK is an independent member of the Common Transit Convention (CTC) and under the terms of the CTC, the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) Phase 4 which you currently use, must be updated to a new version with improved functionality.
To meet the requirements of the CTC, all member countries must transfer to NCTS Phase 5 by 30th November 2023.
HMRC is developing the transition plan for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland and will provide more details about that, including the final date for making declarations on NCTS Phase 4, in future communications.
What’s Changing
To help you get ready for NCTS5 in the coming months HMRC will be providing more detailed information to cover:
- The new functions of NCTS5
- Actions to take if you will be moving goods under transit
- Changes to data requirements and messaging
If you use software to access NCTS, your chosen software developer has the technical specifications needed to enable them to develop the new software to interact with NCTS5.
If you use the free-to-use web portal via the Government Gateway, HMRC is also developing a new version and will provide further details on this work in the coming months.
Benefits for NCTS users
NCTS5 will provide new and enhanced functionality to improve your user experience.
This includes:
The ability to amend pre-lodged declarations rather than having to cancel and re-start a declaration if you need to make an amendment as is currently the case.
Digital Transit Accompanying Document (TAD)
At the moment the TAD needs to be carried in paper format with the driver and the goods and presented at Customs officers at the border. With NCTS5 the TAD could be presented in digital format, such as on a smartphone or tablet.
New customs ‘Office of Incident’ role
This new role means that if there’s an incident during the goods’ journey it can be reported and the declarant notified in real time, rather than the current process of waiting until arrival at the Office of Destination. This will save time when the goods arrive at their final destination.
You don’t need to take action now but below you will see further updates and information about what you will need to do to be able to use NCTS 5.
