Customs Declaration Services Programme

(asked on 11th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans are in place in the event that the Customs Declaration Service is not fully operational before the UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019.


Answered by
Mel Stride Portrait
Mel Stride
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
This question was answered on 20th October 2017

The delivery of the new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is on target, and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) expects to meet its planned delivery date in January 2019. The progress of the programme is subject to rigorous and ongoing internal scrutiny.

Nevertheless, HMRC has robust contingency arrangements in place, including:

- A transition process between August 2018 and January 2019 where traders will start moving to CDS.

- Dual-running of the existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) service with CDS.

- Ensuring CHIEF can handle larger volumes of declarations.

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