The Goods Vehicle Movement Service is a customs system of the British Customs Authority designed to speed up clearances of vehicles arriving from the EU by allowing pre-lodgement of the manifest. When goods are shipped from China, there is ample time to process documents and clear shipments. The ferry from the European Union reaches the United Kingdom in two hours, which means trucks could end up waiting for clearance, creating delays and blockage at the port.
Until January 1st 2022, the GVMS system was only used for moving goods from the European Union to the United Kingdom under the Common Transit Convention. This limitation has ended, and all moving goods need to be registered.
Companies Struggling With GVMS
Many companies are struggling with GVMS and asking their customs agents for help registering their shipments, which is not a customs process but a logistics process. As a customs agent, Customs Support can’t help you with registering your shipment. Your transport company needs to take care of that. We can help you with importing or exporting your products.
Companies exporting goods to the United Kingdom should coordinate closely with their transport company to ensure they can be transported to your end customer in the United Kingdom without delay. The same goes for companies exporting goods from the United Kingdom to the European Union.
More information on GVMS
You can find out more information on the British GVMS system via these two web pages from the British Government:
- Register for the goods vehicle movement service: If you're a transport company and move goods through a port in the UK that uses the goods vehicle movement service, you'll need to register for the service to get your goods through customs.
- Check how to move goods through ports that use the goods vehicle movement service: If you're a trader, transport company or carrier and use a UK port using the goods vehicle movement service, find out what you need to do to get goods through customs.
Happy to Help
Our customs specialists are ready and happy to help you with any customs-related issues to ship goods between the European Union and the United Kingdom. We have offices in the United Kingdom and many countries in the European Union. Contact one of our specialists if you have any questions about trading between the European Union and the United Kingdom or need assistance.