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clearBorder Acronym Glossary

November 16, 2021
clearBorder Acronym Glossary
Acronym Full Name Meaning
AC Authorised Consignor/ee A person who has been authorised to carry out transit operations without presenting the goods and the transit declaration at the customs office of departure. The application for authorised consignor can be filed electronically using the Customs Decision System (CDS).
AEO Authorised Economic Operator Authorised Economic Operator status is an internationally recognised quality mark that shows your business’s role in the international supply chain is secure and has customs control procedures that meet Authorised Economic Operator standards and criteria.
APHA Animal and Plant Health Agency The UK Government Agency which carries out animal and plant health controls required by legislation
BCC British Chambers of Commerce The British Chambers of Commerce represent local business communities in every part of the UK, helping businesses of every size and sector to promote trade.
BCP Border Control Point The physical entity and associated people and systems at which controls and checks imposed on goods entering the EU or the UK are exercised.
BF Border Force Border Force is a law-enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom
BIFA British International Freight Association The British International Freight Association, also known as BIFA, is the prime United Kingdom trade association representing UK freight forwarders. These are companies that forward goods internationally on behalf of importers and exporters.
SI Brexit SI Brexit “SI Brexit” IT system is the French customs system that receives customs notifications enabling French authorities to instruct the driver of each vehicle to go to either the green or the orange lane after disembarking in the French port of arrival.
C 88 Single Administrative Document Form C88 is a customs import or export declaration form.
Catch Certificate Catch Certificate A catch certificate is required to guarantee the legal origin of fisheries products entering the EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulatory zone from third countries, including GB. A catch certificate provides information which proves that the fishery product(s) have been caught under a legal fishing regime.
CCG Customs Comprehensive Guarantee Use a customs comprehensive guarantee to cover Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT when you regularly import goods or use common and Union transit.
CDS Customs Declaration Service CDS is the successor system to CHIEF. Currently in use for trade to and from Northern Ireland, it receives and stores customs declarations.
CHED Common Health Entry Document The EU or UK document which when completed by the import authorities demonstrates that a consignment has cleared SPS checks
CHIEF Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight Customs Handling of Import & Export Freight (CHIEF) is the computer system of the United Kingdom’s revenue and customs services, HMRC, used for managing the declaration and movement of goods into and out of the United Kingdom and allowing UK traders to communicate with counterpart customs systems in the other member states of the European Union. It has been partly replaced by the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). CHIEF is due to be retired during 2022.
CMR Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road/Consignment note A document used for the regulation of road freight transport, and serves as an international agreement. The document has been adopted by most of the European states with the purpose to regulate legal issues concerning road freight transportation.
CSP Community System Provider Independent trade systems that directly serve carriers, transit sheds and freight forwarders. CSPs record and track the movement of goods within ports and airports, enabling them to operate more efficiently.
CTC Common Transit Convention The Common Transit Convention is used to ease the movement of goods between or through any common transit countries. The UK is a member of the Common Transit Convention.
DAP Delivered-at-Place Delivered-at-place (DAP) is an international trade term used to describe a deal in which a seller agrees to pay all costs and suffer any potential losses of moving goods sold to a specific location. In delivered-at-place agreements, the buyer is responsible for paying import duties and any applicable taxes, including clearance and local taxes, once the shipment has arrived at the specified destination.
DDA Duty Deferment Account A duty deferment account lets you make one customs duty payment a month through Direct Debit instead of paying for individual consignments. You can apply for a duty deferment account if you’re an importer, someone who represents importers or you’re releasing goods from an excise warehouse.
DDP Delivered Duty Paid Delivered duty paid (DDP) is a delivery agreement whereby the seller assumes all of the responsibility, risk, and costs associated with transporting goods until the buyer receives or transfers them at the destination port. This agreement includes paying for shipping costs, export and import duties, insurance, and any other expenses incurred during shipping to an agreed-upon location in the buyer’s country.
DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Government Department responsible for the import and export regimes that protect human and plant health
DELTA T DELTA T DELTA-T is the new (2021) French computer system for managing declarations under the Common Transit Convention. These transit declarations allow the movement of goods with suspension of customs duties and taxes. They are valid in EU countries as well as in countries that have signed the Transit Convention.
DIT Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade is a United Kingdom government department responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade.
E-DOMERO E-DOMERO The legacy government IT portal for making on-line applications for Phytosanitary certificates
EHCO Export Health Certificates Online The UK government’s IT system for producing EHCs
EHC Export Health Certificate A certificate, usually signed by a vet, attesting that an export consignment meets the requirements of that certificate
EHO Environmental Health Officer Environmental Health Officers (also known as Public Health Inspectors or Environmental Health Practitioners) are responsible for carrying out measures for protecting public health, including administering and enforcing legislation related to environmental health and providing support to minimize health and safety hazards.
ENS Entry Summary Declaration Also known as a ‘Safety and Security Declaration’. An ENS is a declaration provided by the shipper or the importer to the UK customs, providing information on the cargo, EORI numbers of the shipper & the consignee, items commodity code, number of packages, container number, seal number, gross weight of the goods, and incoterms, are some general information required for the ENS declaration.
EORI Economic Operators Registration and Identification A European Union registration and identification number for businesses which undertake the import or export of goods into or out of the EU.
EXW Ex Works An international trade term that describes when a seller makes a product available at a designated location, and the buyer of the product must cover the transport costs.
FCA Free Carrier The free carrier is a trade term dictating that a seller of goods is responsible for the delivery of those goods to a destination specified by the buyer. When used in trade, the word “free” means the seller has an obligation to deliver goods to a named place for transfer to a carrier. The destination is typically an airport, shipping terminal, warehouse, or other location where the carrier operates. It might even be the seller’s business location.
Free Circulation Free Circulation Free Circulation means that the goods are cleared by Customs and you can sell them to, or use them in countries in the European Union.
FSA Food Standards Agency The Government non Ministerial Department that is responsible for food standards and safety including that relating to imports.
FTA Free Trade Agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states.
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas.
GetLink Eurotunnel operator Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris, that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue on other trains that operate through the tunnel.
GVMS Goods Vehicle Movement Service The goods vehicle movement service (GVMS) is a UK Government IT platform for moving goods into or out of Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
Harbour Authority Harbour Authority A harbour authority is an independent self-governing body that is responsible for safely managing and efficiently running a harbour.
HMG Her Majesty’s Government The UK government.
HMRC Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs A non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support, the administration of other regulatory regimes including customs and excise.
HRFNAO High Risk Food Not of Animal Origin The name given in EU and UK law to plants that are subject to import controls and checks to protect public health.
ICC International Chambers of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise.
Incoterms® International Commercial Terms The Incoterms or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce relating to international commercial law. Incoterms is a registered trade mark of the ICC
IPAFFS Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System The UK Government IT system that manages SPS checks and paperwork relating to the import of Animal Products, HRFNAO, Animals, Food and Feed
IPR Inward Processing Relief Inward Processing (previously known as Inward Processing Relief or IPR) allows for the relief from customs duty and import VAT on the importation of non-EU goods that are processed and then exported outside the EU.
LRN Local Reference Number If you need a transit declaration you will need to produce a LRN in order to complete the document. Each consignment will need its own unique local reference number, which cannot be duplicated onto another consignment.
MRN Movement Reference Number The MRN is a customs identification number that’s created each time a declaration is submitted for importing or exporting goods. The number generated is bespoke, allowing your goods to be uniquely linked to you.
NCTS New Computerised Transit System The New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) is a system of electronic declaration and processing that traders must use to submit Common Transit declarations. You can also use NCTS to submit Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) declarations electronically if you’re in Northern Ireland.
OoD Office of Destination/Departure Office of destination means any customs office at which a customs transit operation is terminated. Office of departure means the customs office where customs declarations placing goods under a transit procedure are accepted. Offices of destination/departure can be traders’ premises, if they are approved Authorised Consignor/ees under the Common Transit Convention.
OoT Office of Transit Transit Office means the Customs offices (other than those of departure and destination) through which vehicles pass during their Inter-State journey
OPR Outward Processing Relief OPR allows EU traders to temporarily export goods from the EU for processing or repair in a third (non- EU ) country and then claim full or partial duty relief when the goods are re-imported.
OV Official Veterinarian The name given in the UK to a private sector veterinary surgeon who is authorised to undertake certain activities relating to animal and public health on behalf of the government
PEACH Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates from the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate The government IT system responsible for issuing certain certificates relating to Plant Health and plant marketing standards. Due to be replaced by IPAFFS.
PHA Port Health Authority PHAs carry out a range of health controls at the UK borders. These include checks on imported food, inspecting ships and aircraft for food safety and infectious disease control, as well as general public and environmental health checks. Port health controls are managed by local authorities who enforce regulations on behalf of central government.
Plant Inspector Plant Inspector A trained inspector of plants working for APHA and able to issue Phytosanitary certificates for exports and check and clear imports of plants
POAO Products of Animal Origin Products derived from animals and destined for human consumption
Private Attestation Private Attestation A document provided by the importer of food or animal products in place of an Export Health Certificate. Private attestations apply to food/animal products which are not considered to require a full EHC signed by an Official Veterinarian.
RGR Return Goods Relief Subject to specific conditions, Returned Goods Relief (RGR) removes or reduces the repayment of import duties for goods that are re-imported into the same customs territory that they have already been exported from.
RoO Rules of Origin Rules of origin are the rules to attribute a country of origin to a product in order to determine its “economic nationality”.
S&S Safety and Security Declarations (also ENS) Also known as a ‘Entry Summary Declaration’. An S&S is a declaration provided by the shipper or the importer to the UK customs, providing information on the cargo, EORI numbers of the shipper & the consignee, items commodity code, number of packages, container number, seal number, gross weight of the goods, and incoterms, are some general information required for the S&S declaration.
SPS Sanitary and Phytosanitary Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures are the rules that govern trade in animals and plants and their products
T1 Transit document A T1 is a transit document used to transport goods from the customs office at the place of departure to the customs office at the destination without paying customs duties and taxes within the territories of the countries included in the transit agreement.
T2 Transit document An internal transit (T2) usually applies to goods that come from inside of the EU. When goods are moved under a T2, you can temporarily move those goods out of the EU, and move them back in again, without having to customs clear them again.
TRACES Trade Control and Expert System The EU IT system that manages imports of animals and plants and their products into the EU
TSS Trader Support Service If you move goods in or out of Northern Ireland the Trader Support Service will guide you through any changes due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
WCO World Customs Organisation The World Customs Organization is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
WTO World Trade Organisation The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade.
AIS Automated Import System Republic of Ireland’s customs system
RHA Road Haulage Assocation The Road Haulage Association Ltd is a private company limited by guarantee dedicated to the interests of the road haulage industry. It is the only trade association in the United Kingdom dedicated solely to road haulage.
LogisticsUK Logistics UK Logistics UK, formerly the Freight Transport Association is one of the largest trade associations in the UK, with members moving goods by road, rail, sea, and air.
HTA Horticultural Trades Assocation The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) is the trade association for the UK garden industry.
Douane French Customs Agency French customs agency, responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods into and out of a country.