A Different Approach for Traders and Hauliers

A Different Approach: Standalone ICS2 and EIDR Systems.

The Trader Support Service (TSS) has worked for many years, but as the system is relaunched, it feels like a missed opportunity to address some of the pain points that have emerged. The carrier’s safety and security declaration, or ENS, and the trader’s supplementary declaration are different jobs with different deadlines, and each deserves a system built around its specific requirements.

On 20th October, TSS moves to a new platform, and the current service stops accepting new movements from that date. The service has earned its place, having supported thousands of businesses since 2020, and we have no quarrel with that record. But with the Christmas peak weeks away and a migration in the diary, decision-makers have good reason to ask a question that rarely reaches the carriers’ boardroom.

Why should my safety and security declaration take longer than needed to frame up the supplementary declaration?

On the flip side, importers might ask why their supplementary declarations are being forced into a system that will take even longer to complete. TSS 2.0 is designed around government digital standards, which means a separate screen and question for each field on the declaration. On average, that is over 50 separate screens for a single one-line import with no controls.

Should both functions really be tied into the same system, jack of all trades but master of none?

Our answer at EORI is no. Hauliers and traders have different duties, different data and different clocks. They are better served by two standalone systems, connected by data rather than dependency: CABIE ICS2 for hauliers and the CABIE EPO NI import system for traders. Here is the case.

Different Duties Run on Different Clocks 

The haulier’s job is the safety and security filing. On accompanied loads, the haulier is the carrier. Under ICS2, which has replaced ICS NI for road movements into Northern Ireland, the Entry Summary Declaration has to be lodged at least two hours before the goods arrive. The resulting MRN then has to be entered into GVMS when the Goods Movement Reference (GMR) is created, which puts it squarely on the critical path to the ferry.

The trader’s job is different. Under EIDR, traders release goods by making an initial entry in the approval holder’s records, then follow up with a supplementary declaration. That is a discipline of record-keeping and maintaining an audit trail, measured in days and weeks rather than hours.

The clue is in the name, Trader Support Service. The system focuses on the trader obligations for creating import declarations, but all the pressure is put on the time-critical part of the movement: physical haulage of the goods. By keeping them separate, one cannot interfere nor delay the other. 

Enter the Data Once, Use It Twice

Traders already submit a record of their movement in CABIE EPO NI. CABIE ICS2 takes the customs data from that record and produces the ICS2 MRN. The trader does not need to re-key anything for ICS2, and the haulier does not have to chase the customer for a separate filing.

That matters because ICS2 is tightening up data requirements. Guidance for hauliers highlights stricter standards for describing goods. Every time a consignment is keyed twice, the risk grows of an MRN, a GMR and an import record telling three slightly different stories. One source feeding two outputs keeps the story consistent.

CABIE ICS2 also produces ICS2 MRNs free of charge. For a haulier counting the cost of every trip, a mandatory filing should not become another line on the invoice. And because the MRN comes from data the trader has already supplied, there is no extra data entry either. The real saving is the time not spent re-entering details or chasing customers for them at the last minute.

For the trader, a dedicated EIDR system can focus on what the procedure demands. Official guidance says EIDR records must contain specific data and support an audit trail. A system built specifically for that job, and tried and tested in Great Britain for the last six years, can do it thoroughly: complete commercial records, a defensible audit trail and supplementary declarations submitted on time.

Running every movement through one process carries a risk of its own. When a single platform handles both your ICS2 filings and your import declarations, any change to it, whether a migration, an outage or a rule change, affects everything at once. The point is not to predict problems this month. It is to make sure you have an independent route to an MRN before you need one. Separate systems limit how far any one problem can spread.

Some will say a single platform is simpler. But one login is not the same as one process. Simplicity comes from avoiding duplicate data entry and unnecessary dependencies. Standalone tools, powered by a single source of data, can provide exactly that. A single trader-centred journey can feel simple to the trader while quietly turning the haulier into a passenger.

Three Questions for Traders and Carriers

1. Does my driver’s ENS MRN depend on the trader doing anything extra, or does it come from the movement record they already submit?
2. Do I have to work through more screens than I need to for my ENS MRN or import record?
3. As a trader, do I want to be constantly chased by TSS 2.0 for overdue records?

If you can’t answer all three with confidence, it’s worth a conversation.