There is a lot of confusion and also miscommunication about the UK border options for unaccompanied transport.
Regardless of the way of importing your goods in the UK (delayed declarations and EIDR, CFSP or Full Frontier declarations), it is important to check which UK border model is applied at the border location where your goods enter the UK.
Inventory linking is possible at all border locations
The UK has two border models for customs: the Temporary Storage model (inventory linking) and the Pre-lodgement model (later supported by the GVMS). For a detailed description about the two models, and a comparison of which model would best suit you, please read our newsletter on the two border models.
For accompanied transport it is clear that the pre-lodgement model will be widely used. However, this is not the standard border model for customs. The current standard border model applied in the UK is the Temporary Storage model (inventory linking).
All the border locations for unaccompanied ferry transport (whether RORO or LOLO) are prepared for the Temporary Storage model, and are connected to a Port Community System (Destin8).
We also want to highlight that pre-lodged declarations are possible in the Temporary Storage model (inventory linking). We highly recommend to pre-lodge the import declarations as much as possible. After vessel departure the consignment can then be claimed in the Port Community System, after which the import declaration can be completed with the UCN.
UK Gov has not yet published a list of the border locations and their choice of border model. We have compiled a custom list for you, based on information we received directly from the shipping lines for unaccompanied ferry transport.