HMRC has provided the following update on the ongoing issue affecting some import declarations that are being made through the Customs Declaration Service.
HMRC’s technical teams are working closely with those from the Department for Business and Trade to isolate the issue and a technical fix that aims to clear down the stuck declarations will be implemented.
It is hoped that (subject to successful testing) it will be possible to implement a fix that targets the high usage commodity codes, by the end of today (Wednesday 8th March)
Early technical work has indicated that the volume of stuck declarations have reduced, so HMRC just need to check if this can be replicated on a larger scale.
It is appreciated that this has been causing substantial inconvenience and HMRC apologise for the disruption. The National Clearance Hub is doing its best to manually clear declarations where they can. Yesterday, BIFA shared that a business continuity process was introduced on a limited basis to allow goods to move without an MRN where appropriate.
It is understood by HMRC that the business continuity plan will not benefit everyone, but it will ease the volume of requests coming into the National Clearance Hub and allow HMRC staff to focus on requests which cannot otherwise be released.
