In August, the UK government’s Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) confirmed that the use of EORI (Economic Operator Registration Identification) numbers will now be mandatory for licence registrations on SPIRE – the ECJU’s exporting licensing system for the control of military, paramilitary and dual-use goods.
In a notice to exporters , the ECJU stated that from 5 September, an EORI is now required for licence Standard Individual Export, Open Individual Export, Global Project, Open General licence applications and registrations on the government’s SPIRE portal.
An EORI is a unique reference number issued by HMRC identifying a business or trader, used to track and register customs data and required on the customs declaration to move goods into or out of the UK.
The EORI provided on the SPIRE account (application or registration) will be sent to HMRC with any Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) issued licence to be matched with the EORI on the export declaration. Therefore, it is essential that the correct EORI number is provided on SPIRE to prevent any delays for goods at the border.
The mandatory EORI requirement on SPIRE (12 digits without country prefix) applies to applications for export control licences where a declaration is made to HMRC’s Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) or the new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) replacing CHIEF.
Actions for SPIRE users
You must provide your EORI number on your applications going forward.
If you have registered your company on SPIRE, please ensure the EORI number is included. To do so, follow these steps:
Go to ‘Manage my registration’ from the left-hand menu
Under the first tab go to ‘Organisation details’
Provide your company EORI number
No action is required on the ‘Sites’ tab, as the EORI field will be removed from this site level.
Need further support?
· The Chamber offers a range of export control and licences services such as in-house and bespoke export control compliance training, export control audit, export control managed service, product codification, licence application, SPIRE set up and management, and ECJU visit representation, delivered in Manchester and beyond, face to face or virtually.
· For more information about any of the above or if you would like to discuss requirements, please email our team at exportbritain@gmchamber.co.uk or call us at 0161 393 4314.
Sources: IOE & HMRC