Large MUCR Best Practice

Published by HMRC
20 May 2024

We are aware that some traders have been experiencing slower than normal processing times in CDS Exports. This predominantly occurs with shipments requiring more than 99 declarations (ie. more than 99 DUCRs associated to a MUCR).

In order to alleviate this issue, we have prepared best practice guidance for customers who create large MUCRs or high volume of declarations using the same MUCR.

Large MUCR Best Practice for Declarants

We are investigating this but, in the meantime, we wanted to let you know how to reduce the overall impact:

You can reduce the number of declarations you submit per shipment, by submitting a single declaration for 99 consignments if they fall under the same declaration category. This can be achieved by using each of the 99 line items available to account for each consignment. This will create one DUCR which can be associated under a MUCR if required.
Always finalise and close the MUCR before arrival at the UK border.
If possible, we recommend that you make use of a Designated Export Place (DEP) to have your DUCRs arrived individually before they are consolidated into a MUCR.
If you are arriving your shipment at an inventory-linked maritime location, you should not provide the MUCR reference to the carrier until it has been finalised and closed; this may be different to what you did on CHIEF.
If you are arriving your shipment at an inventory-linked airport, and your software supports the Airline Delivery Schedule, we recommend that you produce this report before delivering your shipment to the airline or temporary storage facility.
For arrivals at inventory-linked maritime ports, avoid creating a MUCR with a single Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR) and use the DUCR as a reference instead.

Please also note that to avoid any significant delays at the border, measures have been put in place to enable carriers and loaders to apply the manual release protocol where applicable.

We will be in touch when we have more information.

Large MUCR Best Practice for Loaders/Carriers/DEPs/Airlines

We are investigating this but, in the meantime, we wanted to let you know how to reduce the overall impact.

As a loader, you must not continuously re-arrive UCRs if you encounter missing responses. Although re-arrival is the standard process to resolve missing responses, re-arrival should not be repeated and you should wait at least 30 minutes before re-arrival is attempted.

If, following the second arrival attempt, you have still not received any response , you or the trader may need to request manual clearance. To do this, you should:

Interrogate both CHIEF & ILE to check the status of the MUCR.
Confirm P2P in one or both systems.

If either system is showing held status (ILE = SOE C, CHIEF = SOE 1), do not proceed further and wait for MUCR to be cleared.
If CHIEF is showing P2P (SOE 7) and CDS is showing Route 0, SOE E, this indicates that the MUCR only exists on CHIEF and therefore has overall P2P.
If CDS is showing P2P (SOE 3) and CHIEF is showing SOE 0, this indicates that the MUCR only exists on CDS and therefore has overall P2P.

Once you have verified P2P status, take screenshots and retain as evidence of P2P.
This step is necessary for HMRC audit purposes.
For Air (for authorised airlines / ITSFs only): Manually release inventory using “Release by TSO” functionality.
For Maritime: Carrier / Declarant requests manual release by NCH using the link report a problem when using the CDS on GOV.UK.

Where your MUCR does not yet have clearance and you therefore cannot request manual clearance, please raise an issue with CDS via the following link Report a problem using the Customs Declaration Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

For issues that require HMRC investigation, you can either contact us using one of these channels or Report a problem using the Customs Declaration Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).