Today, customs declarations are made through the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system
CHIEF has served the UK well over 25 years but is old technology and needs to be replaced
Businesses are now gradually moving over to making declarations on the new Customs Declaration Service (CDS)
CDS will be a flexible declaration system that can handle anticipated future import and export growth

5 Benefits to traders Built to allow for future trade growth

Built to allow for future trade growth
More items can be included per declaration
Integrated with other UK Government systems
Declaration data available free of charge

6 CDS readiness preparations

Work to get HMRC and external customers ready for CDS has been structures into five work areas:
Internal Readiness
Enabling HMRC staff to use the new system
External Readiness
Helping traders and declarants to move from CHIEF to CDS
IT Delivery
Delivering the new system
Go Live and Support
Enabling the transition of the new system from Delivery to Live Support
Contingency
Planning options in the event CDS is not available