With the Windsor Framework, the European Union and the United Kingdom have created a new basis for the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The agreement, which was presented in February 2023, replaces the previous Northern Ireland Protocol and is intended to reduce trade barriers without jeopardizing the integrity of the EU single market (see The Windsor Framework – New trade regulations for Northern Ireland and Great Britain).
UPS has defined special requirements as part of this agreement, which we have now implemented for you in Carrier Connect: Changes to the border crossing to Northern Ireland and for shipments from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
- The changes become available to you with the April 2025 service pack: In first customer systems from April 28 and standard systems from May 5, 2025.
- Important changes are rolled out with the December 2025 service pack. Find out more in the following section of this article: “Important changes with the December 2025 service pack: Entry of customs-relevant information.”
In practice, this means the following for you
UPS requires your EORI, UKIMS, and/or duty deferment account number as well as information on the whereabouts of the goods and whether the customs numbers have been indicated on the customs documents. This information is transmitted to UPS by us in the EDI.
We have summarized for you below what you need to do:
Step 1: Apply for three new identification numbers
UKIMS number
The UKIMS number (UK Internal Market Scheme Number) is a registration number that companies need in order to ship certain goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without them being classified as a risk for the EU single market.
Duty deferment account number
The registration number for a duty deferment account allows companies to pay customs duties, import VAT, and other charges for imported goods later rather than immediately.
- You can apply for the UKIMS and duty deferment number at GOV.UK – The Windsor Framework.
EORI number
The EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is an identification number for companies involved in international trade with third countries (non-EU countries).
- For example, as a German company, you can apply for the EORI number at German customs.
Step 2: How to configure the UPS EMEA carrier
- Not relevant for UPS Asia, UPS CA, and UPS US
- Go to Master Data – Carrier configurations and open the UPS EMEA carrier.
- On the Accounts sheet, enter the EORI, UKIMS, and/or duty deferment account number under Customer data in the corresponding fields.
- On the Additional values sheet, click New to create the two new additional values Customs numbers contained in customs documents and Risk transport to the EU.
- Save and close the carrier configuration.
Step 3: How to correctly enter a shipping order for shipments between Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Open the corresponding shipping order.
- On the Extended information sheet under Further references and texts, you can enter the following identification numbers: Consignee UKIMS number, Importer UKIMS number, UKIMS number customs broker, Consignee duty deferment number, Importer duty deferment number, Duty deferment number customs broker, Consignee EORI number, Importer EORI number, EORI number customs broker.
- If you do not make any entries here, the values from the carrier configuration will be used and transmitted to UPS in the EDI (see step 2).
- On the Additional values sheet, the values for the additional values Customs numbers contained in customs documents and Risk transport to the EU are already filled by default. You can change the values via a selection list:
– Customs numbers contained in customs documents: 00_CUSTOMS IDS NOT ON BROKERAGE DOCS (Default value. Meaning: Customs numbers were not indicated on customs documents), 01_CUSTOMS IDS ON BROKERAGE DOCS,
– Risk transport to the EU: 01_RISK TO EU, 02_NO RISK TO EU (Default value. Meaning: The goods will either be sent to a third country or remain in Northern Ireland), 03_RISK TO EU UNKNOWN
- Adjust your API calls. The API documentation can be found here.
Important changes with the December 2025 service pack: Entry of customs-relevant information
Please note the following changes that come into effect with the 12/2025 service pack. The changes will be available for first customer systems from December 15, 2025, for all other systems from December 22, 2025.
- Shipping from Great Britain to Northern Ireland: International shipping, customs-relevant fields must now be filled out (previously domestic)
- Shipping from Northern Ireland to EU and vice versa: International shipping, customs-relevant fields must now be filled out (previously transborder)
- Shipping from Northern Ireland to Great Britain: No change (domestic shipping, customs-relevant fields must still be filled out)
- The changes were made in accordance with UPS specifications. Adjust your API calls. The API documentation can be found here.