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Guidance: Customs Handling of Import Export Freight: service availability and issues

  • 27 January 2022

    A service issue message about HMRC running an annual disaster recovery exercise from midday to 2pm on 17 February 2022 has been added.

  • 21 December 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8:15pm on Wednesday 22 December 2021 has been added.

  • 22 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 9pm on Sunday 8 August 2021 has been added.

  • 16 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday 18 July 2021 has been added.

  • 6 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 7pm to 7:30pm on Tuesday 6 July 2021 has been added.

  • 1 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 4 July 2021 has been cancelled.

  • 30 June 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 4 July 2021 has been added.

  • 23 June 2021

    The service issue about CHIEF having limited availability has been resolved.

  • 23 June 2021

    Information about the CHIEF service currently having limited availability has been added.

  • 22 June 2021

    A service issue message about the CHIEF online service outage has been added.

  • 20 April 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 9 May 2021 has been added.

  • 29 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8pm on Tuesday 30 March 2021 has been added.

  • 25 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 25 March 2021 has been added.

  • 23 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Tuesday 23 March 2021 has been added.

  • 18 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 18 March 2021 has been added.

  • 11 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 11 March 2021 has been added.

  • 10 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8pm on Wednesday 10 March 2021 has been added.

  • 9 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm on Tuesday 9 March 2021 to 7:50pm on Tuesday 9 March 2021 has been added.

  • 4 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm on Thursday 4 March 2021 to 7:50pm on Thursday 4 March 2021 has been added.

  • 24 February 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 25 February 2021 has been added.

  • 1 February 2021

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 7:30pm on Sunday 14 February 2021.

  • 28 January 2021

    This service will be unavailable from 7pm to 7:05pm on Thursday 28 January 2021.

  • 24 December 2020

    This service will be unavailable from Thursday 31 December 2020 11pm to 12:30am Friday 1 January 2021. Information about actions you may need to take before this date have also been added to the page.

  • 4 December 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 13 December 2020.

  • 30 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 10pm on Sunday 6 December 2020 and 6pm to 7pm on Wednesday 9 December.

  • 27 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 9pm on Sunday 29 November 2020.

  • 26 November 2020

    A service issue message about the CHIEF online service outage has been added.

  • 17 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 29 November 2020.

  • 12 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 22 November 2020.

  • 2 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 7pm on Wednesday 11 November 2020.

  • 8 October 2020

    CHIEF service downtime notified for Sunday 25 October 2020 from 00:01am to 03:01am BST.

  • 20 August 2020

    Planned downtime from 11.59am to 1pm on Wednesday 6 August 2020 has been added.

  • 8 July 2020

    This service will not be available from 11:59am to 1pm on Thursday 23 July 2020 and from 11:59am to 1pm on Thursday 30 July 2020. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 4 June 2020

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8:30pm on Sunday 14 June 2020 has been added.

  • 6 March 2020

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8:30pm on Sunday 15 March 2020 has been added.

  • 29 October 2019

    Planned downtime from 11pm on Wednesday 30 October to 1am on Thursday 31 October 2019 has been added.

  • 22 October 2019

    Planned downtime from midnight to 3am on Sunday 27 October 2019 has been added.

  • 29 August 2019

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday 8 September 2019 has been added.

  • 10 July 2019

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8.30pm on Sunday 28 July 2019 has been added.

  • 11 April 2019

    Planned downtime from 10:59pm on Friday 12 April 2019 to 1am on Saturday 13 April 2019 has been added.

  • 18 March 2019

    This service will be unavailable on Sunday 24 March 2019 from 5pm to 7pm. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 8 March 2019

    This service will be unavailable on Sunday 17 March 2019 from 5pm to 7pm. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 15 November 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 2 December 2018 and Wednesday 12 December 2018 have been added.

  • 8 November 2018

    Service issue for Thursday 8 November 2018 from 6pm to 11pm has been added.

  • 12 October 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 4 November 2018 5pm to 7pm, Sunday 11 November 2018 5pm to 7pm and
    Wednesday 21 November 2018 1pm to 2pm has been added.

  • 12 October 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 28 October 2018 12.01am to 1.01am has been added.

  • 17 July 2018

    Planned downtime on Sunday 29 July 2018 6pm to 8pm has been added.

  • 13 March 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 25 March 2018 has been updated.

  • 12 March 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 25 March 2018 has been added.

  • 18 January 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 11 February 2018 has been added.

  • 11 January 2018

    Planned downtime for Wednesday 17 January 2018 has been added.

  • 21 December 2017

    Due to essential maintenance work the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight service will be unavailable on Sunday 7 January 2018 from 6pm to 9pm.

  • 12 December 2017

    The times of the planned downtime on Sunday 17 December have been changed.

  • 7 December 2017

    The times of the planned downtime on Sunday 10 December have been changed.

  • 4 December 2017

    Planned downtime for Sunday 17 December 2017 has been added.

  • 1 December 2017

    Planned downtime for Sunday 10 December 2017 has been added.

  • 2 November 2017

    The planned downtime for the Automatic Licence Verification System for 3 November 2017 to 6 November 2017 will no longer be happening.

  • 26 October 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) for the periods 27 October 2017 to 30 October 2017 and 3 November 2017 to 6 November 2017.

  • 16 October 2017

    Planned downtime added for Customs Handling of Import Export Freight (CHIEF).

  • 2 October 2017

    Planned downtime has been updated with information about outages on the Automatic Licence Verification System throughout October 2017.

  • 20 September 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for an upgrade to the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight system on 27 September 2017.

  • 11 September 2017

    The planned downtime dates and times for the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) outage have been updated.

  • 8 September 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for 24 September 2017 for maintenance work on the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight system.

  • 23 August 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for September 2017 due to work on the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS).

  • 24 July 2017

    Planned downtime has been updated for maintenance work on the Electronic Data Capture Service 13 August 2017.

  • 12 June 2017

    Information on planned downtime for 15 June 2017 has been added.

  • 7 June 2017

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 16 May 2017

    The planned downtime for 21 May 2017 has now been cancelled.

  • 2 May 2017

    Planned downtime added.

  • 21 March 2017

    Planned downtime added for 26 March 2017.

  • 28 February 2017

    Planned downtime added for 12 March 2017.

  • 6 October 2016

    Planned downtime has been added for 30 October 2016.

  • 15 September 2016

    The planned downtime scheduled for 22 September 2016 has been cancelled.

  • 8 September 2016

    The planned downtime has changed to 22 September 2016.

  • 2 September 2016

    CHIEF will be unavailable on Thursday 15 September 2016 for one hour.

  • 26 July 2016

    The service issues section has been updated.

  • 25 July 2016

    The service issues section has been updated.

  • 25 July 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 8 July 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 18 May 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 13 May 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 27 April 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 20 April 2016

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 20 April 2016

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 1 April 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 20 January 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 8 January 2016

    Planned outage message amened from 16 to 18 January 2016.

  • 7 January 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 24 December 2015

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 19 October 2015

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 7 October 2015

    Information on planned downtime for the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight online service has been updated.

  • 7 October 2015

    Service downtime has been added to this page.

  • 1 October 2015

    Downtime has been added to this page.

  • 1 October 2015

    Downtime has been added to this page.

  • 24 September 2015

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 8 September 2015

    Information on planned downtime for the CHIEF online service has been updated.

  • 1 January 2014

    First published.

  • 27 January 2022

    A service issue message about HMRC running an annual disaster recovery exercise from midday to 2pm on 17 February 2022 has been added.

  • 21 December 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8:15pm on Wednesday 22 December 2021 has been added.

  • 22 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 9pm on Sunday 8 August 2021 has been added.

  • 16 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday 18 July 2021 has been added.

  • 6 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 7pm to 7:30pm on Tuesday 6 July 2021 has been added.

  • 1 July 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 4 July 2021 has been cancelled.

  • 30 June 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 4 July 2021 has been added.

  • 23 June 2021

    The service issue about CHIEF having limited availability has been resolved.

  • 23 June 2021

    Information about the CHIEF service currently having limited availability has been added.

  • 22 June 2021

    A service issue message about the CHIEF online service outage has been added.

  • 20 April 2021

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 9 May 2021 has been added.

  • 29 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8pm on Tuesday 30 March 2021 has been added.

  • 25 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 25 March 2021 has been added.

  • 23 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Tuesday 23 March 2021 has been added.

  • 18 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 18 March 2021 has been added.

  • 11 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 11 March 2021 has been added.

  • 10 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 8pm on Wednesday 10 March 2021 has been added.

  • 9 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm on Tuesday 9 March 2021 to 7:50pm on Tuesday 9 March 2021 has been added.

  • 4 March 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm on Thursday 4 March 2021 to 7:50pm on Thursday 4 March 2021 has been added.

  • 24 February 2021

    Planned downtime from 7:30pm to 7:50pm on Thursday 25 February 2021 has been added.

  • 1 February 2021

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 7:30pm on Sunday 14 February 2021.

  • 28 January 2021

    This service will be unavailable from 7pm to 7:05pm on Thursday 28 January 2021.

  • 24 December 2020

    This service will be unavailable from Thursday 31 December 2020 11pm to 12:30am Friday 1 January 2021. Information about actions you may need to take before this date have also been added to the page.

  • 4 December 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 13 December 2020.

  • 30 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 10pm on Sunday 6 December 2020 and 6pm to 7pm on Wednesday 9 December.

  • 27 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 9pm on Sunday 29 November 2020.

  • 26 November 2020

    A service issue message about the CHIEF online service outage has been added.

  • 17 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 29 November 2020.

  • 12 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 22 November 2020.

  • 2 November 2020

    This service will be unavailable from 6pm to 7pm on Wednesday 11 November 2020.

  • 8 October 2020

    CHIEF service downtime notified for Sunday 25 October 2020 from 00:01am to 03:01am BST.

  • 20 August 2020

    Planned downtime from 11.59am to 1pm on Wednesday 6 August 2020 has been added.

  • 8 July 2020

    This service will not be available from 11:59am to 1pm on Thursday 23 July 2020 and from 11:59am to 1pm on Thursday 30 July 2020. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 4 June 2020

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8:30pm on Sunday 14 June 2020 has been added.

  • 6 March 2020

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8:30pm on Sunday 15 March 2020 has been added.

  • 29 October 2019

    Planned downtime from 11pm on Wednesday 30 October to 1am on Thursday 31 October 2019 has been added.

  • 22 October 2019

    Planned downtime from midnight to 3am on Sunday 27 October 2019 has been added.

  • 29 August 2019

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday 8 September 2019 has been added.

  • 10 July 2019

    Planned downtime from 6pm to 8.30pm on Sunday 28 July 2019 has been added.

  • 11 April 2019

    Planned downtime from 10:59pm on Friday 12 April 2019 to 1am on Saturday 13 April 2019 has been added.

  • 18 March 2019

    This service will be unavailable on Sunday 24 March 2019 from 5pm to 7pm. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 8 March 2019

    This service will be unavailable on Sunday 17 March 2019 from 5pm to 7pm. Information about this issue has been added.

  • 15 November 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 2 December 2018 and Wednesday 12 December 2018 have been added.

  • 8 November 2018

    Service issue for Thursday 8 November 2018 from 6pm to 11pm has been added.

  • 12 October 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 4 November 2018 5pm to 7pm, Sunday 11 November 2018 5pm to 7pm and
    Wednesday 21 November 2018 1pm to 2pm has been added.

  • 12 October 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 28 October 2018 12.01am to 1.01am has been added.

  • 17 July 2018

    Planned downtime on Sunday 29 July 2018 6pm to 8pm has been added.

  • 13 March 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 25 March 2018 has been updated.

  • 12 March 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 25 March 2018 has been added.

  • 18 January 2018

    Planned downtime for Sunday 11 February 2018 has been added.

  • 11 January 2018

    Planned downtime for Wednesday 17 January 2018 has been added.

  • 21 December 2017

    Due to essential maintenance work the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight service will be unavailable on Sunday 7 January 2018 from 6pm to 9pm.

  • 12 December 2017

    The times of the planned downtime on Sunday 17 December have been changed.

  • 7 December 2017

    The times of the planned downtime on Sunday 10 December have been changed.

  • 4 December 2017

    Planned downtime for Sunday 17 December 2017 has been added.

  • 1 December 2017

    Planned downtime for Sunday 10 December 2017 has been added.

  • 2 November 2017

    The planned downtime for the Automatic Licence Verification System for 3 November 2017 to 6 November 2017 will no longer be happening.

  • 26 October 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) for the periods 27 October 2017 to 30 October 2017 and 3 November 2017 to 6 November 2017.

  • 16 October 2017

    Planned downtime added for Customs Handling of Import Export Freight (CHIEF).

  • 2 October 2017

    Planned downtime has been updated with information about outages on the Automatic Licence Verification System throughout October 2017.

  • 20 September 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for an upgrade to the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight system on 27 September 2017.

  • 11 September 2017

    The planned downtime dates and times for the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) outage have been updated.

  • 8 September 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for 24 September 2017 for maintenance work on the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight system.

  • 23 August 2017

    Planned downtime has been added for September 2017 due to work on the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS).

  • 24 July 2017

    Planned downtime has been updated for maintenance work on the Electronic Data Capture Service 13 August 2017.

  • 12 June 2017

    Information on planned downtime for 15 June 2017 has been added.

  • 7 June 2017

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 16 May 2017

    The planned downtime for 21 May 2017 has now been cancelled.

  • 2 May 2017

    Planned downtime added.

  • 21 March 2017

    Planned downtime added for 26 March 2017.

  • 28 February 2017

    Planned downtime added for 12 March 2017.

  • 6 October 2016

    Planned downtime has been added for 30 October 2016.

  • 15 September 2016

    The planned downtime scheduled for 22 September 2016 has been cancelled.

  • 8 September 2016

    The planned downtime has changed to 22 September 2016.

  • 2 September 2016

    CHIEF will be unavailable on Thursday 15 September 2016 for one hour.

  • 26 July 2016

    The service issues section has been updated.

  • 25 July 2016

    The service issues section has been updated.

  • 25 July 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 8 July 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 18 May 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 13 May 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 27 April 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 20 April 2016

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 20 April 2016

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 1 April 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 20 January 2016

    Planned downtime section has been updated.

  • 8 January 2016

    Planned outage message amened from 16 to 18 January 2016.

  • 7 January 2016

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 24 December 2015

    Service issues section has been updated.

  • 19 October 2015

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 7 October 2015

    Information on planned downtime for the Customs Handling of Import Export Freight online service has been updated.

  • 7 October 2015

    Service downtime has been added to this page.

  • 1 October 2015

    Downtime has been added to this page.

  • 1 October 2015

    Downtime has been added to this page.

  • 24 September 2015

    Planned downtime has been added to this page.

  • 8 September 2015

    Information on planned downtime for the CHIEF online service has been updated.

  • 1 January 2014

    First published.