CHIEF

CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) was the UK’s electronic customs declaration system, in service for about 25 years before HM Revenue and Customs retired it and migrated traders to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). Import declarations on CHIEF closed on 30 September 2022 and export declarations on 31 March 2023, leaving CDS as the single UK platform for import and export entries. CHIEF could process roughly 60 million declarations a year, a ceiling CDS was built to exceed as post-Brexit volumes rose sharply. UK importers and exporters, or their brokers, now file all entries through CDS.