The Windsor Framework

The Windsor Framework is an agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) regarding the movement of goods between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), following the UK’s exit from the EU.

With the Windsor Framework, the UK government has placed additional requirements upon carriers to collect information from shippers and communicate it with the HRMC (His Majesty's Revenue & Customs). ShipEngine has been working with our UK carrier partners to understand how each carrier is implementing these requirements and updating the ShipEngine API to accommodate these new information needs.

To support the new requirements, we've added the following:

The windsor_framework_details object for Advanced Options which includes a movement_indicator property and not_at_risk property.
- The movement_indicator property identifies the type of movement using the following values: c2c, b2c, c2b, b2b
- The not_at_risk property allows the shipper to declare the shipment as "not at risk" based on the "Green Lane" requirements
We've added ukims as a value for the tax_identifiers object

Please note that each carrier that supports shipping to NI will have their own data requirements. The carrier-specific details to properly ship from GB to NI are provided in each carrier's developer guide.

Movement Types

The Windsor Framework identifies the following types of movement: B2C (Business to Consumer), C2B (Consumer to Business), C2C (Consumer to Consumer), and B2B (Business to Business).

Depending on the type of movement of the shipment, carriers may require you to provide additional information about the shipment contents so they can successfully deliver the parcels to the NI recipients.

UKIMS

The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) allows shippers and recipients to declare goods as “not at risk” if they are brought into NI for sale or final use by end consumers in NI (and Great Britain in the case of movements from Great Britain). This scheme is known as the "Green Lane".

Starting 30 September 2024, the full “Green Lane” requirements will come into effect for parcel movements between GB and NI.

The UK government guidelines advise that “not at risk” goods will:

Not be charged duty if entering NI from free circulation in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
Be charged UK duty if entering NI from outside the EU and the UK
Be charged UK duty if entering NI from Great Britain and the goods were not in free circulation in Great Britain
"At risk" goods will be charged the applicable EU rate of duty.

If you will be shipping B2B from GB to NI, you will need to apply for authorisation to declare goods "not-at-risk", if you have not already done so.

General Guidelines

For shipments from GB to NI, your carrier may require you to indicate the movement type (C2C, C2B, B2C, B2B). You can do so using the windsor_framework_details object and movement_indicator property in the shipment's advanced options object.

For B2C, C2B, C2C shipments:

You may also need to provide details about the items inside each parcel, like item description, quantity, value, weight, country of origin, and harmonisation code. Each carrier determines which data points they will and will not require.

For B2B shipments:

Most carriers will likely require the UKIMS and EORI tax identifier numbers for both the shipper and the recipient.
Most carriers will likely require you to include the windsor_framework_details.not_at_risk indicator in the shipment's advanced options.
- Set the value to true if the items in the parcel are not at risk of being onward shipped into the EU (Green Lane).
- Set the value to false if the items could be onward shipped into the EU.

Ensuring Compliance

You will need confirm with your carriers which movement types they support and which data points they require. You'll then need to check your existing data call to ShipEngine to see if you are already providing the data required by the carriers you use. If you are not providing the data your carrier(s) require, you will need to update your integration (should your systems permit this) to include the new information.

If you are unable to provide the data required, you should work closely with your carrier(s) to agree to an approach that may include updates to your shipping logic to reject shipments to Northern Ireland.

Shipping with ShipEngine Carriers

If you are purchasing labels using ShipEngine Carriers, you should only ship items where you are able to provide the required information (item details, movement indicator, UKIMS for sender and recipeint, and not at risk indicator).

If shipping B2B shipments to NI, be sure to use a carrier that supports this movement type:

ShipEngine Carrier	Supports B2B
DPD UK from ShipEngine	Yes
Evri from ShipEngine	No
Parcelforce from ShipEngine	Yes
Yodel from ShipEngine	No

If the carrier you use is not in the above list that means we do not yet know if it supports B2B shipping to NI. We will update this list as new information becomes available.

FAQ

How can I find what information my carrier requires? You should always look to discuss your shipping requirements with your carrier. Additionally, we will update our carrier guides as changes are made to our integrations to accommodate carrier requirements.

What is an Authorised Carrier? The UK Carrier (UKC) Scheme is an authorisation that enables businesses to move eligible consumer parcels, from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in line with Windsor Framework arrangements. UKC Scheme authorisation allows a business to send these parcels without completing any customs, or safety and security declarations.

Refer to the UK Government Guidance for more details.

My carrier is not listed as having changed, should I assume they are not an Authorised Carrier? If the carrier you are using is not listed as inflight or ready to support the change, then we have not received a change request from them. In this instance, we recommend that you speak with your carrier at the earliest opportunity to ascertain if they are an authorised carrier and intend to continue supporting shipments from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. As a result of this discussion, you may wish to route your traffic through an alternative carrier or prompt your carrier to raise a request with ShipEngine (they can do so by emailing [email protected]).

What should I do if my carrier has advised they will cease support for shipments to Northern Ireland from 30th September on the integration I am using? You will need to identify an alternative carrier integration for your traffic from 30th September. In some cases, carriers may have an alternative integration you can use. In other cases, you may need to ship with an alternative carrier entirely.

What should I do if it is not possible for me to implement the required changes before 30th September? If you are unable to implement the required changes within the window between ShipEngine delivering the changes and the 30th September, you should contact your carrier and agree to an approach moving forward. In some cases, the carrier may require you to cease shipping certain types of movement to Northern Ireland until the change is made.

If you are shipping with ShipEngine Carriers, you should only purchase labels where you are able to supply all of the information required.

What will happen to shipments which are mid-transit during the cutover? We have been advised by carriers that shipments in transit will not be impacted by the changes. We do however recommend that you refer to your carriers for more information.

Will my integration reject a shipment if I fail to provide the additional information required? Our integrations will only reject a label print request if a carrier has applied validation to their API or if we have been asked to implement validation by the carrier for native integrations. Validation will vary by carrier and we recommend referring to our carrier guides (or discussing with your Key Account Manager) for more information.

What will happen if I do not provide all the new data required? Where a carrier has elected to validate the presence of data when placing your label request, the request will be rejected.

Where a carrier has not, this may result in the carrier providing HMRC with an incomplete data declaration for the shipment. You should discus this with your carriers and/or HMRC for further information.

Will we have the ability to test before 30th September to validate changes before they go into live? Our platform changes will be completed in advance of the deadline and where possible we will look to ensure that customer testing can take place in September.

Where carrier development is complete, you will be able to test in advance of the change. However, you should also look to test after the deadline as this is when most carriers will likely apply their changes.

Where carrier development is not completed by the deadline, we will do our best to communicate this with our customers in our documentation and/or direct emails.