On 1 September 2026, HMRC published an update confirming what many hauliers and transit operators had been expecting since the summer: the Sevington and Holyhead inland border facilities are being wound down as customs sites, with their functions transferring to infrastructure run by port operators from early 2027.
The detail that matters most for anyone using the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) is easy to miss inside a routine-sounding infrastructure notice: from early 2027, Sevington will no longer be able to open or close a Common Transit Convention movement at all. That is a change worth planning for now rather than in the new year.
This article sets out what HMRC has actually confirmed, why the transit office is closing while the site itself stays open, the three routes traders can use instead, what Authorised Consignor or Consignee status involves, and what NCTS traders should be doing between now and the transition.
According to HMRC’s September 2026 newsletter update, customs checks currently undertaken through Sevington IBF are expected to transition to alternative locations provided by the Port of Dover and Getlink, which operates Eurotunnel, from early 2027, although the exact timing is still subject to final confirmation.
HMRC is explicit that there are no immediate changes: traders should continue using Sevington and Holyhead exactly as they do today, until the transition is formally confirmed. The point of this article is not that anything changes this month — it is that the lead time on some of the alternatives is long enough that the planning should start now.
Inland border facilities were introduced as a temporary measure after the UK left the EU, to provide customs infrastructure at border locations that did not yet have enough space or capability of their own. HMRC’s stated intention has always been to move back to the model used everywhere else on the UK border, where the port or terminal operator provides the infrastructure directly rather than the government funding a separate inland site. Warrington and Ebbsfleet IBFs closed on that basis back in 2022; Sevington and Holyhead are the two that remain, and this announcement sets out how they follow the same path.
The timing is worth noting. Sevington’s Border Control Post and inland border facility, a 48-hectare site near Ashford in Kent that had operated under temporary planning consent since 2020, were only granted permanent Crown Development consent by the Planning Inspectorate in January 2026, allowing continued 24-hour operation. That permanent consent covers the retention of the existing buildings, vehicle parking and Border Control Post; it does not guarantee that the customs and transit functions currently run from the site will stay there indefinitely, and this announcement confirms they will not.
The customs checks currently undertaken through Sevington IBF, which are expected to transfer to locations provided by the Port of Dover and Getlink.
Sevington’s role as an office of departure or destination for Common Transit Convention movements — from early 2027, transit movements can no longer be opened or closed there.
The Border Control Post, where Sanitary and Phytosanitary checks on food, plants and animal-origin goods take place, is unaffected and will keep operating at Sevington until further notice.
The site’s permanent consent for its buildings, vehicle parking and Border Control Post remains in place.
The practical change is that Sevington will stop acting as an office of departure or destination for transit movements. HMRC has set out three routes traders can use instead: facilities provided directly by the border location itself, the commercial services of an Authorised Consignor or Authorised Consignee, or approval to use the transit simplification process at a trader’s own premises or a client’s premises.
| Route to start or end a transit movement | What it involves | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Border-location facilities (Port of Dover / Getlink) | Use the transit facilities the port or Eurotunnel operator provides in place of Sevington | Occasional or lower-volume movements that do not justify holding your own authorisation |
| Authorised Consignor / Consignee, used commercially | Route movements through a forwarder, haulier or warehouse that already holds the status | Traders who would rather not take on the compliance and record-keeping burden directly |
| Authorised Consignor / Consignee, at your own site | Apply to HMRC to open and close movements at your own or a client’s premises | Regular, higher-volume transit users who want control over timing and location |
For traders who move enough goods under transit to justify holding their own authorisation, it is worth understanding the application now rather than in the final months of 2026. HMRC’s guidance on applying for authorised consignor or consignee status sets out what an applicant needs to provide:
The application itself runs through form C1343, alongside a questionnaire that depends on which status is being sought. A business can apply for both consignor and consignee status at the same time, and can use the same form to apply to use its own seals.
| Status sought | Application form | Accompanying questionnaire |
|---|---|---|
| Authorised Consignor | C1343 | Consignor questionnaire C1343a |
| Authorised Consignee | C1343 | Consignee questionnaire C1343b |
| Authorised Consignee (TIR) | C1343 | TIR consignee questionnaire C1343c |
None of this is a same-day approval, which is the main reason to start the process well ahead of the transition date rather than after it. A business that decides in the new year that self-authorisation is the right fit may find that the application is still in progress when Sevington stops opening and closing movements.
Some of the clearest operational detail so far has come from the carriers rather than HMRC directly.
Eurotunnel’s own notices indicate that customs checks for its traffic will move to Folkestone Services, formerly known as Stop24, near junction 11 of the M20.
Inbound vehicles receiving an “orange” customs status will be directed there rather than to Sevington.
The Port of Dover has not yet published equivalent detail on where its own replacement checks will take place.
Further operational information has been promised in the coming weeks — worth watching for directly, as well as via HMRC.
What is consistent across both crossings is that Sanitary and Phytosanitary checks are not part of this change: SPS-selected loads will continue to travel to the Sevington Border Control Post regardless of where customs-selected loads are redirected, so drivers may end up facing two different destinations depending on which type of check their vehicle is selected for. HMRC has also noted that any future UK-EU agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary matters could affect these arrangements further down the line, though no such agreement has been finalised.
At Holyhead, HMRC’s intended approach is the same in principle: customs checks currently handled through the inland border facility at Parc Cybi are expected to move into infrastructure provided by the operator within Holyhead Port itself, also from early 2027.
Inbound and outbound transit services · Physical customs inspections · Facilities for ATA and TIR carnets · CITES permits
Because the Holyhead IBF covers that broader mix of services, the transition affects a wider range of traders and processes than the Sevington change does. HMRC says work on the detailed arrangements and implementation timetable is continuing, and that there are no immediate changes to existing processes or requirements for anyone using Holyhead IBF today.
Nothing changes today, and HMRC is explicit that Sevington and Holyhead should continue to be used as normal until the transition is formally confirmed. That said, early 2027 is close enough that it is worth doing three things now rather than waiting.
HMRC has invited businesses to take part in engagement sessions on these changes via [email protected], and both the Port of Dover and Getlink have said further operational information is coming, so it is worth watching for updates from the carriers directly as well as from HMRC.
Whichever of the three routes a business ends up using to open or close a movement after early 2027, the transit declaration itself still has to be submitted, tracked and discharged through NCTS, and that is the layer Customs Declarations UK’s NCTS transit service is built for, regardless of where the physical departure or destination point sits.
In practice, that means a business switching from Sevington to a Dover facility, a commercial Authorised Consignee, or its own newly authorised premises does not need to change how it manages the declaration itself: the departure point moves, but the NCTS workflow behind it does not have to.
The headline reassurance in HMRC’s update, that nothing changes immediately, is accurate but should not be read as “nothing to do.” From early 2027, Sevington stops being usable as an office of departure or destination for transit movements, and the three alternatives HMRC has set out range from straightforward, using a port or Eurotunnel facility, to something that takes real lead time, applying for Authorised Consignor or Consignee status. Traders who rely on Sevington today should use the next few months to work out which category they fall into, and if self-authorisation is the answer, to start that application well before the transition date rather than in the weeks around it.
From early 2027 Sevington will no longer open or close transit movements; nothing changes today, but traders should decide now between the new Dover and Getlink facilities, a commercial Authorised Consignor or Consignee, or their own C1343 application — and start the last of those well ahead of the date.
Sources: HM Revenue & Customs, September 2026 — future customs infrastructure arrangements at Sevington and Holyhead inland border facilities (1 September 2026); HM Revenue & Customs, Apply for authorised consignor or consignee status; Waterman Group, Sevington Inland Border Facility planning consent summary; trans.info, Sevington customs checks to move to ports in early 2027 (14 August 2026).