An EORI number is the identifier customs uses for your business. You need one starting GB to move goods between Great Britain and any other country — including the EU — and you may need a second one starting XI for Northern Ireland movements. A GB EORI usually arrives immediately, or within five working days if HMRC runs checks.
Who needs one
EORI stands for Economic Operators Registration and Identification. You may need one if you move goods between Great Britain — England, Scotland and Wales — or the Isle of Man and any other country, including the EU. It is also needed for movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and countries outside the EU.
Beyond simply moving goods, an EORI is required for customs declarations for transit and temporary admission, for entry and exit summary declarations, and for customs guarantees.
The point worth stating plainly, because the question is asked constantly: yes, you need one for EU trade. The EU is "any other country" for this purpose. That changed at the end of the transition period and still catches businesses whose first non-UK sale is to Ireland or the Netherlands.
GB and XI
If you move goods to or from Great Britain you must have an EORI number starting GB.
You may also need one starting XI if you move goods to or from Northern Ireland. Two qualifications on that:
- You do not need an XI EORI if you already hold an EORI from an EU country — that one works;
- For customs activities in the EU you need either an EU EORI, or an XI EORI plus a permanent business establishment in Northern Ireland. The XI number on its own is not enough without the establishment.
A permanent business establishment means premises where some of your customs-related activities take place and your human and technical resources are permanently located. A registered address with no substance behind it does not qualify.
What you need before applying
Have these to hand and the application takes minutes:
- Government Gateway sign-in details;
- Unique Taxpayer Reference;
- Business start date and SIC code, both taken from the Companies House register;
- VAT number and effective date of registration, from the VAT certificate, if you are VAT registered;
- National Insurance number, if you are an individual or a sole trader.
If your business is not based in the UK you do not need a UTR, a SIC code or a National Insurance number.
The commonest cause of a rejected or delayed application is a mismatch between the details you enter and what HMRC already holds — a trading name rather than the registered name, or a VAT registration date taken from memory. Copy them from the source documents.
How long it takes
A GB EORI is issued immediately unless HMRC needs to make checks, in which case it can take up to five working days. An XI EORI takes up to five days.
Plan for the five rather than the immediate. A consignment sitting at a port because the number has not arrived costs more than applying a week early.
If you are not established in the UK
An economic operator should register for a GB EORI if established in the United Kingdom, or an XI EORI if established in Northern Ireland. A business not established here must register for a GB EORI where one is needed to undertake certain limited customs activities in Great Britain — making a customs declaration for transit, applying for a customs decision, making an entry summary declaration, or acting as a carrier transporting goods by sea, inland waterway or air.
Where you are not eligible for an EORI, you are not shut out of trading. HMRC's position is explicit: not having an EORI number does not preclude you from moving goods, provided you use an indirect representative — someone who deals with customs on your behalf using their own EORI, and who takes on joint liability for the declaration in doing so.
That last point is the one to negotiate carefully. An indirect representative shares the customs debt, which is why they are selective about who they act for and why their terms deserve reading. Our guide to importing goods into the UK covers direct versus indirect representation and what each means for liability.
Where it fits in the wider setup
The EORI is the first item on a longer list, and getting it alone does not make you ready to import. You also need the commodity codes for your products, because they drive the duty rate; a decision on incoterms, because they decide who is importer of record; postponed VAT accounting selected on the declaration, which needs no separate approval; and duty deferment once volumes justify the guarantee.
For exports to the EU, the rules of origin matter as much as the EORI — nil duty under the trade agreement depends on origin, not on where the goods were shipped from.
Acumon helps businesses set up for cross-border trade through international VAT and VAT registration work, with business tax advice on the wider structure. If you are about to make a first shipment to the EU, the EORI and the commodity codes are the two items to settle before the goods move.