Where is the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) used?

For businesses moving goods across UK borders, understanding which systems apply at which locations is essential for ensuring smooth and compliant cross-border movements. The Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) is one of the most important of those systems, yet confusion about where it applies and how it works continues to cause unnecessary delays and compliance issues for traders and their intermediaries.

Introduced in January 2021 for transit movements from the EU and for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, GVMS has since expanded significantly. As of January 2022, there are 16 border locations supporting GVMS imports into Great Britain and nine border locations for GVMS exports. The requirements vary by location: some are designated pre-lodgement locations requiring a Goods Movement Reference in all circumstances, while others use GVMS to support imports with pre-lodged declarations, and export locations differ in whether declarations must be submitted as arrived or pre-lodged.

Getting this right matters. Using the wrong process at the wrong location can result in delays, failed inspections, and compliance exposure that could have been entirely avoided.

If you want to know where GVMS is used, watch this video and discover the specific border locations supporting GVMS in Great Britain, including key ports such as Dover, Felixstowe, Harwich, the Eurotunnel, and more, and what each one requires.