Manual keying into TSS or CDS is the single biggest source of errors in UK customs. Automation is not optional at scale.
What to automate
Focus on the fields that carry the most compliance risk and repetitive effort:
- Commodity code assignment
- EORI validation (GB and XI)
- Valuation and incoterms
- Origin declarations
- Procedure codes
- Duty and VAT calculations These are the fields that TSS validates, and the same fields CDS enforces downstream. Cleaning them upstream saves both routes from rework.
Where to plug in
For Northern Ireland movements filed through TSS, automation lives in the layer that feeds the portal — typically the ERP or a customs middleware. For direct CDS filing, automation lives inside your customs software's connector.
This when to use TSS or CDS breakdown is useful when mapping which flows justify heavier automation and which do not.
What not to automate
Do not automate away human review on high-risk goods, sanctioned parties, dual-use items or licensed products. Automation should surface these for a compliance officer, not silently submit them.
Metrics to track
- % declarations submitted first-time-right
- Amendment rate on CDS
- Rework hours per 100 declarations
- Average time from data ready to declaration submitted If those numbers do not improve after automation, the pipeline is not really automated. It is just faster typing.
See TSS and CDS automation running in a real environment. Watch a demo with iCustoms.
