Who creates the PBN before the Holyhead to Dublin ferry?

The carrier, or an agent acting for it, in the Irish Revenue service. The PBN gathers the MRNs of all declarations for the goods on the vehicle, including the T2 transit. On OTSL orders the office prepares the PBN once it has the transit MRN and the vehicle data, and the driver receives the number before reaching the port.

What happens if the driver arrives at Holyhead without a PBN?

The ferry operator will not let the vehicle board, because a PBN is required for every vehicle travelling as freight on a RoRo ferry to Ireland. The result is a lost sailing, the cost of a new booking and driver waiting time. That is why we verify the PBN before leaving Dover, not in Wales.

UK landbridge to Ireland step by step

The landbridge is the movement of goods from the continent to Ireland overland through Great Britain: an EU to GB ferry (at OTSL, Dunkirk to Dover), a drive through England and Wales, then the Holyhead to Dublin ferry or Pembroke or Fishguard to Rosslare. Union goods cross GB under a T2 transit that is opened in the EU and closed in Ireland. Each stage needs a different document: the transit MRN before departure, a GMR in GVMS to enter GB, a PBN in the Revenue service before the ferry to Ireland and a customs channel check on arrival.

Why do Union goods cross Great Britain under transit?

Great Britain is a third country in relation to the EU. If goods from Poland entered GB without a procedure, they would become an import into the United Kingdom with duty and VAT, and on arrival in Ireland their status would have to be proven all over again. A T2 transit solves this: the Union goods cross GB under customs supervision, charges are suspended and the Union status is preserved. The United Kingdom is a member of the common transit procedure, so one T2 declaration covers the whole route from the office of departure in the EU to the office of destination in Ireland.

In practice the OTSL customs agency opens the transit before departure, and the MRN of that declaration is the key to every following step. Without it there is no GMR, and without a GMR and a PBN the driver boards neither ferry.

What happens at Dover, at Holyhead and in Dublin?

At Dunkirk the carrier presents the GMR, the reference from the British GVMS system that links the transit MRN to the vehicle registration. The GMR must be in a status that allows entry before the truck boards; at Dover the check is based on that reference. The driver then crosses England and Wales to Holyhead. Before entering the port, a PBN for that vehicle must exist in the Irish Revenue service, containing the transit MRN. No PBN means the vehicle is refused boarding.

Thirty minutes before the ferry arrives in Dublin, Revenue publishes the result in the Customs Channel Look-up. The driver enters the PBN number and sees whether the vehicle leaves the port directly or is directed to a documentary or physical check. After delivery the transit must be closed in Ireland; an unclosed transit triggers recovery proceedings against the holder of the procedure.

The landbridge to Ireland step by step

Open the T2 transit before departure. The OTSL customs agency lodges the transit declaration with a guarantee; an MRN is issued. The driver receives the accompanying document and the office uses the number to prepare the next notifications.
GMR in GVMS to enter GB. OTSL, as the carrier, creates the GMR once it has the transit MRN and the vehicle data: tractor and trailer registrations. The GMR is checked at Dunkirk before boarding for Dover.
Dunkirk to Dover and the drive through GB. The driver leaves the ferry without stopping if the GMR has not been selected for a check, and drives through England and Wales to Holyhead with the transit document in the cab.
PBN in the Revenue service before the ferry to Ireland. The carrier or its agent creates the PBN, an "electronic envelope" holding the MRNs of every declaration for the goods on the vehicle. A PBN is required for every vehicle travelling as freight on a RoRo ferry to Ireland.
Customs channel on the Irish side. Thirty minutes before arrival the driver checks the Customs Channel Look-up to see whether the vehicle has a direct exit or is called to a check in the port.
Delivery and closure of the transit. The goods are presented at the office of destination or to an authorised consignee; OTSL follows up the closure confirmation, because until then the guarantee remains committed.

Definitions

Landbridge: the route from the continent to Ireland through Great Britain with two ferries, as opposed to a direct ferry from France or Belgium.
T2: transit of Union goods through a third country under the common transit procedure; T1 applies to non-Union goods.
MRN (Movement Reference Number): the number of the transit declaration, entered into the GMR and the PBN.
GMR (Goods Movement Reference): the reference in the British GVMS (Goods Vehicle Movement Service) linking customs declarations to the vehicle for entry into GB.
PBN (Pre-Boarding Notification): the pre-boarding notification in the Irish Revenue service that gathers the MRNs for the goods on the vehicle.
Customs Channel Look-up: the Revenue service where, by PBN number, you check the vehicle's customs channel before disembarking.

Checklist for the driver on the landbridge

T2 transit document with its MRN in the cab, matching the goods on the trailer.
GMR handed to the driver before Dunkirk, with tractor and trailer registrations as in the booking.
PBN number received before reaching Holyhead; the driver knows who creates it and when.
CMR (the Convention on the contract for international carriage of goods by road), invoice and packing list consistent with the transit as to package count and weight.
Customs channel check 30 minutes before Dublin and instructions on where to go if called for a check.
OTSL office contact in case of a sailing change or a missing reference.

Does every load on the landbridge need the full document set?

Transit, GMR and PBN relate to the goods; what they look like depends on the status of the load. An empty trailer needs no T2 transit, but the carrier must still check the current GVMS and Revenue requirements for empty vehicles, because those rules are set separately by HMRC and Revenue. Non-Union goods, for example goods already under transit from a third country, travel on a T1, not a T2. A direct ferry from Cherbourg to Dublin needs none of these notifications for Union goods, unless the trailer carries goods under a customs procedure. The document set therefore follows from route and goods status together, not from the destination "Ireland" on its own.

The OTSL role

OTSL runs the landbridge within one order: the customs agency opens the T2 transit, the office creates the GMR and PBN, books both ferries as part of its ferry booking service and, after delivery, follows up the closure of the transit through its customs clearance team. When the landbridge makes sense and when a direct ferry is better is covered in direct ferry or UK landbridge. What happens when the PBN is missing is described in cargo stuck in Ireland without a PBN, and the difference between T1 and T2 in T1 or T2 transit. A summary of border procedures on all lanes is on the border procedures page. See also: Dublin Port or Rosslare Europort: which port for which load to Ireland.