Guides / CDS route codes · Updated 19 October 2026

What your CDS declaration route number means

Your agent mentions a "route 1" or "route 6" and moves on, as if you already know what it means. Here is what HMRC's own Customs Declaration Service documentation actually says each route number is, and which ones it does not define at all.

A route number is not the same thing as a declaration status message. If you have ever tracked a CDS entry, you will have seen codes like DMSACC or DMSCLE arrive as the declaration moves through acceptance and clearance; our guide to CDS declaration status codes covers those. A route number is a separate, earlier signal: it is what HMRC's risking engine decides about your declaration the moment it is processed, before any of those status messages are generated. Route 1 customs control, in particular, is the one traders hear about most, usually because it is the one that asks something of them.

Where the route number actually comes from

HMRC's Customs Declarations end-to-end service guide, the developer documentation for CDS, publishes a glossary of what it calls ROE codes, short for Route of Examination. The guide describes CDS itself as a service that "supports making import and export declarations when moving goods into and out of the UK" and was built to the EU's Union Customs Code. The ROE glossary is where the route numbers are formally defined, not in the general CDS guidance pages aimed at traders, which is probably why so few people outside the software and brokerage world have seen the actual wording.

Route 1: documentary control

HMRC's glossary defines Route 1 as: "A risk has been identified that requires the declarant to submit documentation for checking." It adds that "the goods are required to be held." That is the entire official definition. In practice, route 1 customs control means your agent (or you, if you file your own declarations) needs to send specific paperwork, commonly the commercial invoice, proof of origin or a licence, before the goods can move. Nothing is physically opened or examined under Route 1 alone; it is a paperwork hold, not an inspection.

Route 2: physical or external party control

Route 2 is defined as: "A risk has been identified which requires the goods to be physically inspected by Border Force or some other third party." As with Route 1, "the goods are required to be held." The key difference from Route 1 is the word "physically": someone, whether Border Force or another agency, needs to examine the actual goods, not just the paperwork behind them. The documentary checks that come with Route 1 still apply; Route 2 adds the physical layer on top.

Route 3: non-blocking documentary control

HMRC defines Route 3 as: "A documentary check has been requested, but the goods do not need to be held." This is the route most likely to be misunderstood, because it still means someone wants to see your paperwork, but unlike Route 1 it does not stop your goods moving while you produce it. Treat a Route 3 request the same way you would Route 1 in terms of what you send, just without assuming your consignment is stuck at a facility in the meantime.

Route 6: no control required

Route 6 is defined simply as: "The declaration has been risked and no control has been required." This is the outcome importers hope for: the risking engine has already looked at the declaration and decided nothing further is needed from you. It is worth noting what this definition does not say: it does not say the declaration was not checked. It says it was risked, and nothing came of it.

Codes that are not inspection outcomes

Two other codes appear in the same HMRC glossary, and it is worth being precise about what they are not. Route 0 is defined as: "The declaration is in a processing state which means that risking has not been performed yet." It is a waiting state, not a fourth kind of check. A related marker, described in the glossary as the pre-lodge prefix, flags that "the declaration is an advance/pre-lodged type, and as such that the routing is provisional only." In other words, a route shown against a pre-lodged declaration can still change once the goods actually arrive and risking runs again.

We have not found any gov.uk or HMRC source that documents a "Route 4" or "Route 5", or that assigns a different meaning to these numbers than the ROE glossary above. If you have seen another number quoted elsewhere, treat it with caution rather than assuming it matches the pattern of 1, 2, 3 and 6; ask your agent or HMRC to confirm it against your own declaration.

The four routes at a glance

Route	HMRC's definition	Goods held?	What you do
1	Documentary control: documentation required for checking	Yes	Send the requested documents promptly
2	Physical / external party control: goods to be physically inspected	Yes	Cooperate with the inspection through your agent or the location operator
3	Non-blocking documentary control: documents requested, goods not held	No	Send the requested documents; goods can still move
6	No control required	No	Nothing further needed from risking

What a route number does not tell you

A route number tells you what the risking engine decided, not how long that will take or what happens if the check finds a problem. For what actually happens once goods are held for a check, including where inspections take place and how long a hold can run, see our guide to UK customs checks: what happens if your goods are selected. That guide also covers correcting a declaration after the goods are released, which a route number has no bearing on at all.

Common mistakes

Treating a route number and a DMS status code as the same kind of message; they come from different parts of the process.
Assuming Route 3 means your goods are held, when HMRC's own definition says they are not.
Guessing what an unfamiliar route number means instead of asking your agent or HMRC to confirm it.
Expecting a fixed clearance time for any route; HMRC's definitions describe the control, not a service-level timer.

If you would rather have someone else read these notifications and act on them, Easy Clearance, a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals, has written its own explainer on CDS route codes and what they mean for your shipment.

Related guides

Want a shipment-focused view of your route code?

Easy Clearance is a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals. Its own explainer walks through route codes 1, 2 and 6 from a shipment's point of view.

Read the Easy Clearance explainer

Sources

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.