Import eggs to Great Britain

The guidance on this page also applies to goods imported for commercial purposes by post or courier. Contact your post or courier service for more information about the process.

Importing and moving eggs from the EU and Northern Ireland to Great Britain

You can import or move eggs to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from approved EU countries and Northern Ireland.

The eggs must meet meet egg marketing standards.

You should tell your local Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) egg marketing inspector before you import a consignment of eggs. To find your local inspector contact: contact: CSCOneHealthEggMarketing@apha.gov.uk.. 

You must submit an import notification on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) to notify authorities in Great Britain about your import of eggs from the EU. You must do this at least one working day before your import is expected to arrive at the point of entry. 

Read more about importing food from the EU to Great Britain.

Importing eggs from the EU during a bird flu outbreak

You cannotcan only import eggs into Great Britain from bird flu disease control zones in the EU.EU if the establishment where the eggs are produced and exported from is free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

Marking eggs from EU countries

If you’re importing eggs from the EU to Great Britain, you must make sure that exporters correctly mark the eggs being imported.

Exporters in the EU must mark Class A eggs with the producer code.

Exporters in the EU must mark Class B eggs with either:

• the producer code and the Class B indication
• the Class B indication

Class B indications must be either:

• a circle of at least 12mm in diameter around the letter ‘B’ and at least 5mm high
• an easily visible colour spot of at least 5mm in diameter

Eggs imported from EU countries must also be marked clearly and legibly in the country of origin with its ISO (Internationalits ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) 3166 country code.

Where the EU country’s reference in the producer code is identical to the country’s ISO code,country’s ISO code, there is no need to add a separate ISO codeseparate ISO code as well.

Completing a health certificate

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Exporters in the EU will need to complete a health certificate for egg exports to Great Britain. They will need to include either Class A or Class B in box I.18 of the health certificate.. 

Read the guidance on completing a health certificate to export animals and animal products to Great Britain.

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Health certificatecertificates for non-EU countries

Exporters in non-EU countries need to complete a health certificate for egg exports to Great Britain. They will need to include either Class A or Class B in box I.18 of the health certificate.

Read the guidance on completing a health certificate to export animals and animal products to Great Britain.

Get help

Contact pigseggsandpoultryteam@defra.gov.ukimports@apha.gov.uk if you have any queries about importing eggs from non-EU countries. You’ll get a response within 5 working days.eggs.