Import animalfood productsand fordrink human consumption from the EU to Great Britain

Products covered by this guidance

This guidance explainsapplies theto importbusinesses rulesin forGreat anyBritain food(England, Scotland and drinkWales) that containsimport productsor ofmove animalfood originand (POAO).drink Forfrom example:

• meat
• eggs
• dairy
• honey
• gelatine

Thesethe rulesEU apply to productsGreat thatBritain. originatedThis inincludes thefood EU.and Theydrink alsounder applysafeguard measures. 

It applies to non-EUfood productsand ifdrink theythat either:originated in:  

• the EU 
• a non-EU country and has passed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import controls inon entry to the EU EU 
• werea non-EU country and has been processed in the EU

Processing – processing means any action that substantially alters the initial product, including heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extractionextraction, andextrusion extrusion.

or a combination of these processes  

FollowThese differentproducts guidanceare tocategorised import: 

• fishas forlow, humanmedium consumption
• animalor products forhigh humanrisk consumptionunder fromthe non-EUBorder countriesTarget Operating Model

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Read(POAO). additionalExamples import guidance for:include: 

• compound productsmeat 
• composite productseggs 
• dairy 
• honey 
• gelatine 

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• fish for commercialhuman purposesconsumption 
• animal byby-products postnot orfor courier.

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• composite importproducts – isthese permitted

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ImportPOAO informationinvolved notesin explaina thedisease specificoutbreak importor conditionspublic forhealth eachissue productare typebanned (meator andhave meatimport products,restrictions. forImporters example).must Theyfollow containthe statutory guidance for importers,POAO vetsunder andsafeguard border control officials.measures.

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   You thecan generalonly import informationPOAO to noteGreat forBritain productsfrom approved of animal originestablishments.

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DocumentsCheck required what documents you need 

All POAOhigh areand either low or medium risk.risk Youimports needthat tohave checkpassed theSPS riskimport categorychecks ofin eachthe commodityEU youand wishwere toproduced import,or tolast findprocessed outin whicha documentsnon-EU youcountry need.

Mediumwill riskneed imports:to requiredbe documents

Mediumre-certified riskwith imports need a GB health certificate fromissued in the EU country of export.export. 

ProductsAll fromhigh non-and medium risk imports of products processed in the EU countriesbut originating from a non-EU country need ana EUGB health certificate iffrom they:the EU country of export. 

• were

  For lasthigh processedand medium risk imports that originated in the EU

• passed SPSyou’ll importneed controlsto inget thea EU

Thehealth certificate should be from the EU country of export.

TheYou may need an official importer declaration for certain products – the health certificate will tell you ifwhen you need one. You may also need an officialimport importerlicence declaration.or authorisation.

IfFor thereall islow notrisk aimports, healthyou’ll certificateneed available,a youcommercial document. You may also need an import licence or authorisation.

Low

You riskshould imports:contact requiredthe documents

ForDepartment lowof riskAgriculture, POAOEnvironment imports:

• youand needRural aAffairs commercial(DAERA) document
• youif doyou’re notmoving needPOAO aunder healthsafeguard certificate
• youmeasures mayfrom needNorthern anIreland importto licenceGreat or authorisation

Britain.

Health certificates 

The EU exporter must apply for the GB health certificate in their own country. Competent authorities (for example, governments) should use use model health certificates to to create certificatesversions that exporters can apply for.

If the exporter creates a GB health certificate using a a system approved to produce verifiable PDF certificates, they do not need to send the original health certificate with the consignment. They must send you the official, verifiable PDF certificate once it ishas been signed by the competent authority. Use this for your import notification in the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS). 

If the exporter cannotdoes not use a system approved to produce verifiable PDF certificates, the competent authority must send the original paper GB health certificate with the consignment and send you an electronic copy to attach to your import notification in in IPAFFS.

If there’s no health certificate for your product you may need an import licence or authorisation.  

Import licences 

You may need an import licence or authorisation to import your POAOfood and drink product from the EU if there’s no health certificate for your product. 

In some cases, you may need an import licence as well as a health certificate. 

Check the list of of general licences to to see if the licence you need already exists, and what you should do if it’s not on the list. 

Commercial documents for low risk products – what exporters should includedocuments 

Low risk imports of of POAO must travelmust withhave a commercial document. Your exporter must complete thisthis. 

The commercial document andmust include: include the: 

• description of what’s in the consignment, for example ‘cooked meat’
• meat’, and volume or quantity information, or a copy of the food labellabel 
• name of the person or organisation who sent itit 
• name of the person or organisation it’s being sent toto 
• address of the premises of originorigin 
• address of the destination premisespremises 
• reference identifying the lot, batch or consignmentconsignment 
• date the consignment was sentsent 
• name and address of the transporter and details on how the consignment will be transportedtransported 

The document must travel with the consignment.

Notify authorities in Great Britain (IPAFFS notifications)Britain 

You must submit an import notification on on IPAFFS to to notify authorities in Great Britain about your import.import of POAO from the EU. This is also known as a common health entry document (CHED).

You must do this at least one working day before the import isthe POAO is expected to arrive at the point of entry. 

When you submit your import notification in in IPAFFS, you’ll get a notification reference number, sometimes called a unique notification number (UNN) for the product. The format of this number will be CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX.CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX. 

The reference number does not need to be added to the health certificate.

Find

Choose outthe howcorrect tocountry registerof origin   

You need to useadd theinformation to IPAFFS service.

Chooseabout the correct country of origin

for your product.  

For products that originated or were last processed outside the EU,EU, and passed passed SPS import import checks on entry to the EU,EU, choose the EU country of export for your your IPAFFS notification. notification. Select the EU country of export for both the country of origin and country of dispatch.

For products that originated in the EU or were last processed in the EU,EU, choose the EU country for your your IPAFFS notification. notification. Select the country where the product was last processed as the country of origin.

Add information about the business you’re importing from 

You need to add information to IPAFFS about the business you’re importing from, if it’s coming from: 

• the EU 
• Iceland 
• Norway 
• Switzerland 
• Liechtenstein 
• San Marino 
• the Faroe Islands  
• Greenland 

Follow these steps to add the approved business: 

1. Sign in or register to use use IPAFFS.. 
2. On the ‘Traders addresses’ page, select ‘Add a place of origin’, then select ‘Create a new place of origin’.origin’. 
3. In the ‘Place of origin name’ field, enter the full name of the exporting business, then its authorisation number.number. 
4. In the ‘Place of origin’ fields, enter the full address, telephone number, country and email address for the business.business. 
5. Save these details – they will be saved to your address book so that you can use them again.again. 
6. Add the approved business to your import notification.notification. 

If the goods have come from more than one approved business, add other businesses in ‘additional details’.

Import notifications if there’s a new or emerging disease outbreak 

If safeguard measures are in place because of a new or emerging disease and there is no commodity code for your food or drink, you should: 

1. Download and fill in the the import notification form for for POAO under under safeguard measures. Email it to the the APHA imports imports team at at APHAGBimports@apha.gov.uk. Use the email subject: ‘Urgent‘URGENT – POAO safeguarding  SAFEGUARDING UNN required’. REQUIRED’. 
2. APHA will will give you a a UNN. Give this to the EU exporter or officialor veterinarian (OV) to to add to the health certificate.certificate. 
3. The EU exporter will give you an electronic copy of the health certificate.certificate. 
4. Email the completed form and health certificate to to APHA at  at APHAGBimports@apha.gov.uk. Include the the UNN in in the email subject heading. For example: ‘Import‘IMPORT notificationNOTIFICATION – – POAO under safeguardUNDER measuresSAFEGUARD CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX’.MEASURES CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX’. 
5. APHA will will email you an updated form with the the UNN and and the health certificate.certificate. 

ImportImporting products made of more than one commodity type 

If you are importing a product that contains different commodity types with different import requirements, you need to submit separate import notifications on on IPAFFS for for each commodity type. Commodity types include plant products, high risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO), and animal products.products  

For example, if your product contains contains HRFNAO and and animal products, you need to:to:  

• submit a a CHED.D for the the HRFNAO  
• submit a a CHED.P for the animal product  

You should include both both CHED reference reference numbers in the commercial documentation uploaded to each import notification. For example, you need to: 

• add the the CHED.P reference number to the commercial documentation on the the CHED.D notificationnotification. 
• add the the CHED.D reference number to the commercial documentation on the the CHED.P.P 

For all types of CHED, the reference number should be entered in the field labelled ‘data element (DE) 2/3’ on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). You should write the the CHED reference reference number in the following format on your customs declaration –- GBCHDyyyy.nnnnnnn. For example, the product containing containing HRFNAO and and animal productsproducts  would be declared using document code:using:  

• document code C678 for the the CHED-D, followed by the the CHED reference numberreference number   
• document code N853 for the the CHED-P, followed by the the CHED reference numberreference number 

If any any CHED reference reference numbers are missing, your products may be held until this is resolved. Find more guidance on on how to enter data into CDS.

Get help

technical support with IPAFFS

If you need technical support with IPAFFS:

• call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) helpline on 03300 416 999
• email  APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk

Help completing import notifications

If If you need help to complete import notifications, contact the Port Health Authority at your nominated border control post.

ChecksMovements atfrom theNorthern UKIreland borderto Great Britain 

ThereYou maycan bemove checksPOAO atfrom theNorthern borderIreland onto POAOGreat imports,Britain unlessif theythey’re arequalifying fromNorthern Ireland.Ireland goods. 

Checks at the border

YouUnless mustthe presentgoods yourare consignmentfrom Ireland, there are checks at the the border controlon postmedium (BCP) ifand itlow isrisk calledgoods for sanitaryfrom andthe phytosanitaryEU. (SPS) checks.

AllUnless they are from Ireland, all goods must enter Great Britain through a point of entry that has athe relevant relevant border control post (BCP.). 

Goods moving directly from the Republic of Ireland canmust also enter England or Scotland through Heyshama andpoint theyof entry with a relevant BCP, or through Heysham. Goods from Ireland can enter Wales through any named point of entry.

There are separate border rules for for qualifying Northern Ireland goods.

ChecksImporting atminced airportsmeats, meat preparations or mechanically separated meat

You must meet the following criteria to import minced meats, meat preparations or mechanically separated meat to Great Britain: 

1. Meat preparations and minced meat must either be deep frozen or come from countries approved to export chilled goods to Great Britain. Minced poultry meat must come from countries approved to export minced poultry meat to Great Britain.
2. Mechanically separated meat (pig or poultry) must be deep frozen or chilled and must come from countries approved to export it to Great Britain. 
3. Consignments must comply with Great Britain’s health certificate requirements, meat hygiene rules and labelling rules on shelf life and instructions for use.  

The following countries are approved to export chilled minced meats, minced poultry meat, chilled meat preparations and chilled or deep frozen mechanically separated meat (pig or poultry) to Great Britain: 

• EU countries 
• Greenland 
• Iceland 
• Liechtenstein 
• Norway 
• Switzerland 
• the Faroe Islands 

Other countries will need to apply for approval to export these commodities to Great Britain.

Find out if your consignment needs SPS checks 

If you’re importing food and drink from the EU to Great Britain, you must present the consignment at the relevant BCP if it is called for SPS checks.  

If you’re importing the goods through an airport, the authorities will carry out any necessary checks before they release the consignment for collection by your transporter.transporter.  

Checks at ports

If you’re importing the goods through a port, you’llthe way to find out if youyour needconsignment needs SPS checks eitherwill throughdepend theon IPAFFSwhether systemyour ortransporter is using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS). to clear customs.  

If your transporter is using GVMS to, clear customs, they should use the the check if you need to report for an inspection service to to find out.out what they need to do.  

If your transporter is not using using GVMS, , IPAFFS will givewill youprovide an initial risk assessment whentelling you submitif your importconsignment notification,needs whichSPS willchecks tellwhen you ifsubmit your consignmentimport needs SPS checks.notification. If ityour consignment does need checks, you’ll getalso receive a message by text and email message 2 hours before your transporter’s estimated time of arrival in Great Britain. The message will confirm what you need to do.  

If If IPAFFS says tells you your consignment doeshas not need checks,been selected for SPS checks, you should continuestill to check for messages until your consignment has cleared the port.port, This is because the authorities may still call you for checks based on their final risk assessment. 

Read separate guidance if you’re transiting goodsanimal products through Great Britain under the Common Transit Convention.

Find out out what happens at at BCPs.

ImportIf mincedyou meats,need meat preparations or MSM help 

EUContact countries can export the following products as chilled goods:

• chilled minced meats of beef, pork, sheep, goat and poultry
• chilled meat preparations
• chilled mechanically separated meat (MSM) of pork and poultry

These products must:

• be chilled to an internal temperature of no more than +4°C
• meet the conditions on the health certificate
• follow the meat hygiene and labelling rules in Great Britain

Some other countries can also export these chilled products to Great Britain:

• Greenland
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Norway
• Switzerland
• the Faroe Islands

All other countries, if approved to export minced meat, must deep freeze it to -18°C.

Move products from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

You can move products from Northern Ireland to Great Britain if they’re qualifying Northern Ireland goods. 

You should contact the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) if you’re moving POAO under safeguard measures from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Get help

Contact APHA’s imports’s imports team if if you’re not sure about anything. 

If you need help with your customs declaration, declaration 

contactContact HMRC for for help.