ESSENTIAL BORDER CONTROLS, CUSTOMS GUIDANCE, AND KEY RESOURCES FOR JANUARY 2025

Here are the latest operational updates on the requirements and border controls for importing live animals, germinal products, products of animal origin, and animal by-products into Great Britain.

This update highlights how customs agents can assist in avoiding delays with import declarations for your goods and provides guidance on accessing APHA’s technical Import Information Notes. You will also find updates from HMRC regarding the introduction of Safety and Security declarations for EU imports effective from 31st January.

Check the CHED reference in customs declarations

Customs agents are encouraged to carefully check the CHED import notification reference that they are adding into a customs declaration for your consignments.

CHEDs submitted on IPAFFS from 1st January 2025 will have a ‘2025’ prefix. Customs declaration with incorrect ‘2024’ CHED references may cause delays in processing or incorrect holds to appear on the Customs Declaration Service, causing consignments to be held at the point of entry until the hold is cleared.

Example of a reference for a CHED submitted after 1st January 2025:

CHEDP.GB.2025.1234567

Example of how this reference should be entered into a customs declaration:

Correct: GBCHD2025.1234567

Incorrect: GBCHD2024.1234567

In order to avoid this mistake, we request that you or your agent copy the CHED reference directly from IPAFFS after the CHED has been submitted:

Advice for hauliers on Shorts Straits routes

Agents or haulier – hauliers taking these actions will reduce the chance of your goods being called into Sevington Border Control Post unnecessarily, and reduce the time spent at the BCP for checks.

Check or recheck GVMS 5-10 minutes before disembarking from the ferry or train. For Short Straits journeys, an amber message may have cleared to green during the journey time, meaning drivers do not have to call at the BCP, and are able to travel straight to the destination.
On arrival at Sevington, drivers need to tell the swimlane booths that their load has been called for an SPS/DEFRA check at the BCP – this will avoid them being sent to the Inland Border Facility in error.
To speed up the checking process, drivers should have the import notification (CHED) reference numbers for the loads they are carrying.

4. Drivers are reminded that they should not enter Sevington with less than 2 hours before their TACHO break – they should park up and take their TACHO break before entering Sevington.

New location for APHA Import Information Notes

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are currently working on a project to move the content on APHA’s Vet Gateway website to GOV.UK, including Import Information Notes (IINs).

IINs contain information relating to the import requirements for live animals, animal products or by-products, and genetic material, and provide vets who carry out checks at the border with technical information and links to relevant legislation. The IINs can also be useful to businesses who require this technical information.

IINs can now be found on the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/import-information-notes.

If you have any queries about the migration of the IINs please contact webmaster@apha.gov.uk.

Update on Safety and Security declarations

From 31st January 2025, all European Union (EU) imports into Great Britain (GB) will require Safety and Security declarations – this is a new requirement.

Safety and Security declarations support the fight against illicit goods such as drugs and weapons entering GB and make sure legitimate goods aren’t stopped for unnecessary checks. These declarations are already required for goods imported into GB from outside the EU.

The haulier or carrier who is moving the goods across the border into Great Britain will be legally responsible for ensuring the required Safety and Security declarations are submitted, although they can arrange for a third party to submit the declarations on their behalf.

If you have not already done so, you should now talk to agents, hauliers or carriers in your supply chain about their plans for submitting S&S declarations for EU imports from 31st January, and whether there is any additional information they will need you to provide as the importer.

HMRC has published guidance on submitting S&S declarations, including a short video, to help supply chains prepare for the new requirements.

If businesses are ready to start submitting Safety and Security declarations before 31st January 2025, HMRC encourage them to do so.

Checklist for importing live animals, germinals and animal products

1.Find out the risk category for your commodity. This will inform the:

rules you must follow
documents you might need to prepare
likelihood of your goods being inspected at the point of entry

There are different risk categories for animals and animal products imported from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and from non-EU countries and for plants and plant products.

The risk category for your goods will tell you if you need to use the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) to create and submit an import notification (also called a Common Health Entry Document) to the authorities in advance of goods arriving in Great Britain.
The risk category for your goods will also tell you what documentation is required for the import of your goods. Documents should be uploaded to the import notification on IPAFFS before you submit it.

If you are importing live animals or animal products and a GB health certificate is required from a supplier in the EU, Iceland, Lichenstein or Norway, ask for a digitally signed and verifiable GB health certificate. DEFRA will accept verifiable PDF certificates from TRACES and other EU/EFTA MS systems.

Suppliers can still send a paper health certificate with the goods if they are unable to provide a verifiable PDF or the goods are imported from a non-EU country.

Please note: if you or your agent upload a scanned copy of a paper health certificate to the import notification, you will still need to present the original paper certificate to the Port Health Authority (PHA) or local authority (LA) at the Border Control Post (BCP) in advance of the consignment’s arrival into GB, or upon the consignment’s arrival in GB if advised to do so by the PHA or LA.

If the original paper certificate is not available for checks on entry into GB, the consignment may be held until the original paper certificate is provided to the PHA/LA at the BCP. Contact the PHA/LA at the point of entry if you need advice.

6. If you are using a customs agent or freight forwarder to complete the customs declaration for your imported goods, remind them to check that the CHED import notification reference has been entered in the correct format (eg. GBCHD2025.1234567) and the correct doc code has been provided in the declaration. Errors in these will cause processing delays and may result in a hold being placed on your goods.

Detailed Guidance

DEFRA’s detailed guidance has been updated with information on how to comply with import requirements for:

Read DEFRA’s Leaflets to help businesses prepare for a new approach to importing goods to GB under the BTOM.

Stay informed about the latest Port Health news by registering at: https://www.porthealth.uk/contact/

Tweets by SCPHAuk