Mar 31st, 2021
3 mins
Members will recall from previous newsletters that we previously advised that new GB health certificates would need to be used from 1 April 2021 onwards for animal and animal product imports to Great Britain. This cut-off date has now been extended to 30th June 2021.
Defra’s Import and EU Policy Team have issued OVS Note 2021/03, allowing the EU model certificates to continue to be accepted for another three months.
The current EU model export health certificates will continue to be accepted in the UK as long as they are signed and dated up to 30 June 2021. This applies also to consignments that arrive in Great Britain after 30 June 2021. Importers in Great Britain are encouraged to notify their suppliers in exporting countries to use the GB certificates.
Great Britain has a trade agreement with the SACUM (Southern Africa Customs Union and Mozambique) countries and as part of that agreement the grace period for use of EU model certificates is 31 July. Therefore, consignments from those countries can continue to be imported using the EU model certificates provided that the certificate is signed and dated up to 31 July 2021.
Imports from the EU are covered by the phased import regime and are not affected by the above.
