Defra have issued the following reminder to industry in preparation for the changes coming on 31 January 2024.

What changes are coming on 31 January 2024?

• The introduction of health certification on imports from the EU/EFTA of medium risk: animal products, plants, plant products
• The introduction of health certification on imports of high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin via the EU/EFTA listed in Annex II of Regulation 2019/1793.
• The introduction of import notifications for EU/EFTA products (i.e. not Qualifying Northern Irish Goods) from the island of Ireland to Great Britain.
• The introduction of the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) import notification in place of the IMP for import notifications of EU/EFTA imports of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) and for High Risk Food and Feed of Non-Animal Origin (HRFNAO) imported into GB via the EU/EFTA.

Prepare for the changes that are coming:

1. Register for IPAFFS online on GOV UK if you haven’t already done so. The person or business completing the CHED Part 1 import notification must have a UK address to register for IPAFFS.
2. Know your risk category – use the online guidance to find the risk category of your commodity
3. Ensure that your EU supply chain is preparing to provide you with health certificates and/or phytosanitary certificates – find out more here.
4. From 31st January 2024, GB authorities encourage the use of a digitally signed and verifiable GB export health certificate (EHC) in place of the paper version of the certificate for live animals and POAO imports from EU and EFTA countries where the PDF health certificate can be electronically verified. Defra will accept verifiable PDF certificates from TRACES and other EU/EFTA MS systems listed on GOV UK. You can still use a paper GB health certificate.
5. Be ready to correctly submit your import notification in IPAFFS: · Click here to watch the webinar recording for Importing HRFNAO via the EU to GB: the new CHED Part 1 notification. · Click here to watch the webinar recording for Importing animal products from the EU to GB: New CHED Part 1 notification. · Read the guidance in Import Notifications.
6. Read the introductory information leaflets for businesses on health certificates and import notifications.
7. Please click here to practice making CHED import notifications in the IPAFFS training environment.

• You will need to create a new log in for the training environment. You will need to use an email address that you can access, to receive your confirmation code before you can log in.
• To see the new import notification (CHED) questions for EU animal imports please select Austria or any EU country for the country of origin question and make sure the same country appears in the country of consignment box.
• If you see any error messages when viewing pages in the training environment, these have already been reported and will be fixed in the next release. Please do not contact the service desk.

Update on landbridge transits for EU and EFTA

EU and EFTA origin, live animals and animal product consignments that transit through the GB using Great Britain (GB) as a land bridge can pose a threat to biosecurity and public health. These consignments will need to meet Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) controls aligned with the Border Target Operating Model.

Guidance on what EU and EFTA traders will need to do when using GB as a landbridge including a step-by-step guide has been published on gov.uk: Defra-transiting-goods-through-Great-Britain-leaflet.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Who to contact and When?

For urgent BTOM/import queries for plants and plant products to England & Wales, please contact the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA) via:

Email (priority route): phsi-importers@apha.gov.uk

Tel (secondary route): +44 (0) 3000 200 301

For urgent BTOM/import queries for animals and animal products, please contact Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) via:

Email (priority route): imports@apha.gov.uk

Tel (secondary route): +44 (0) 3000 200 301