Pre-loader

A quick guide to importing food and drink from the EU to Great Britain


Introduction


This is a quick guide to importing food and drink from the EU to Great Britain

The term “food and drink” refers to Products of Animal Origin (POAO) intended for human consumption. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, honey, and gelatine are a few examples.

Phased Import Controls for POAO.
The United Kingdom is phasing in controls on imports of POAO from the EU. From July 1, 2022, you will be unable to import the following prohibited and restricted products from the EU into the United Kingdom:

  • Chilled minced meat (beef, pork, lamb, mutton and goat).
  • Chilled or frozen minced poultry meat.
  • Mechanically separated meat from pigs, poultry, and ratite or game birds.
  • Ungraded eggs.
  • Chilled meat preparations.

POAO Import New Requirements


From July 1, 2022, most POAO imports from the EU to the United Kingdom will require a health certificate.

The exporter from the EU must apply for a health certificate in their own country – relevant authorities should provide versions of health certificates that exporters can apply for, and provide you with an electronic copy to upload to IPAFFS. The consignment must include the actual certificate (not a copy).

Import License. If your food or drink product does not have a health certificate, you may require an import licence or authorization to bring it into the EU. You may require both an import licence and a health certificate in some situations.

Commercial Document. If the product you’re importing requires a commercial document, you should check with the EU exporter. They must furnish it if it does.

The commercial document must have the following information: The contents of the consignment, the identity of the person who sent it, and the name of the person to whom it is being transported.


Notify authorities in Great Britain about your POAO import


From January 1 2021, you must submit an import notification on I.P.A.F.F.S, to alert authorities in the United Kingdom of your import of POAO, under EU safeguard measures; you must submit the import notification 24 hours before your import arrives.

You’ll get a unique notification number (UNN) for the product when you submit your import notification in I.P.A.F.F.S.

The UNN must be given to an EU exporter or an official veterinarian (O.V). The UNN must be added to the health certificate by the exporter or O.V., and a copy must be given to you. After that, you must return to I.P.A.F.F.S and submit a copy of your health certificate to your import notification.

From July 1, 2022, all POAO imports listed in the regulations must enter the UK through a border control post.

We value your feedback, and if you have any comments, suggestions or anything else that you would like to highlight to us, we will be delighted to hear from you and incorporate your feedback into our content.

Note: While we have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in this Site has been obtained from reliable sources, Customs Declarations UK is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information in this Site is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Nothing herein shall to any extent substitute for the independent investigations and the sound technical and business judgment of the reader. In no event will Customs Declarations UK, or its partners, employees or agents, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this Site or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Certain links in this Site connect to other Web Sites maintained by third parties over whom Customs Declarations UK has no control. Customs Declarations UK makes no representations as to the accuracy or any other aspect of information contained in other Web Sites.