Guidance

Exporting or moving high risk food and feed of non-animal origin to the EU or Northern Ireland

Guidance on exporting or moving high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO) from Great Britain to the EU or Northern Ireland.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
17 December 2020
Last updated
7 September 2021 — See all updates

Some non-animal food and feed products from certain non-EU countries present risks to human health because of aflatoxins, pesticides, salmonella or dioxins. These high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO) must meet more requirements to be imported to EU member states or moved into Northern Ireland than low risk food and feed products.

See the full list of HRFNAO with restrictions.

There is no HRFNAO listed in legislation 2019/1793 originating in the UK.

The rules apply to HRFNAO that you have imported from non-EU countries to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and then re-export to the EU or move into Northern Ireland.

Exporting HRFNAO from Great Britain to the EU or moving it to Northern Ireland

The EU does not recognise UK import controls as satisfying EU import requirements.

To export to the EU or move to Northern Ireland HRFNAO in Annex 1 of regulation 2019/1793:

  • you must include commercial shipping documents, such as the invoice, shipping document and bill of lading with the HRFNAO
  • your EU or Northern Ireland-based import agent must pre-notify the arrival of the consignment on TRACES NT

You must meet more requirements to export to the EU, or move to Northern Ireland, HRFNAO listed in:

For these HRFNAO you must:

  • download and complete an official certificate
  • contact your local authority to arrange the sampling of the HRFNAO to be analysed at an official laboratory - the lab will give the certifying officer the sampling results or an analytical report

These rules also apply to the HRFNAO in Annex 2 of regulation 2020/1158 following the Chernobyl power station accident that either:

  • originate from Great Britain
  • are imported to Great Britain before being re-exported or moved to the EU or Northern Ireland

If you’re moving the following categories of HRFNAO products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland you do not need to pay for official certification costs (including lab sampling costs):

These costs are covered by the Movement Assistance Scheme.

Follow these steps to meet EU requirements to export these HRFNAO from Great Britain to the EU or move them to Northern Ireland.

Get an official certificate and laboratory analysis report

  1. You complete part 1 of the:

    You must complete the official certificate in English and the languages of the member state border control post and the final destination.

    Email the official certificate(s) to your local authority.

  2. You contact your local authority to:

    • find a certifying officer who can sign your certificate
    • request a site visit

  3. The certifier:

    • visits your site and samples the HRFNAO
    • sends samples to an official laboratory with a unique reference number (URN) that they give your consignment

  4. The laboratory:

    • gets the samples and does the testing
    • gives results of the analytical report to the certifier

  5. The certifier:

    • completes part 2 of the official certificate(s)
    • returns laboratory results, the report and the completed official certificate(s) to you

  6. You send copies of the official certificate(s) and sampling results or analysis report to the EU import agent. The original official certificate(s) and sampling results or analysis report must travel with the goods.

  7. The EU import agent uploads the copies onto the TRACES notification required for entry to the EU.

Send your HRFNAO to an EU border control post or Northern Ireland point of entry

You must send your export to:

Your EU or Northern Ireland import agent must:

  • pre-notify the BCP or point of entry of your goods on TRACES at least 24 hours before arrival
  • fill in Part I of the Common Health Entry Document (CHED-D)

Your EU or Northern Ireland import agent will upload to TRACES:

  • the official certificate(s)
  • analysis report
  • any commercial documents

Your consignment must arrive in the EU at the BCP or the point of entry in Northern Ireland that used in the pre-notification.

At the BCP or point of entry, the consignment must have the:

  • original official certificate
  • laboratory analytical report

Points of entry in Northern Ireland can accept the original official certificate within 10 working days of the arrival of your consignment, so long as you have supplied the documents on TRACES. This is a temporary measure because of COVID-19 so you should check with the BCP or point of entry for their specific arrangements.

The BCP or point of entry will carry out checks, which may include:

  • documentary checks
  • ID checks
  • physical checks (including sampling and analysis)

If the BCP or point of entry selects your consignment for sampling they will detain it until sample results are available.

Release of the consignment

The BCP or point of entry will record the checks on Part II of the CHED-D on TRACES.

If the checks are successful, the BCP or point of entry will release your consignment.

If your goods fail inspection at a BCP

If your HRFNAO fail inspection because of risks to animal or public health, they will be destroyed immediately.

If the goods fail for other reasons, the BCP will:

  • notify your importer or Northern Ireland-based agent
  • ask your importer or Northern Ireland-based agent to decide whether your goods should be destroyed or returned to Great Britain

The BCP will not usually contact you directly.

Banned exports or movements of HRFNAO from Great Britain to EU or Northern Ireland

You will not be able to export to EU or move Northern Ireland products listed in regulations:

Arrangements for authorised traders moving food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

An arrangement is in place which allows authorised traders such as supermarkets and their trusted suppliers to move some goods without the need for official certification.

If you’re an authorised trader moving HRFNAO from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, you do not need official certification, such as export health certificates, phytosanitary certificates or marketing standards certification.

You can no longer register for the authorised trader scheme.

The following conditions are attached to these arrangements:

  • the goods are packaged for end consumers and they bear a label reading “These products from the United Kingdom may not be marketed outside Northern Ireland”
  • they are destined solely for sale to end consumers in supermarkets located in Northern Ireland, and they cannot be sold to other operators of the food chain
  • they are accompanied by a simplified official certificate globally stating the products meet all the import requirements of EU legislation
  • they enter Northern Ireland through a designated point of entry, where they are submitted to a systematic documentary check and to a risk-based identity check on a selection of items in the means of transport
  • they are monitored through a channelling procedure applicable from the designated point of entry to the destination supermarket in Northern Ireland

Exporting HRFNAO from Northern Ireland to the EU

HRFNAO moving between Northern Ireland and the EU will not have to meet any notification, certification or sampling requirements. The EU will treat this as an intra-EU movement from an sanitary and phytosanitary perspective.

Published 17 December 2020
Last updated 7 September 2021 + show all updates

  1. Removed the 1 October 2021 date from the 'Arrangements for authorised traders moving food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland' guidance. Authorised traders can continue to move some goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without needing official certification.

  2. Updated with details of some categories of high risk food and feed of non-animal origin now included in the Movement Assistance Scheme.

  3. Updated section on authorised traders moving food from GB to NI.

  4. Added a link to a page where all the official certificates for High risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO) listed in annex 2 of regulation 2019/1793 and annexes 1 and 2 of regulation 2020/1158 are available to download in English and in EU languages.

  5. First published.

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