Import compound products from the EU to Great Britain
Find out what compound products are, and how to import or move them from the EU to Great Britain.
This guidance applies to businesses in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) that import or move compound products from the EU to Great Britain.
It applies to compound products that originated in:
- the EU
- a non-EU country and passed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import controls on entry to the EU
- a non-EU country and were processed in the EU – processing means any action that substantially alters the initial product, including heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extraction, extrusion or a combination of these processes
These products are categorised as low, medium or high risk under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM).
You need to follow different guidance to import or move:
- fish for human consumption
- composite products – these contain processed POAO and plant products that are integral to the final product, such as lasagne
- products of animal origin (POAO)
- high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO)
Read about importing food and drink under BTOM.
Compound products
Compound products are foods that:
- contain more than one product of animal origin (POAO)
- may contain processed or unprocessed POAO elements
Compound products are different from composite products. If your product contains more than one POAO, refer to the composite product guidance to determine whether your product is a composite product. If your product is not a composite product, it may be a compound product.
Compound products may also contain high-risk food and feed not of animal origin (HRFNAO). Refer to the guidance on how to import or move HRFNAO.
Examples of compound products
The following foods are examples of compound products:
- chilled crème brûlée made with fresh cream and eggs
- cured sausage with cheese made from raw milk
- chilled omelette made with eggs and cheese
- frozen battered cheese and ham bites
- frozen cordon bleu made with chicken, ham and cheese
Check what documents you need
Each medium risk POAO element of a compound product must have its own health certificate.
If your compound product contains any low risk elements, it must have a commercial document which covers all the low risk elements. You do not need separate commercial documents for each low risk element.
You may also need an import licence or authorisation.
High and medium risk products that have passed SPS import checks in the EU and were produced or last processed in a non-EU country will need to be re-certified with GB health certificates issued in the EU country of export.
High and medium risk products processed in the EU but originating from a non-EU country need GB health certificates issued in the EU country of export.
High and medium risk products that originated in the EU need GB health certificates issued in the EU country of export. You may need an official importer declaration for certain products – the GB health certificate will tell you when you need one.
You may also need an import licence or authorisation.
Health certificates
Compound products will need GB health certificates for each medium risk POAO element.
The EU exporter must apply for GB health certificates in their own country. Competent authorities should use model health certificates to create versions that exporters can apply for.
If the exporter creates a GB health certificate using a system approved to produce verifiable PDF certificates, they do not need to send the original certificate with the consignment. They must send you the official, verifiable PDF certificate once it has been signed by the competent authority. Use this for your import notification in the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS).
If the exporter does not use a system approved to produce verifiable PDF certificates, the competent authority must send the original paper GB health certificate with the consignment and send you an electronic copy to attach to your import notification in IPAFFS. If there’s no GB health certificate for your product you may need an import licence or authorisation.
Commercial documents
If your compound product contains any low risk elements, it must have a commercial document that covers all the low risk elements. You do not need separate commercial documents for each low risk element.
The commercial document must include the following information for each low risk element:
- description of what’s in the consignment, for example ‘cooked meat’, and volume or quantity information, or a copy of the food label
- name of the person or organisation who sent it
- name of the person or organisation it’s being sent to
- address of the premises of origin
- address of the destination premises
- reference identifying the lot, batch or consignment
- date the consignment was sent
- name and address of the transporter and details on how the consignment will be transported
The document must travel with the consignment.
Import licences
You may need an import licence or authorisation to import your product from the EU if there’s no GB health certificate for your product.
In some cases, you may need an import licence as well as a GB health certificate.
Check the list of general licences to see if the licence you need already exists, and what you should do if it’s not on the list.
Notify the authorities in Great Britain
You must submit an import notification on IPAFFS to notify authorities in Great Britain about your import of compound products from the EU. This is also known as a common health entry document (CHED).
For compound products, you must enter the commodity codes for each element on your IPAFFs notification. You will be prompted to clarify the highest risk categorisation of all the elements.
You can upload GB health certificates into either the ‘health certificate’ or ‘accompanying documents’ field in an IPAFFS notification.
You should upload the health certificate of the highest risk commodity to the ‘health certificate’ field. Any additional health certificates should be uploaded to the ‘accompanying documents’ field.
You need to provide the weight of each element of a compound product. The sum of the weights must equal the total weight of the compound product. It is important that the weight specified in the IPAFFS notification and customs declaration are the same.
You must do this at least one working day before the consignment of compound products is expected to arrive at the point of entry.
When you submit your import notification in IPAFFS, you’ll get a notification reference number, sometimes called a unique notification number (UNN), for the product. The format of this number will be CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX.
The reference number does not need to be added to the GB health certificate.
Choose the correct country of origin
You need to add information to IPAFFS about the country of origin for your product.
For products that originated outside the EU or were last processed outside the EU and passed SPS import checks on entry to the EU, choose the non-EU country for your IPAFFS notification. Select the country where the product was last processed as the country of origin.
For products that originated in the EU or were last processed in the EU, choose the EU country for your IPAFFS notification. Select the country where the product was last processed as the country of origin.
Add information about the business you’re importing from
You need to add information to IPAFFS about the business you’re importing from, if it’s coming from:
- the EU
- Iceland
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- San Marino
- the Faroe Islands
- Greenland
Follow these steps to add the approved business:
- On the ‘Traders addresses’ page, select ‘Add a place of origin’, then select ‘Create a new place of origin’.
- In the ‘Place of origin name’ field, enter the full name of the exporting business, then its authorisation number.
- In the ‘Place of origin’ fields, enter the full address, telephone number, country and email address for the business.
- Save these details – they will be saved to your address book so that you can use them again.
- Add the approved business to your import notification
If the goods have come from more than one approved business, add other businesses in ‘additional details’.
Get help
If you need technical help with IPAFFS you can:
- call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) helpline on 03300 416 999
- email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk
If you need help to complete import notifications for compound products, contact the Port Health Authority at your nominated border control post.
Movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
You can move POAO from Northern Ireland to Great Britain if they’re qualifying Northern Ireland goods.
Find out if your consignment needs SPS checks
If you’re importing compound products from the EU to Great Britain, you must present the consignment at the relevant BCP if it is called for SPS checks.
If you’re importing the goods through an airport, the authorities will carry out any necessary checks before they release the consignment for collection by your transporter.
If you’re importing the goods through a port, the way to find out if your consignment needs SPS checks will depend on whether your transporter is using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) to clear customs.
If your transporter is using GVMS, they should check if they need to report for an inspection service to find out what they need to do.
If your transporter is not using GVMS, IPAFFS will provide an initial risk assessment telling you if your consignment needs SPS checks when you submit your import notification. If your consignment does need checks, you’ll also receive a text and email message 2 hours before your transporter’s estimated time of arrival in Great Britain. The message will confirm what you need to do.
If IPAFFS tells you your consignment has not been selected for SPS checks, you should still check for messages until your consignment has cleared the port, because the authorities may still call you for checks based on their final risk assessment.
Read separate guidance if you’re transiting animal products through Great Britain under the Common Transit Convention.
Find out what happens at BCPs.
If you need help
Contact APHA imports team if you’re not sure about anything.
If you need help with your customs declaration
Contact HMRC for help.
Last updated 30 April 2024 + show all updates
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Updated with new information about sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks.
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Updated the guidance to clarify the definition of a compound product. Also clarified how GB health certificates should be completed and uploaded to an IPAFFS notification for compound products.
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Updated to clarify the definition of compound products. Information that does not apply to compound products has been removed.
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First published.