Bringing food into Great Britain
If you break the rules
If you declare banned food products to Border Force officers at customs, they’ll take them away and destroy them.
If you do not declare banned food products, you could be prosecuted.
Border Force can take away (‘seize’) your products if they think:
- you’ve brought something into the country illegally
- you’ve brought in too much of a restricted product
- it’s been cross-contaminated, for example with blood from meat - if any clothing or a bag the item’s in is contaminated, it’ll be destroyed
If you’re not sure about any of the products you’re bringing in, speak to a Border Force officer in the ‘red channel’ at customs or on the red point phone.
Appeals
You can appeal to Border Force if you think your products were wrongly seized and destroyed. If your appeal is successful, you could get compensation.