Guidance

How to complete a CSV file for IPAFFS (plants and plant products)

Updated 16 August 2023

You can use a CSV file to upload commodity details about plants and plant products to the Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS).

You must enter the values into the CSV file exactly as they appear in this guide.

Download the IPAFFS CSV template file.

The previous version of the CSV template is no longer supported.

If you try to upload a CSV file using the previous template, you’ll get the following error message: ‘We do not recognise these column headings – download the CSV template and try again’.

The updated CSV template includes an ‘Intended for final users (or commercial flower production)’ column, which is required for some plants and bulbs that are for planting. This replaces the ‘Intended for final user or propagated’ column in the previous version.

Commodity code

Required for all commodities.

Enter a commodity code.

IPAFFS allows you to search for commodities by genus and species when creating your import notification. You can use this search feature to look up the correct commodity codes you need.

You can also look up commodity codes on the Trade Tariff tool.

Genus and species

Enter a valid scientific name for the commodity, such as ‘Chamaecrista comosa var. capricorna’. You can enter a European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) code into column C instead and leave the genus and species column blank.

Use the EPPO global database to find the scientific names.

EPPO code

Enter an EPPO code from the EPPO global database.

You can enter the genus and species into column B instead of entering an EPPO code.

Variety

Required for fruit and vegetables (commodity codes starting with 07 and 08) which are Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI) and Specific Marketing Standard (SMS) regulated.

The value must match the name of a variety in IPAFFS, including spaces and capital letters.

Class

Required for fruit and vegetables (commodity codes starting with 07 and 08) which are HMI and SMS regulated.

Your answer must match one of these values exactly, including spaces and capital letters:

• Class I

• Class II

• Extra Class

Intended for final users (or commercial flower production)

Required for some plants and bulbs (commodity codes starting with 06 and 07) which are for planting.

Your answer must match one of these values exactly, including capital letters:

• Yes

• No

If you’re importing bulbs

If the bulbs are intended for final users or commercial flower production, enter ‘Yes’ in this column. Otherwise, enter ‘No’.

You only need to enter a value for the following commodity codes:

• 06011010 (Hyacinths)

• 06011020 (Narcissi)

• 06011030 (Tulips)

• 06011040 (Gladioli)

• 06011090 (Other)

If you’re importing plants

If the commodity is intended for final users, enter ‘Yes’ in this column. Otherwise, enter ‘No’.

You only need to enter a value for the commodity codes shown in the following table.

Commodity code	Commodity heading	Commodity name
06012010	Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, in growth or in flower; chicory plants and roots	Chicory plants and roots
06012030	Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, in growth or in flower; chicory plants and roots	Orchids, hyacinths, narcissi and tulips
06012090	Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, in growth or in flower; chicory plants and roots	Other
0601209010	Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, in growth or in flower; chicory plants and roots	Plants (rhizomes in flower) of Colocasia Schott
0601209090	Bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, corms, crowns and rhizomes, in growth or in flower; chicory plants and roots	Other
06021010	Unrooted cuttings and slips	Of vines
06021090	Unrooted cuttings and slips	Other
0602109010	Unrooted cuttings and slips	Mormodica L., Solanum Melogena L. and Trichosantes L.
0602109090	Unrooted cuttings and slips	Other
06022010	Trees, shrubs and bushes, grafted or not, of kinds which bear edible fruit or nuts	Vine slips, grafted or rooted
06022020	Trees, shrubs and bushes, grafted or not, of kinds which bear edible fruit or nuts	With bare roots
06022030	Trees, shrubs and bushes, grafted or not, of kinds which bear edible fruit or nuts	Citrus
06022080	Trees, shrubs and bushes, grafted or not, of kinds which bear edible fruit or nuts	Other
0602300010	Rhododendrons and azaleas, grafted or not	Rhododendrons
0602300090	Rhododendrons and azaleas, grafted or not	Azaleas
06024000	Roses, grafted or not	Roses, grafted or not
0602400010	Roses, grafted or not	Cuttings
0602400090	Roses, grafted or not	Other
06029020	Other	Pineapple plants
06029030	Other	Vegetable and strawberry plants
06029041	Other	Forest trees
06029045	Other	Rooted cuttings and young plants
06029046	Other	With bare roots
06029047	Other	Conifers and evergreens
06029048	Other	Other
06029050	Other	Other outdoor plants
0602905010	Other	Mormodica L., Solanum Melogena L. and Trichosantes L.
0602905090	Other	Other
06029070	Other	Rooted cuttings and young plants, excluding cacti
06029091	Other	Flowering plants with buds or flowers, excluding cacti
0602909110	Other	Potted plants not exceeding 1m in height
0602909190	Other	Other
06029099	Other	Other
0602909910	Other	Potted plants not exceeding 1m in height
0602909990	Other	Other

Number of packages

Required for all commodities.

Enter the number of packages for this commodity in your consignment. You must use digits only.

You can find the number of packages on your phytosanitary certificate.

Do not use commas in numbers over 999. For example, enter one thousand packages as 1000.

Type of package

Required for all commodities.

Use the following list of codes to identify the type of packaging used to transport this commodity.

Your answer must match one of these codes exactly, including capital letters.

If your answer does not match one of these codes, the type of package will default to ‘Other’ when uploaded to IPAFFS.

Description	Code
Bag	BG
Bale	BL
Box	BX
Bulk solid granular particles (“grains”)	VR
Can	CA
Carton	CT
Case	CS
Cask	CK
Coffer	CF
Container	CN
Crate	CR
Package	PK
Pallet	PX
Tray	PU
Tube	TU
Vial	VI
Wood barrel	BA
Wood bundle	BE
Wood case with pallet base	EE
Wood crate	8B

Quantity

Required for all commodities.

This is the quantity of the commodity in this row.

You must use digits only.

For example, if the consignment has 10 boxes of the same commodity and each box contains 100 bulbs, the quantity is 1000.

Do not use commas in numbers over 999. For example, enter one thousand bulbs as 1000.

This number relates to the Quantity type value that follows in the CSV file.

Quantity type

Required for all commodities.

This is the measurement unit used for the commodity you are importing.

Your answer must match one of these codes exactly, including capital letters.

Description	Code
Bulbs	BLB
Corms and rhizomes	CRZ
Kilograms	KGM
Pieces	PCS
Plants in tissue culture	PTC
Seeds	SDS
Stems	STM

Net weight (kg)

Required for all commodities.

This is the net weight of the entire commodity in this row, measured in kilograms (kg).

The net weight (kg) value must:

• be a number only – do not include ‘kilograms’ or ‘kg’
• be 0.001 or greater
• use no more than 3 decimals, for example 12.345 not 12.3456

Do not use commas to separate numbers over 999. For example, enter one thousand kilograms as 1000.

Controlled atmosphere container

Optional (leaving this blank will default to ‘No’ when uploaded to IPAFFS).

This identifies if the commodity is being stored in a controlled atmosphere container.

Your answer must match one of these values exactly, including capital letters:

• Yes
• No