Import animal by-products from the EU to Great Britain
How to import or move animal by-products from the EU and Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
This guidance applies to businesses in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) importing or moving animal by-products not intended for human consumption (ABP) from the EU and Northern Ireland.
It also applies to goods imported for commercial purposes by post or courier. Contact your post or courier service for more information about the process.
You need to follow different guidance if you’re importing:
- high risk food and feed not of animal origin (HRFNAO)
- food and drink that are products of animal origin (POAO)
- composite products
- live animals and germinal products
- live animals, including equines and animal products, from non-EU countries
ABP is categorised into medium and low risk categories under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM).
ABPs are also in category 1, 2 or 3. In most cases, you cannot import ABP from categories 1 or 2.
The BTOM risk categories do not correspond to ABP categories 1, 2 and 3.
Read more about importing ABP under the Border Target Operating Model.
Import ABP from approved businesses in the EU
You can only import ABP from establishments approved by the EU to trade with the UK.
Notify APHA
You must submit an import notification on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) to notify the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) about all imports of ABP subject to border controls from the EU. This is also known as a common health entry document (CHED).
You must do this at least one working day before the ABP is expected to arrive at the point of entry.
You’ll get a notification reference number when you submit your import notification. The format of this number will be CHEDP.GB.YYYY.XXXXXXX.
Add information about the approved business you’re importing from
You need to add information to IPAFFS about the approved business you’re importing from, if the consignment is coming from:
- the EU
- Iceland
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- San Marino
- the Faroe Islands
- Greenland
Follow these steps to add the approved business:
- Sign in or register to use IPAFFS.
- 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. Details will be saved to your address book so that you can use them again.
- Add the approved business to your notification.
If you need help with import notifications
You can call APHA’s helpline on 03300 416 999 or email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk.
Confirm goods have arrived at their destination if they need channelling
‘Channelling’ is where an ABP consignment must be moved directly from the point of entry to the approved point of destination. All precautions, including safe disposal of waste, must be taken to avoid risks of spreading diseases to animals or humans.
The recipient must tell APHA within one day of the goods arriving at the destination.
For low BTOM risk goods, the import risk summary table will tell you if your import needs channelling.
The following medium BTOM risk ABPs are subject to channelling:
- those intended for the manufacture of feed for fur animals, petfood other than raw petfood, and for derived products for uses other than for feeding farmed animals
- rendered fats which are not destined for the production of feed for farmed animals, the manufacture of cosmetics, medicinal products or medical devices
- fat derivatives
- photogelatine
- horns and horn products, excluding horn meal, and hooves and hoof products, excluding hoof meal, intended for the production of organic fertilizers or soil improvers
- trade samples
Untreated blood and blood products require channelling if all the following is true:
- they are for the manufacture of derived products for uses other than feeding farmed animals
- they have been derived from animals belonging to the taxa Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla (excluding Equidae) and Proboscidea, including their crossbreeds
- they come from a country or region where vaccination programmes against foot-and-mouth disease are being officially carried out and controlled in domestic ruminant animals for at least 12 months
Untreated blood products from animals other than Suidae, Tayassuidae and Equidae require channelling if they come from countries or regions where:
- there have been recorded cases of vesicular stomatitis and bluetongue in the previous 12 months
- vaccination programmes against vesicular stomatitis and bluetongue are being officially carried out against those diseases for at least 12 months in the susceptible animals
Untreated blood products from Suidae and Tayassuidae animals require channelling if they come from countries or regions where:
- no case of swine vesicular disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever has been recorded in the previous 12 months and vaccination has not been carried out against those diseases in those 12 months
- cases of vesicular stomatitis (including the presence of seropositive animals) have been recorded in the previous12 months and vaccination has been carried out against this disease within those 12 months in the susceptible species
Check what documents you need
For medium BTOM risk imports, you need a health certificate if one is available. If there is no health certificate for your goods, you need a commercial document.
For low BTOM risk imports, you need a commercial document.
You no longer need a facilitation letter to import any ABP from the EU.
You do not need an import licence for imports of ABP from the EU until 1 February 2025.
Health certificates
The EU exporter must apply for the GB health certificate 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 health 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 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.
Commercial documents
The commercial document must be from the supplier and travel with your consignment. It must show a description of what’s in the consignment, including:
- quantity information in weight, volume or number of packages
- whether it’s category 1, 2 or 3 material – if it’s a mixture it counts as the highest risk category, for example a mixture containing categories 1, 2 and 3 material would be treated as category 1 material
- the animal species
It must include the:
- name of the person or organisation who sent it
- name of the person or organisation it’s being sent to
- premises of origin address and registration or approval number
- date it left the premises of origin
- destination premises address and registration or approval number
- name, address and registration number of the transporter
If the ABP is being transported in containers, it must also come with the container identification number.
If the ABP is category 3 whole carcasses or heads destined for animal feed, the commercial document must also say the ear tag number of the animal if there was one.
If they are destined for uses other than animal feed, organic fertiliser or soil improver, the commercial document must contain information about processing for:
- bones and bone products (except bone meal)
- horn and horn products (except horn meal)
- hooves and hoof products (except hoof meal)
For beeswax destined for anything other than feeding to farmed animals, the commercial document must say how it was refined or processed.
For treated hides and skins, the commercial document must confirm that all precautions have been taken to avoid contamination with pathogenic agents.
For game trophies or other products made only of hides or skin, the commercial document must say how they were processed and packaged.
For treated feathers, parts of treated feathers and down, the commercial document must say how they were treated and washed.
For display items, the commercial document must identify the authorisation of the competent authority of destination.
Moving ABP from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
You can move ABP from Northern Ireland to Great Britain if they’re qualifying Northern Ireland goods.
When ABP arrives in Great Britain
You must send ABP to an approved premises when it arrives in Great Britain, except processed pet food or dog chews.
Importing ABP from 30 April 2024
From 30 April 2024, new checks at the border on medium BTOM risk goods from the EU will be introduced. All medium and low BTOM risk goods must enter via a point of entry that has the relevant Border Control Post.
If you need help
Contact APHA’s imports team if you’re not sure about anything in this guide.
If you need help with your customs declaration
Contact HMRC for help.
Last updated 31 January 2024 + show all updates
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The guidance has been updated to include current information about the border target operating model risk categories, health certificates and common health entry documents.
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A prompt has been added to prepare for new import controls which begin on 31 January 2024.
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Added a sentence confirming that imports of ABP will not require facilitation letters from the EU from 31 January 2024.
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First published.