Move groups of agrifood products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
How to move groups of agrifood products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and how to prepare your consignment for checks at the point of entry.
This guidance is for traders and hauliers moving groups of agrifood products from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland. It applies to:
- products of animal origin (POAO)
- plant and plant products
- food and feed of non-animal products
- high-risk food not of animal origin (HRFNAO)
Groups of products transported in a single sealed trailer or container are known as ‘groupage’ exports.
You can move your goods using any of the following groupage methods:
- the linear model
- the consolidation hub model
- the hybrid model - by combining the linear and consolidation hub models
If you employ a haulier to transport your products, you should agree with them what model you’ll use to move your products.
You must move goods from a business approved to export to the EU.
Check what certificates you need to move your consignment
You need different certificates depending on the type of product you’re moving to Northern Ireland.
Check what certificates you need to move for:
The linear model to move goods
The linear model means:
- hauliers pick up different consignments from different locations
- each consignment (such as an individual pallet) is checked and sealed by a certifying officer before the haulier moves on to the next location - this is an official seal
This process is repeated until all consignments are in the vehicle. The haulier seals the load at the final point of dispatch before it leaves the port - this is a commercial seal.
The consolidation hub model to move goods
The consolidation hub model means:
- different consignments are brought together at a single approved establishment
- the consignments are sealed and certified as a single unit at that establishment and then moved to Northern Ireland
The consolidation hub model may be appropriate for your goods if the:
- consignments or pallets will arrive at the hub sealed and certified
- hub is the sole collection point
If the consignments or pallets will be sealed and certified at the hub you’ll need to check that:
- a certifying officer is available
- someone is authorised and available to apply an official seal to the trailer
If there are a series of collection points, the linear model may be more appropriate.
The hybrid model to move goods
You can use the linear and consolidation hub models together. For example: a sealed consignment or pallets arrive at a consolidation hub with the correct documents. The certificates have details of the:
- trader who’s sending the goods (also known as the consignor)
- person receiving the goods in Northern Ireland (also known as the consignee)
- trailer transporting the consignment or pallets to the consolidation hub
The consignment or pallets are then loaded onto the vehicle.
Pre-notify the Northern Ireland point of entry
The person responsible for the goods in Northern Ireland must create a Common Health Entry Document (CHED) on TRACES-NT.
The person responsible can be the:
- person receiving the goods (consignee)
- haulier
Find out how to complete the CHED.
When completing the CHED, the person responsible for the goods in Northern Ireland should enter the:
- word ‘groupage’ in box 1.3
- estimated time of arrival in the Northern Ireland port in box 1.10
- trailer number in box 1.13
- haulier seal in the first line, followed by individual pallet seals in the lines below, in box 1.17
Sealing your consignment
All products moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland should be sealed and certified. Seals added by traders or hauliers are commercial seals. Seals added by certifying officers are official seals.
Consignments sealed with a commercial seal will need physical identity checks on entry to Northern Ireland and this may increase delays at the point of entry.
Consignments sealed with an official seal may only require seal checks and are likely to move through the point of entry more quickly.
To assist with identity checks, you may want to attach a document that shows the seal number and delivery address for the products to the outside of the consignment or pallet.
Types of seal you can use
The method of sealing used by a trader is a commercial decision. You should discuss and agree sealing methods with your certifying officer.
Examples of acceptable seals include:
- strapping with shrink wrap where the straps cross over both ways where possible and the seal is attached at the cross-over points to prevent items being removed or added to the load
- wire wrap with shrink wrap fixed with a seal on top
- sealed reusable large netting (or other cover) over multiple pallets
You can seal a consignment in part of a trailer or container if there’s only one point of physical entry to the consignment and the seal is applied to that point of entry.
Pallets should be sealed so they cannot be tampered with. Pallets must comply with ISPM 15 international standards for wood packaging material.
Smaller consignments, such as boxes, can be sealed with security tape that shows if the consignment has been altered.
You should not use cling film or pallet wrap by itself as this does not prevent the load from being tampered with.
Your consignment will be subject to further checks and will be delayed if:
- you do not apply the seal correctly
- the seal number does not match the number on the certificate
Last updated 29 August 2023 + show all updates
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Removed information about a requirement to email manifest data to DAERA as changes to the CHED Interface Platform (CHIP) mean this is no longer necessary.
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First published.