BTOM update – getting it right at the border

New import controls were implemented on 30 April 2024. This email gives you operational information on the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM).

• Common Health Entry Documents – Good Practice to reduce delays
• Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in IPAFFS
• Resources to help you comply
• Contact points for urgent BTOM queries

Common Health Entry Documents  

What is a CHED? 

A Common health entry document (CHED):

• Is a notification of imports of food, feed, live animals, and some plants and plant products to authorities in Great Britain (GB)
• Is submitted in advance of goods arriving in GB
• supports biosecurity (through checks at the border for some goods) and the traceability of foodstuffs

CHED reference numbers are also provided in customs import declarations. Underlying systems provide the ability for CDS to check the outcome of SPS checks at the border before releasing goods from a customs hold.

It’s important to follow good CHED practice 

Errors in manual input (POAO) and bulk upload (Plants and plant products) can cause delays with processing.

Checking the CHED carefully before submission will help to:

✔️ Limit contact with GB authorities – goods only called into the Border Control Post for checks when required for biosecurity, rather than errors in the CHED.

✔️ Reduce error messages appearing in IPAFFS & CDS.

Good practice to reduce processing delays 

1. When providing a delivery address/place of destination for an address in Great Britain, select:

‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’

+ country within GB from the drop-down country list.

Important: The incorrect country provided for a GB address may result in unnecessary contact with the authorities. Please double check the correct country has been provided on all addresses before submitting the CHED.

 

Plant CHED PP

 

POAO CHED P

 

2. Keep the CHED up to date:

• Include the Goods Movement Reference (for GVMS enabled carriers) and Vehicle Registration Number where known.
• Update the estimated arrival time if travel times change and where GVMS is not used.

To update the CHED, first check the CHED status in the dashboard.

• If CHED status = Draft or New, you can change it yourself by clicking ‘Amend’
• If CHED status = In Progress, request PHA/APHA to set the CHED status to Amend so that you can change it.

3. If you are using bilingual keyboards (ie Polish/English) or copying and pasting information into the CHED from another document such as the transport documents, replace original language characters with the UK English equivalent characters:

L instead of Ł    o instead of ó     z instead of ź

4. For bulk upload of commodities check carefully before CHED submission:

• Commodity codes
• Weights or quantities

Check this information matches the customs declaration in CDS. Also check CHED reference is provided in the correct format in the customs declaration – you can copy and paste it from IPAFFS after you’ve submitted the CHED.

How to fix errors in your CHED after submission 

Always check the CHED carefully before you submit it. However we understand that businesses and agents are often working at speed and errors happen.

If you identify an error after you’ve submitted the CHED, first check the CHED status in the dashboard.

• If CHED status = Draft or New, you can change it yourself by clicking ‘Amend’
• If CHED status = In Progress, request PHA/APHA to set the CHED status to Amend so that you can change it.
• If the CHED status is VALID but you are still seeing error messages, identify the mistake and contact the Port Health Authority (products of animal origin) or APHA (plants and plant products) to amend or replace the CHED with a corrected version.
• If you have created a completely new CHED to replace one you’ve previously submitted, remember to also replace the CHED reference number in the customs declaration.

Complex CHEDs/customs declarations 

• If you have many lines of commodities in one CHED or many CHEDs in one custom declaration, check both carefully before you submit.
• If you are bulk uploading commodities into a CHED-PP for plants and plant products imports on IPAFFS, check that the data is correct in the CSV (Excel) file before you upload it to IPAFFS.
• During very busy periods, you may experience a short delay in the processing of Defra Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) CHED notifications. If you do experience a delay, please wait one hour after the status of your CHED notification shows as VALD in IPAFFS – it should resolve during this timeframe.

 

Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in CHEDs 

• Up to 76% of traders are using generic times like 00:00, 06:00, or “on the hour” for estimated arrival times (ETAs) in their CHEDs, even if the actual estimated time is, for example, 06:15.
• We understand this is often because businesses and agents are submitting multiple CHEDS at speed. But using these generic estimated arrival times may actually cause a delay in processing these CHEDs and also means that PHAs and APHA may not have an accurate, timely view of goods coming through the point of entry, making it challenging to anticipate inspection needs.
• Traders are therefore strongly encouraged to provide more specific ETAs in CHEDs, such as 06:15 or 06:20 in order to avoid potential delays in processing the CHED.

 

How to comply with the BTOM and the new import controls that are now in place: 

1. Register for IPAFFS online on GOV UK if you haven’t already done so. The person or business completing the CHED Part 1 import notification must have a UK address to register for IPAFFS.
2. Know your risk category – use the online guidance to find the risk category of your commodity.
3. Ensure that your EU supply chain is providing you with health certificates and/or phytosanitary certificates.
4. Consider using a digitally signed and verifiable GB export health certificate (EHC) in place of the paper version of the certificate for live animals and POAO imports from EU and EFTA countries where the PDF health certificate can be electronically verified. We will accept verifiable PDF certificates from TRACES and other EU/EFTA MS systems listed on GOV UK. You can still use a paper GB health certificate.

Please be aware that the easement period for sending scanned copies of health certificates ended on 31st July 2024. 

If you or your agent uploads and attaches a scanned copy of a paper health certificate to the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) on IPAFFS and submits it, you will be required to present the original paper certificate to the Port Health Authority (PHA) or local authority (LA) at the Border Control Post (BCP) in advance of  the consignment’s arrival into GB, or upon the consignment’s arrival in GB if advised to do so by the PHA/LA.

Please note: if the original paper certificate is not available for checks on entry into GB, the consignment may be held until the original paper certificate is provided to the PHA/LA at the BCP.  To avoid unnecessary administrative burden and allow for a smoother flow through the BCP, you are strongly encouraged to use verifiable PDF health certificates. 

5. Correctly submit your import notification in IPAFFS:

• Watch the webinar recording for Importing HRFNAO via the EU to GB: the new CHED Part 1 notification.
• Watch the webinar recording for Importing animal products from the EU to GB: New CHED Part 1 notification.
• Read our guidance on Import Notifications.

6. Remind your freight forwarder or customs agent to double-check that the correct CHED import notification reference in the correct format, and the correct doc code, has been entered in the customs declaration for your consignments of EU goods, and that commodity codes and net weights are also included in the declaration. This will be important from 30 April when goods start to arrive through ports with a designated BCP.

 

Resources to help you comply     

Our detailed guidance has been updated with information on how to comply with your new legal responsibilities for:

• importing live animals and animal products to Great Britain
• importing plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain
• importing plants and plant products from non-EU countries to Great Britain

Read our Leaflets to help businesses prepare for a new approach to importing goods to GB under the BTOM.

Visit our YouTube channel and watch recordings of our previous webinars for traders.

Read the Frequently Asked Questions we have received about IPAFFS and Health Certificates.

 

Contact points for urgent border target operating model (BTOM) queries  

Any urgent BTOM import queries for plants and plant products across England and Wales should be directed to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), by email, in the first instance: phsi-importers@apha.gov.uk

Alternatively, you can contact them by telephone: +44 (0) 3000 200 301

Any urgent BTOM/import queries for animal products should be directed to the Port Health Authority (PHA) at your nominated Border Control Post (BCP). Find your PHA contact details at your nominated BCP on this map.

If you need technical help with IPAFFS you should call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) helpline on 0330 041 6999 or email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk