Under UK law, we have a duty to exercise Official Controls to ensure foodstuffs imported to GB meet the required standards to protect animal and public health. Import checks are carried out at Border Control Posts (BCPs).

The Port of Grangemouth (GBDPE30) is a BCP which is designated for the importation of products of animal origin (POAO), high risk food and feed not of animal origin (HRFNAO) and plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong.

Checks on the imported food and plastic kitchenware are carried out by Falkirk Council's Port Health.  It is our role is to inspect consignments and verify compliance with import regulations.  

We do not provide consultancy services or advice on what products can be imported or what documentation is required.  It is the responsibility of importers to ensure they are fully informed of the relevant import requirements before shipping goods and some guidance is provided below. If you are unsure of the necessary documentation or regulations, we strongly recommend hiring a qualified customs or import agent.  Failure to comply with import requirements may result in delays, additional costs, or refusal of entry. 

The products that are subject to Official Controls include:

• red meat, farmed game and poultry
• meat products
• fish and shellfish
• dairy products
• honey 

These products are required to be accompanied by a Common Entry Health Document for POAO (CHED-P) and supporting documentation such as bill of lading, packing list, commercial invoices and export health certificate.

Composite products for human consumption consisting of processed product of animal origin combined with plant material can be complex. Further details can be found in Composite Products subsection.  

All consignments of POAO must be pre-notified on Imports of Products, Animals, Food & Feed System (IPAFFS). The pre-notification must be in form of Common Health Entry Document CHED-P and must be submitted a minimum 24 hours prior the arrival of the consignment at the BCP. 

Late CHED submissions are subject to a Late Notification fee (see our fees here).  

A CHED-P is a legal declaration and must be completed by the person responsible for the load. Any inaccuracies to the CHED or missing information may cause delay to your consignment and incur additional costs, including a Non-compliance charge  (see our fees here).  

Under BTOM, there are 3 categories of import risk for animals and animal products imported into GB from 30th of April 2024:  

Low

• Must be pre-notified using import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) before the goods arrive in Great Britain. The system will create CHED-P document.
• Must be accompanied by commercial documentation from the supplier.
• An Export Health Certificate (EHC) is not required for imports of low risk POAO. 

Medium 

• Must be pre-notified using import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) before the goods arrive in Great Britain. The system will create CHED-P document.
• The consignment must be accompanied by an Export Health Certificate issued by the competent authority in the country where the goods originate.
• Products in the medium risk category may be subject to additional official controls.

High 

• Please note Grangemouth BCP is not authorised to receive high risk POAO.

Regardless of the risk category, all products subject to Sanitary and Phytosanitary official controls will need to enter Great Britain through a point of entry with a BCP that is designated to check them and may be subject to documentary, identity, and physical import checks. Fees are payable for all official controls. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Border Control Post website.  
 
Different rules apply for goods imported from the EU and goods imported from non-EU countries. Check the relevant requirement and restrictions before commencing your import.  

1. General information for imports of products of animal origin (POAO) for human consumption - Import Information Note
2. Model health certificates for exports of live animals and animal products to Great Britain 
3. How to complete a health certificate to export to Great Britain
4. List of animals, products of animal origin, germinal products, animal by-products and derived products and hay and straw subject to official controls at border control posts
5. Import and Exports – Food Standards Scotland 

Some food is classified as high-risk food of non-animal origin due to having an emerging risk such as aflatoxin contamination, bacterial contamination or pesticides contamination. Such imports require checks at a Border Control Post (BCP). All these products require to be accompanied by a Common Entry Health Document CHED-D and supporting documentation such as bill of laden, packing list, commercial invoices, health certificate and the sampling results.

The list of High-Risk Non-Animal Origin Products in Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 is amended every 6 months. Goods listed in either of the Annexes may still be selected for sampling by the Port Health Authorit

All products classed as HRFNAO which are imported from EU and Rest of the World (RoW) countries are subject to Official Controls and must be pre-notified on Imports of Products, Animals, Food & Feed System (IPAFFS). The pre-notification must be in the form of a Common Health Entry Document CHED-D and must be submitted a minimum 24 hours prior the arrival of the consignment at the BCP. Supporting documentation must be attached to the CHED-D notification on IPAFFS.  
Late CHED submissions are subject to Late Notification fee (view fees here).

The CHED-D must be completed by a person responsible for the load and it is a legal declaration. Any inaccuracies to the CHED or missing information may cause delay to your consignment and incur additional costs, including a Non-compliance charge (see our fees here).

For products listed in Annex I of Regulation 2019/1793 (as amended), the importer or agent must raise a CHED-D on IPAFFS and upload commercial and transport documentation. 

For products listed in Annex II of Regulation 2019/1793 (as amended), the importer or agent must raise a CHED-D in IPAFFS and must also submit a valid health certificate, results of sampling and analysis, commercial transport documentation. 

All consignments subject to Sanitary and Phytosanitary official controls must enter Great Britain through a BCP designated to check them and may be subject to official controls. Fees are payable for all official controls. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Border Control Post website.  

• Importing live animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin from non-EU countries to Great Britain
• Import high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin from the EU to Great Britain

Composite food products are for human consumption and contain a mix of processed products of animal origin (POAO) and plant products used as a main ingredient - not just added for flavouring or processing. Examples of composite product would be a tomato pasta sauce with bacon pieces or a beef lasagne.  

Most foodstuffs containing products of animal origin require official controls at a BCP, however, composite products are exempt from Official Controls if they meet ALL the following criteria:

• There is no meat product (including no meat extracts or powders present)
• Contains other product of animal origin (dairy, fish, egg, honey, etc.) and the total product/s of animal origin content is less than 50% in weight.
• The composite product is shelf stable at ambient temperature or, if refrigerated, the final composite product has clearly undergone during its manufacture a complete cooking or heat treatment process throughout its substance, so that any raw product is denatured. 
• The composite product is clearly identified for human consumption.
• The composite product is securely packaged or sealed in clean containers. 
• The composite product is accompanied by commercial documentation and labelled in English, so that the document and labelling together give information on the nature, quantity, number of packages, country of origin and manufacturer of both the composite product and its ingredients. 
• Any dairy content is from an approved source.  

Additionally, composite products listed in Annex II of Decision 2007/275  (as amended) are exempt from official controls provided they do not contain any meat products (including meat extracts and powders) and any dairy content is from an approved source. 

For imports of composite products that do not meet all of the above criteria you must pre-notify the consignment on Imports of Products, Animals, Food & Feed System (IPAFFS). The pre-notification must be in form of Common Health Entry Document CHED-P and must be submitted minimum 24 hours prior the arrival of the consignment at the BCP. The Composites Health Certificate is also required. 

Late CHED submissions are subject to Late Notification fee (view fees here).  

A health certificate is required if the composite product contains any of the following:

• Any amount of processed meat (including meat powders and meat extracts)
• Any processed dairy product where the final composite product has not been cooked and requires refrigeration
• 50% or more dairy content if shelf stable
• 50% or more processed fishery products
• 50% or more processed egg products

If the product contains 50% or more of any other animal product e.g. gelatine, honey, collagen then the GB health certificate that applies to the pure product is required. Processed animal product content not specifically mentioned above does not have to be certified (although it can be) but must still come from an approved establishment in a third country with an approved residue control plan for the product concerned. 

The country where the composite product is manufactured must be on the third country list for each POAO section of the certificate that has to be completed.

All consignments subject to Sanitary and Phytosanitary official controls must enter Great Britain through a BCP designated to check them and may be subject to official controls. Fees are payable for all official controls. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Control Post website.  

• Importing Composite Products
• EU and EFTA countries approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain
• Non-EU countries approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain
• Defra Composite Products decision tree
• BTOM risk categories and inspection rates for animal and animal product imports from non-EU countries to Great Britain: summary tables 

Import of marine caught fishery products which fall under the scope of assimilated (EC) Regulation 1005/2008 must be accompanied by Catch Certificate and IUU documentation issued by the government that manages the fishery vessel. Freshwater and farmed (aquaculture) fish are all out of scope of the Regulation as are marine fish imported for ornamental purposes. 

A requirement of the legislation is that importers notify Port Health of the intended arrival of the consignment at the minimum of 72 hours in advance for imports by sea.

The pre-notification for imports arriving at Grangemouth Port must be completed in Philis Des.  

Once the pre-notification has been completed, the required information from the IUU documents must be entered into IPAFFS as part of the CHED-P declaration. Please note that IUU documentation includes the following: catch certificates (Annex II), processing statements (Annex IV), proof of storage documents (Article 14(1)) and statistical documents (only applicable to specific species, for example Bluefin Tuna, Swordfish).

Additionally, you must check the BTOM risk category for a commodity you are importing into Great Britain from EU and from non-EU countries. If your goods are in the medium or high-risk category, you must upload a Health Certificate to IPAFFS.  

If your consignment falls under medium or high-risk category, the Original Health Certificate or verifiable PDF of Original Health Certificate must be provided to us.  

All consignments subject to Sanitary and Phytosanitary official controls must enter Great Britain through a BCP designated to check them and may be subject to official controls. Fees are payable for all official controls. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Border Control Post website.  

• Ask HMRC for help classifying your goods
• Importing or moving fish to the UK 

Importers of organic food into GB must ensure that required documentation is submitted to Port Health for checks prior to importation. The products which fall within the scope of Port Health Organic import checks include:

• Unprocessed plant products
• Unprocessed animal products (includes honey)
• Aquaculture products and seaweeds
• Processed agricultural products for use as food
• Seeds and propagating material 

As per GB legislation, importers must give advance notice of the arrival of an organic import. Minimum notification periods are at least 24 hours in advance for consignments arriving by container ship.

Pre-notification of consignments must be completed on Philis Des. Please note consignments not pre-notified via Philis Des will be subject to additional fees. Documentation and information required includes: 

• The Original Certificate of Inspection COI (issued by the control authority or the control body) or
• An emailed PDF version of the COI, provided that the COI has been endorsed by the issuing body (Box 18) prior to the consignment leaving the third country. For these a bill of lading showing the ‘shipped on board’ date will also need to be provided. The PDF COI must be emailed by the issuing control body to the destination address/GB importer. This email should then be uploaded to the PHILIS DES notification or forwarded to Port Health as part of the pre-notification email.
• Commercial documents (bill of lading, invoice and packing list).

Copies of all documentation must be emailed to porthealth@falkirk.gov.uk 

The completed COI will be validated and endorsed. Port Health will return the COI to the agent/representative of the company indicated on the pre-notification form via email. 
 
The Port Health endorsed COI may then be used as evidence that checks have been satisfactorily completed. 
 
Organic products imported from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to Great Britain will not require a GB certificate of inspection (COI) until 1st February 2027. However it has been confirmed that the requirements of the UK-EU Trade and Co-Operation Agreement, Annex 14 : Organic Products must still be met. This means that any organic product imported into the EU from another third country must be processed in the EU before it can be exported to GB. It cannot be imported into the EU and then exported to GB without processing. 
 
Fees are payable for all official controls. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Border Control Post website.  

•  Importing organic food to the UK 

Polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong are subject to import controls at the GB border. Import controls are in place as harmful chemicals from plastics can migrate into food. Plastic kitchenware is defined as plastic materials and articles falling under CN Code ex 3924 10 00.

Polyamide (Nylon) 
The report must demonstrate that the item does not release primary aromatic amines into foods (or food simulants) in a detectable quantity. (The detection quantity is 0.01mg/kg.) 
 
Melamine
The report must demonstrate that they do not release into foods (or food simulants) formaldehyde in a quantity exceeding 15 mg/kg. 
The importer is required to notify Port Health of the intended arrival of the consignment at least 2 working days in advance. 

The consignment must be accompanied by Plastic Declaration Document (PDD) and laboratory report for each lot within the consignment confirming compliance with GB law.   

The PDD is used as the prior notification and must be generated and submitted to Port Health using Philis Des. The prior notification can be made by the importer or an agent or representative. The person responsible for the load must have an address in Great Britain and have an EORI number. 

Fees are payable for all checks. For information on fees visit Grangemouth Border Control Post website.  

• Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
• Plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong