EU exit - how it impacts your business

EU exit means your business must prepare for and embrace change. Find out what processes will change from January 2022 onwards.

The information on this page has been provided by central government not Mersey Port Health Authority. We cannot accept responsibility for its accuracy and it is offered as guidance only.

How to notify imports of products, animals, food and feed from January 2022

From January 2022 importers and agents must use the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) to notify enforcement authorities about imports of live animals, animal products and high risk food and feed not of animal origin into Great Britain.

This must be done at least four hours before the consignment is due to arrive, but notifications can be made up to 30 days in advance.

They must also use IPAFFS to upload all documents that accompany the consignment including:

health certificates
commercial documents - invoice, packing list and bill of lading or CMR waybill

Checks we will carry out between January 2022 to July 2022

From January to July 2022, MPHA will perform remote documentary checks. There will be no Customs hold applied to the consignment and those consignments will be released for GB trade.

Checks we will carry out from 1st January 2022

POAO document, identity and physical checks.
POAO must enter Great Britain at an established point of entry with an appropriate BCP.
All POAO consignments including honey will be subject to 100% documentary checks. These checks will be undertaken remotely unless the consignment has been selected for an identity or physical check. A minimum of 1% of commodities are subject to identity and physical checks.
Consignments subject to identity and physical checks will need to be transferred to the BCP and the original documentation presented.

Groupage consignment checks

An agent or importer must ensure that documents accompanying groupage consignments list all the products that are inside the trailer so we can verify they have been declared and pre-notified. Normally the Bill of Lading or waybill provides this information.

If the checks are satisfactory when completed, the consignment will be released.

What happens when a consignment fails checks?

If the consignment fails the checks, it might be detained until the agent or importer provides the information required to justify the failure. You can submit the required import documents online.

Please note, that in some cases of failure the consignment might be rejected automatically and the entry to GB refused, leading to the re-despatch of the consignment back to the country of origin, or even destroyed in cases of high-risk for public or animal health.