Felixstowe issues note on prenotification

08 February 2012

Suffolk Port Health has issued a reminder to importers and their agents on pre-notification of imports of Products of Animal Origin (POAO). While the authorities at most Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) currently use a 'common-sense approach' with many late notifications, there are fears that this situation may not be able to continue, resulting in unnecessary rejections.

The law requires that all imports of POAO are notified to Port Health before the goods arrive (are unloaded).  This pre-notification must be made by submitting a Common Veterinary Entry Document (CVED) on TRACES. Currently approximately 20% of POAO imports at Felixstowe fail to be notified within the deadline. This level of late submissions is likely to lead to strong criticism of the Felixstowe BIP at the next audit of the UK by the European Commission later this year. Unless this situation improves, it is feared that Defra might take stronger action to resolve this situation. 

The reason CVEDs are not submitted before the consignment is landed is often said to be because the health certificate was not available.  To meet the legal requirement the CVED must be submitted on time. The original health certificate can be submitted later.