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Import composite products from the EU and Northern Ireland to Great Britain

Find out what a composite product is, and what you need to do to import or move composite products.

Last updated 30 April 2024

If you import composite products from the EU into Great Britain you’ll need to find the .

This guidance applies to businesses in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) importing or moving composite products from the EU and Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Composite products contain both of the following:

processed products of animal origin (POAO) for human consumption
plant products

Examples of composite products include:

lasagne
pork pies
pepperoni pizza
cream liqueurs
chicken burritos

Plant-based products with no POAO content are not composite products

You can go to the decision tree in to find out if your product is a composite product.

Product standards for composite products imported from the EU to Great Britain

Your composite product must meet certain standards to be imported from the EU to Great Britain.

Products that must come from both an approved country and approved establishment

Certain types of composite product must come from both:

a country that’s approved to export to Great Britain
a premises that’s approved to export to Great Britain (this does not apply to wild-caught fish)

If the composite product contains the following POAO ingredients in the quantities specified, the ingredients in the product must come from an approved country and an approved establishment:

any amount of meat
any amount of non-shelf-stable dairy
at least 50% of shelf-stable dairy
at least 50% of fish product
at least 50% of eggs

See the .

See the

You may need a catch certificate and processing statement or storage document if your product:

contains 20% or more marine-caught fish or fishery products
will be imported using  o��

Composite products with other POAO, such as honey, gelatine and snails

Honey in composite products must come from a country with a residue control plan. Find out more in the .

Find out about gelatine and collagen as a source POAO in the .

Find out about snail meat as a source POAO in the .

If a composite product made with other POAO also contains any meat, dairy or eggs, the meat, dairy or eggs component will need to be processed at a premises approved by Great Britain.

If the product contains less than 50% other POAO it may be exempt from import notification and other import controls at the border.

Find out more in the section ‘Exemptions from controls’.

Commercial documents 

Low risk imports of composite products from the EU must have a commercial document. Your exporter must complete this. 

The commercial document must travel with the consignment and must include the following information:

description of what’s in the consignment, for example ‘cooked meat’, and volume or quantity details, or a copy of the food label 
name of the person or organisation who sent it 
name of the person or organisation it’s being sent to 
address of the premises of origin 
address of the destination premises 
reference identifying the lot, batch or consignment 
date the consignment was sent 
name and address of the transporter and details on how the consignment will be transported

Residue control plans

All countries must have residue control plans for certain animals and animal products they export to Great Britain, for example, meat, dairy, eggs, fish and honey. A residue control plan is a system for testing products for chemical residues and contaminants.

The POAO in a composite product must originate from a country with a residue control plan. Otherwise you will not be able to import the product to Great Britain.

You can check if there is a residue control plan in place for a country at the following:

Notify the authorities in Great Britain

You must submit an import notification on the .

If you need technical help with IPAFFS you can:

call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) helpline on 03300 416 999
email  APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk

If you need help to complete import notifications, contact the Port Health Authority at your nominated border control post.

Checks at the border

Unless they are from Ireland, there are checks at the border on medium and low risk goods from the EU. Unless they are from Ireland, all goods must enter Great Britain through a point of entry that has the relevant .

Goods moving directly from the Republic of Ireland must enter England or Scotland through a point of entry with a relevant BCP, or through Heysham. Goods from Ireland can enter Wales through any named point of entry.

There are separate rules for .

Find out if your consignment needs SPS checks

If you’re importing composite products from the EU to Great Britain, you must present the consignment at the relevant border control post (BCP) if it is called for SPS checks.

If you’re importing the goods through an airport, the authorities will carry out any necessary checks before they release the consignment for collection by your transporter.

If you’re importing the goods through a port, the way to find out if your consignment needs SPS checks will depend on whether your transporter is using the to clear customs.

If your transporter is using GVMS, they will use the to find out what they need to do.

If your transporter is not using GVMS, IPAFFS will provide an initial risk assessment telling you if your consignment needs SPS checks when you submit your import notification. If your consignment does need checks, you’ll also receive a text and email message 2 hours before your driver’s estimated time of arrival in Great Britain. The message will confirm what you need to do.

If IPAFFS tells you your consignment has not been selected for SPS checks, you should still check for messages until your consignment has cleared the port, because the authorities may still call you for checks based on their final risk assessment.

Read separate guidance if you’re transiting animal products through Great Britain under the Common Transit Convention.

Find out .

Exemptions from controls

Some composite products are exempt from import controls at the UK border. Exempt products do not need to enter Great Britain through a border control post (BCP). They can enter through any point of entry.

Products are exempt if they are all of the following:

shelf-stable at ambient temperature or have undergone complete cooking or heat treatment during manufacture so that any raw product is denatured
made without processed meat, meat extracts or powders
made with less than 50% of any other processed POAO (any dairy must come from an approved country and have undergone the correct heat treatment for that country)
labelled for human consumption
securely packaged or sealed in clean containers

Examples of exempt products are:

confectionery (including sweets) and chocolate that is heat-treated and contains less than 50% processed dairy and egg products
pasta and noodles not mixed or filled with processed meat product, that have been heat-treated and contain less than 50% processed dairy and egg products
bread, cakes, biscuits, waffles and wafers, rusks, toasted bread and similar toasted products that are heat-treated and contain less than 20% processed dairy and egg products
olives stuffed with fish
soup stocks and flavourings packaged for the final consumer that are heat-treated and contain less than 50% fish oils, fish powders or fish extracts
food supplements packaged for the final consumer that contain less than 20% in total of processed animal products (including glucosamine, chondroitin or chitosan) other than meat products

See the list of exempt composite products in  .

Commercial documents for exempt products

You must use a commercial document to import composite products that are exempt from import controls. The commercial document or product labelling must be in English and must include:

the nature, quantity and number of packages of the composite products
the country of origin
the manufacturer
a list of ingredients

Moving composite products from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

You can move composite products from Northern Ireland to Great Britain if they’re .

Non-composite products

You need to follow  if your product:

is unprocessed POAO – for example, raw chicken
contains small amounts of plant-based products added for processing or to give extra flavour – examples include yoghurts with added fruit, or cheese with herbs
contains several types of POAO but does not meet the composite product definition

You need to follow different rules if you’re , such as pet food.