SFPA Issues Information Notice to Industry in relation to Preparedness Advice for Industry Trading with Great Britain

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) recently issued an Information Notice to industry in relation to preparedness advice for industry trading with Great Britain in an evolving third country regulatory environment.

A business is required to be ready for the new UK import control requirements which come into force from 31st January 2024 if they export fish, fishery products or molluscan shellfish to Great Britain via the Great Britain landbridge to Europe.

The changes that are coming for Irish exporters of fishery products to Great Britain and for those transiting the Great Britain landbridge for export to Europe can be found at the following link:

Border Target Operating Model: information leaflets for businesses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

From 31st January 2024:

• Requirement for the pre-notification of all (low, medium, and high risk) imports of animal products and high and medium risk plant products from Ireland to Great Britain by your Great Britain importer. If you’re moving goods via the Great Britain landbridge, pre-notification is to be made by a Great Britain based representative.
• Export health certification required for EU imports of medium risk animal and plant products. Requirement for transit health certificates for medium risk animal products moving across the Great Britain landbridge.
• These requirements do not apply to Northern Irish goods which are designated as  Moving qualifying goods from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In order to prepare for these changes:

• Ensure your business is registered as an approved exporter on EU TRACES - gov.ie - TRACES (www.gov.ie)
• Know your products UK risk-category to confirm which UK requirements apply to your goods– use these online tools to find the risk category of your commodity: Import risk categories for animals, animal products, plants and plant products - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Be clear about who is the Person/Entity in your supply chain designated as responsible for the import of the consignment in Great Britain or for the consignment moving via the Great Britain landbridge. The designated operator responsible for the consignment in Great Britain must be an entity with a physical UK address. This Person/Entity will be required to submit import pre-notifications on the UK -Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Engage with your local SFPA Port office and SFPATradeandAudit@sfpa.ie to confirm if certification to Great Britain or for transit movements via Great Britain is needed for your products and prepare for the provision of health certificates as required by UK.
• You may need to get a UK Government account to be able to use the UK’s Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS)  (What is your goods movement reference (GMR)? - Check if you need to report for an inspection - GOV.UK (tax.service.gov.uk). From 31st January 2024, a GMR will be required to allow export consignments board ferry/plane in Ireland for movement to Great Britain. A GMR requires a UK customs import declaration to be completed and submitted in advance of movement to Great Britain.

Please avail of the industry training available on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s TRACES web page which can be accessed at the following link: : gov.ie - TRACES (www.gov.ie). A user manual for the completion of export health certificates and other guidance documents are also available on this page. The SFPA would also encourage all exporters to get familiar with the system and to save time once certification is implemented, to log on and populate your favourites on TRACES. This will reduce administrative input time once applications for certificates need to be made. The SFPA forwarded a guidance document to industry along with the Information Notice on how to populate favourites.

The SFPA process for issuance of Export Health Certificates for Great Britain can be found at the following link: TCIA-IN-HC-36 - Information Notice - Export Health Certification to GB Process from 31st of January 2024 (sfpa.ie). The SFPA also attached a copy of our general guidance document on trade with Great Britain.

If you require further information on this Information Notice as well as copies of the above guidance documents, please email:   SFPATradeandAudit@sfpa.ie

Ends

Note to Editor

If you have any queries or need further clarification on any of these issues you should contact the relevant government authorities. A list of Irish and UK Government Information Contact Points are below.

Irish Government information contacts:

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM): TRACES system queries

Email: Traces@agriculture.gov.ie

Revenue Commissioners: General Brexit queries: brexitqueries@revenue.ie

Systems queries: eCustoms@revenue.ie

Customshelpline: (01)7383685 (Available24/7)

UK Government Information contacts:

APHA  Contact APHA - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

GVMS Phone: 0300 322 9434 IPAFFS

General Phone: 0300 1000313 IPAFFS

Technical Phone: 0330 041 6999

PEACH Phone: 0345 607 3224 HMRC

HMRC-Imports and exports: general enquiries - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Import/export general enquiries: Phone: 0300 200 3700

The UK Government also operates an online forum where you can access key information and ask question directly on: Importing and exporting - Community Forum - GOV.UK (hmrc.gov.uk)

TRACES

The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) is the European Commission's online platform for sanitary and phytosanitary certification required for the importation of animals, animal products, food and feed of non-animal origin and plants into the European Union, and the intra-EU trade and EU exports of animals and certain animal products. For further information, please visit https://www.gov.ie/en/service/046a44-register-with-traces/#what-is-traces

Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System

Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) is the online system used for notification of imports into the UK.

Further Information

About the SFPA 

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the independent statutory body responsible for the regulation of the sea-fisheries and the sea-food production sectors. It promotes compliance with the EU Common Fisheries Policy, sea-fisheries law and food safety law relating to fish and fish products, verifies compliance and, where necessary, enforces it. Its mandate covers all fishing vessels operating within Ireland’s 200-mile limit, over 2,000 Irish registered fishing vessels wherever they operate, and all seafood produced in Ireland’s seafood processing companies. The SFPA operates through a network of regional port offices situated at Ireland’s main fishery harbours. For further information visit: www.sfpa.ie