Products of animal origin (POAO) – Commercial Imports

Port health officers at East Midlands Airport are responsible for enforcing the Trade in Animal and Related Products (TARP) Regulations 2011 as last amended by the TARP (Amendment) Regulations 2020 S.I. 2020 No 109 and ensuring that POAO comply with import conditions contained within European legislation.

Pre-notification

The Imported Food Office must be notified of the arrival of a product of animal origin before it is unloaded from the aircraft. Failure to do so may lead to its rejection.

What is a product of animal origin? (POAO)

A POAO means anything produced by or from an animal of any sort, including insects.

For a comprehensive list of POAO covered by the veterinary checks regime, please refer to assimilated Commission Decision

All POAO originating from countries outside the EU must be imported into the EU through an approved Border Control Post (BCP). East Midlands Airport BCP is approved for checks on:

• Packaged Animal products for human consumption imported at ambient temperatures. 
• Packaged animal products not intended for human consumption imported at ambient temperatures.

Pre-notification must be in the form of Part 1 of the Common Health Veterinary Entry Document (CHED-P), completed via the Import of products, animals, food and feed service (IPAFFS).

Upon arrival of the consignment, it must be presented to the Border Control Post without undue delay to enable it to be inspected by the OVS or Official Fish Inspector (OFI) as appropriate. Arrangements will be made for a Port Health Officer to accept and store the consignment at the BCP pending inspection.

Clearance

If the veterinary checks are satisfactory, the OVS/OFI will complete Part 2 of the CHED-P on IPAFFS. The CHED-P is printed from IPAFFS, signed and stamped by the inspector and the agent/importer is then provided with the original CHED-P plus a copy of the CHED-P and a copy of the health certificate. A promise to pay form is also required, detailing the port health charge for which the agent will be invoiced in the following month.

Veterinary Checks

A veterinary check comprises three elements

1. Documentary checks - verifies that the documentation relating to the health of the product is correct
2. Identity checks - verifies that the consignment matches the documents presented and is correctly labelled and packed
3. Physical checks - verifies that the consignment appears to be in a fit state for the purpose specified and complies with import conditions. This may include temperature checking and the taking of samples for analysis.

Documentary checks

The agent/importer must enter details of the consignment onto IPAFFS. This creates Part 1 of the CHED-P and automatically submits it to the Imported Food Office.

Identity and physical checks

Upon completion of a satisfactory documentary check, the OVS/OFI will conduct an identity check and a physical check (where appropriate) as described above.

The agent/importer must present the original documentation relating to the consignment, to the Imported Food Office without undue delay. The documentation required includes the original health certificate, air waybill and invoice and packing list (if applicable). Costs for these checks can be found on our Port Health Charges page.

Consignments that fail veterinary checks

If the consignment fails the checks, it will be rejected. A notice will be served on the importer either requiring the dispatch of the consignment to a country outside of the EU within sixty days, or destruction. Consignments that are destroyed are disposed of by incineration and the costs recovered from the importer.

Illegal consignments

When a POAO has not been pre-notified or presented to the BCP without undue delay, or stored at a location other than a BCP, it will be considered an illegal import. Once discovered, the port health team will take control of it and notify the Border Control Agency (Customs).