Automatic License Verification System (ALVS)

If handled incorrectly, the customs clearing of imported fruits, vegetables and plants can be mired within a morass of problems.  However the whole process can be made seamlessly problem free by Aerona Freight Forwarding Agents within just a few minutes. Provided all the necessary documents are in place at the time of importation.

Thanks to our specialist knowledge of CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight), PEACH (Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates for the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate), ALVS (Automatic License Verification System) and HMRC border inspection procedures, Aerona Freight Forwarding Agents can provide hassle free clearance required in the handling of your perishable imports.

Aerona Freight Forwarding Agents Ltd are registered on the PEACH system and this enables us to act quickly for our customers for whom time is of the essence on these imports.

The introduction of ALVS has meant importers and exporters of perishable products now require additional HMRC customs procedures. This new system means customs clearance can be achieved within a short space of time.

Aerona Freight Forwarding Agents have experienced personnel who specialize in custom clearing and handling of imported fruits, vegetables and plants, and dealing with the border inspection officers on customers’ behalf.

NOTE: The PEACH system incurs charges in addition to the normal DUTY and TAXES applicable on overseas imports.  

Categories of material
Plants, fruit, vegetables and plant material (like soil) from outside the EU fall into 3 categories:

• ‘unrestricted’ material you can bring to the UK without any conditions
• ‘controlled’ material that you can only bring into the UK with a ‘phytosanitary certificate’ to show it meets the requirements for entry to the EU
• ‘prohibited’ material you can’t bring into the UK unless you  get a scientific research licence or an exception (‘derogation’) to the rules – contact the Animal and Plant contact the (APHA) Animal  and Plant Health Agency if you want to apply for a derogation

The rest of this guide explains how to import controlled material that requires a phytosanitary certificate. 

Material that’s controlled
Controlled plants, fruit, vegetables and plant material include:

• all plants for planting
• common fruits (except for bananas and grapes) other than fruit preserved by deep freezing
• cut flowers
• some seeds and leafy vegetables other than vegetables preserved by deep freezing
• potatoes from some countries

If you’re not sure whether the item you want to bring to the UK is controlled, check the list of plant species by import category or contact APHA.

There is a concession from the requirements relating to controlled material that, subject to certain provisions, permits the import of small quantities of plant produce and up to a total of 5 controlled plants without a phytosanitary certificate from certain countries provided that the material is:

• in your personal baggage
• for your personal use
• not diseased or infected with pests

Personal allowance
There is a concession from the requirements relating to controlled material that, subject to certain provisions, permits the import of small quantities of plant produce and up to a total of 5 controlled plants without a phytosanitary certificate from certain countries provided that the material is:

• in your personal baggage
• for your personal use
• not diseased or infected with pests

Further details can be found below under Bringing fruit, vegetables and plant products into the UK. Otherwise you must follow the procedures in this guide. 

Register as an importer
You must follow the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates from the Horticultural marketing inspectorate (PEACH).
You will be required to register for PEACH before you start importing plants.
Once you’re registered you can follow the progress of your consignments through inspections and other checks on the peach website the EU.
Peach: http://ehmipeach.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Module=Register

Phytosanitary certificates
You must get a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment of controlled plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material that you import, from the plant health authority in the country where your supplier is.
The certificate is a statement from the plant health authority that the consignment:

• has been officially inspected
• complies with legal requirements for entry into the EU
• is free from serious pests and diseases

The inspection referred to in the certificate must take place no more than 14 days before the consignment is dispatched from the inspecting country. The certificate must be signed by someone in the inspecting plant health authority within the same 14 day period.
If your consignment includes plants from more than one country, you’ll need to get a separate phytosanitary certificate from the plant health authority in each country. 

Quantity
Phytosanitary certificates include a ‘quantity declared’ section. Tell the plant health authority that’s completing the form to fill in quantities as follows.
For cut flowers quantity must be stated as the number of stems.
Quantities must be stated in kilograms (kg) for fruit, vegetables, soil and branches with foliage, potatoes, grain and the following plants for planting:

• bulbs
• corms and rhizomes
• plants in tissue culture
• seeds

For any other plants for planting, the quantity must be recorded as the number of items in the consignment.
It’s up to you to make sure quantities are stated in this way. The plant health authority may use quantity measures for consignments bound for other countries, so you will need to tell them about the measures required for UK-bound consignments. 

Pre-arrival notification
You must use the PEACH website: 
http://ehmipeach.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Module=Register to give advance notice each time you bring a consignment to the UK. 

You must give:

• in the case of any relevant material brought by air, at least 4 working hours before the relevant material is landed
• in any other case, at least 3 working days before the relevant material is landed. 

You must also scan the following documents and upload them to the PEACH website before your consignment arrives:

• the phytosanitary certificate for the consignment
• the travel ticket if you’re travelling with the plants yourself
• bill of lading, cargo movement request or delivery company invoice if you’re not travelling with the plants
• the form you must complete to record details of your imported plant material – this applies to plant material for planting 

Inspections
When it arrives in the UK, your consignment must be presented for inspection to check it:

• includes all required documents
• contains the plants you have said it does
• is free from pests and diseases

If your consignment doesn’t pass an inspection it may be destroyed, treated, or sent back to where you sent it from at your expense. 

Inspection fees
For each consignment imported you have to pay the following fees:

• A fee of £9.71 for each consignment to cover the cost of checking the consignment’s paperwork and identity.
• A physical inspection fee – the amount you will have to pay will depend on the type of plant material you’re importing.

See attached Plant Health Licence Fees to find out if your consignment qualifies for a lower inspection fee.
Some plant material, imported from particular countries, is eligible for a reduced level of physical inspection. This many mean a lower inspection fee.
See attached Plant Health Licence Fees to find out if your consignment qualifies for a lower inspection fee. 

Points of entry
You can use these designated points of entry to bring your consignment into the UK.
You’ll be able to select the point of entry you want to use from a drop down list on the PEACH website. 

Heathrow or Manchester
Consignments can be inspected at Heathrow or Manchester from 6am until midnight every day. 
APHA will inspect your consignment within 4 hours of it arriving as long as:

• you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
• it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application 

Gatwick or Stansted
Consignments can be inspected at Gatwick or Stansted airports between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).
APHA will inspect your consignment within 4 hours of it becoming available for inspection (i.e. after you bring it to the office), as long as:

• you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
• it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application 

Other airports
Consignments can be inspected at other airports between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).
APHA will inspect your consignment within one working day of it becoming available for inspection (i.e. after you bring it to the office), as long as:

• you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
• it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application 

Seaports and approved inland inspection points
Consignments can be inspected at seaports and approved inland inspection points between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).
APHA will inspect your consignment within 1 working day of it becoming available (i.e. once the port has moved it to the approved inspection facility), as long as you’ve given the required 3 working day’s notice. 

How to present certificates
If you’re travelling with your consignment, you can provide phytosanitary and re-forwarding certificates for inspection yourself when you arrive in the UK.
If you’re shipping the consignment by post, put the certificates in an envelope marked ‘For the attention of Border Force’ and attach it to the outside of your package. 
If you have more than one package, attach certified copies of the certificates to each package. A certified copy is a copy signed by the plant health authority that drew up the certificate. 

Submit documents after your consignment arrives
Within 3 days of your consignment reaching the UK, you must post the original phytosanitary certificate to APHA. 
For consignments landing at Heathrow or Gatwick send the certificate to:
Animal and Plant Health Agency 
1st floor 
Building 4 
Heathrow Boulevard 
284 Bath Road 
West Drayton 
Middlesex 
UB7 0DQ 

For consignments landing anywhere else send the certificate to:
Animal and Plant Health Agency 
Room 11GA02 
Sand Hutton 
York 
YO41 1LZ 

Consignments travelling through another EU state
If your consignment travelled through another EU member state, the plant health authority in the other member state will have taken the phytosanitary certificate and replaced it with a ‘plant health movement document’.
In this case, send the plant health movement document to APHA instead.  

Produce with a certificate of conformity issued in the country of origin
In certain cases, you can apply for a certificate of conformity from the inspection authority in the country of origin.
You must still make an application through PEACH for these consignments – the application process lets you indicate that the consignment already has a certificate.
HMI inspects a random sample of consignments arriving with certificates of conformity that were issued in the country of origin. Traders or their agents must make these certificates available to HMI and/or HMRC if required. 

The table below lists the countries and types of produce this applies to.

Country	Type of produce
Switzerland	fresh fruit and vegetables other than citrus fruit
Morocco	fresh fruit and vegetables
South Africa	fresh fruit and vegetables
Israel	fresh fruit and vegetables
India	fresh fruit and vegetables
New Zealand	apples, pears and kiwi fruit
Senegal	fresh fruit and vegetables
Kenya	fresh fruit and vegetables
Turkey	fresh fruit and vegetables

Produce which must have a certificate of conformity
The 10 fruits and vegetables covered by the Specific Marketing Standard (SMS) on quality and labelling require a certificate of conformity when they are imported to show that they comply with the standards.

They are:

• apples
• citrus fruit
• kiwi fruit
• peaches and nectarines
• pears
• strawberries
• table grapes
• lettuces, curled-leaved and broad-leaved endives
• sweet peppers
• tomatoes

You must apply for a certificate of conformity if you are planning to import these goods. 

Produce which may need a certificate of conformity
HMRC’s CHIEF system for processing imports and exports selects 1% of consignments of produce covered by the EU’s General Marketing Standard (GMS) to go through the process for getting a certificate of conformity. 

If one of your consignments is selected, you’ll get an email telling you to apply for a certificate of conformity on PEACH. Depending on the results of a risk assessment, the consignment could also be inspected. 

Green bananas
Although bananas are not covered by either the specific or general marketing standards, there are special rules for bananas imported from outside the EU prior to ripening. 
You must notify HMI via PEACH about imports of unripened bananas arriving at UK points of entry. After risk assessment, some consignments will be held for HMI inspection. 
You can apply for exempted banana-trader status. Exempted traders’ consignments will be automatically cleared, except for a very small random sample selection. For more information about exempted banana-trader status, contact your Regional Horticultural Inspector. 
These requirements do not apply once fruit has been ripened.
If you’ve recently been visited by an RPA inspector about green bananas, you can give feedback about the inspection on 0300 100 0313. 

Approved trader status
If you are an importer and your business consistently demonstrate a high level of conformity with the marketing standards, HMI can grant you approved trader status (ATS). This means that you are identified as low risk, and will be subject to fewer inspections. For more information about ATS, contact your regional horticultural inspector (MS Word Document, 36.3KB). 

Pre-arrival notification
You must use the PEACH website to give advance notice each time you bring a consignment to the UK.
You must give:

• in the case of any relevant material brought by air, at least 4 working hours before the relevant material is landed
• in any other case, at least 3 working days before the relevant material is landed

You must also scan the following documents and upload them to the PEACH website before your consignment arrives:

• the phytosanitary certificate for the consignment
• the travel ticket if you’re travelling with the plants yourself
• bill of lading, cargo movement request or delivery company invoice if you’re not travelling with the plants
• the form you must complete to record details of your imported plant material – this applies to plant material for planting.

Inspections
When it arrives in the UK, your consignment must be presented for inspection to check it:

• includes all required documents
• contains the plants you have said it does
• is free from pests and diseases

If your consignment doesn’t pass an inspection it may be destroyed, treated, or sent back to where you sent it from at your expense. 

Notice periods for imports from third countries via the EU
You must give notice each time you bring a consignment of regulated goods to the UK from third countries for:

• consignments brought in by air – 4 working hours
• consignment being brought in by another route – 3 working days.

Exporting plants and plant products to the EU
In a no deal scenario, the UK will become a third country and will need to meet EU third country import requirements to export regulated plants and plant products to the EU. For exports to the EU third-country rules will apply on all:

• plants for planting
• wood, wood products or bark
• wood packaging material

The process for sending regulated plants and plant products to the EU will be the same as the current process for sending them to third countries. When you export regulated plants and plant products to third countries, you need to: 

• check whether a phytosanitary certificate (PC) is required by contacting the plant health authority or a plant health inspector in the destination country
• apply for a PC from the relevant UK plant health authority before export – if you’re based in England and Wales you will need to register on the eDomero system to apply for a PC.
• check if your plants require laboratory testing of samples to ensure they are free from pests and diseases or inspections during the growing season – contact your local plant health inspector to find out if your plants need these tests before exporting

These services are subject to  fees and charges.
Regulated plant and plant products exports to the EU from the UK may be subject to checks at the EU border. 

Bringing plants into the UK – Personal Importers plants
You can bring in any plant material from countries within the European Union (EU) if it is:

• grown in an EU country
• free from pests and diseases
• for your own use

Bringing plants to the UK from abroad
If you’re travelling from a country outside the EU, many products have weight and quantity restrictions or are banned completely unless you have a ‘phytosanitary’ (plant health) certificate. 
You can get the certificate from the plant health authorities in the country you’re leaving. It proves your plants have been inspected, are free from dangerous pests and diseases, and are suitable to enter the UK.

Bringing fruit, vegetable and plant products into the UK
There are very strict controls on what fruit, vegetable and plant products you can bring into the European Union (EU). This is because food and plants can carry pests and diseases, which can devastate our environment, and our agricultural and horticultural industries. The recent discovery of infection of native ash trees by the fungus Chalara fraxinea have shown what a damaging effect plant pests and disease can have on communities, business and the economy. 

Within the EU, you can bring in any plant products as long as they are grown in an EU country, are free from pests and diseases and are for your own use or consumption. However, there are important exceptions to this general rule – you are not allowed to bring in any of the following if they are intended for planting:• plants and seeds of Fraxinus (Ash) and Castanea (Sweet chestnut);• plants of Platanus (Plane). 

But If you are travelling from a country outside the EU, many products are banned completely or are restricted by weight and quantity. If you are bringing in restricted products in larger amounts than the prescribed limits for your own use, you must obtain the relevant phytosanitary document from the plant health authorities in the country where the product was grown to show that it is free from pests and diseases. Please note that the restrictions detailed are based on where the material was grown and purchased from, not where you are travelling from. 

Travelling from a country within the European Union (EU)If you are travelling from a country within the EU (see the list below), you can bring in any fruit, vegetables or plant products, other than plants and seeds of Fraxinus (Ash) and Castanea (Sweet chestnut) and plants of Platanus (Plane) intended for planting – as long as they are grown in any of these countries, are free from pests and diseases and are for your personal consumption. 

Travelling from a country outside the European Union (EU) If you are travelling from a country outside the EU, many products you may bring in for personal use have weight and quantity restrictions. If you are bringing in these restricted products in larger amounts than the prescribed limits for your own use, you must obtain the relevant phytosanitary document from the plant health authorities in the country where the product was grown to show that it is free from pests and diseases. However, certain European and Mediterranean countries (see the list below) have fewer restrictions on some of the products. 

All other fruit
Please note that the combined weight of 2kg per person applies to any mixture of restricted fruit and restricted vegetables.

Buying plants online or by post
Check that the seller can provide a phytosanitary certificate before you buy any plants from outside the EU.
You don’t need a certificate if you’re buying a plant that’s coming from within the EU.
Peach: http://ehmipeach.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Module=Register 
Using the Peach System: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-peach-system-to-import-plants-and-fresh-produce 

For additional information visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-plants-fruit-vegetables-or-plant-material-to-the-uk