Importing sanitary and phytosanitary controlled goods into Great Britain that interact with the Border Trade Matching Service
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-07)

Find out how to make sure that data entered into the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is matched correctly with the Border Trade Matching Service (BTMS), formerly Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS).

This guide tells you how to format the document identifier entered in data element (DE) 2/3 if you are declaring sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controlled goods.

When you submit your declaration, the Border Trade Matching Service (BTMS) will:
- find the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) pre-notification submitted on the Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS)
- Common Health Entry Document (CHED) identifier (DE 2/3)
- net weight (DE 6/1) or number of live animals (DE 6/2)
- commodity code (DE 6/14 and DE 6/15)
Find out how to move licensed goods into or out of Northern Ireland (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/moving-licensed-goods-into-or-out-of-northern-ireland).

Defra pre-notifications submitted on the IPAFFS

When submitting your pre-notification on the IPAFFS, select the CHED that represents the product type you are importing.

For example, use the CHED for horticultural and plant related products (CHED-PP) if you are importing:
- horticultural products
- plants
- plant-related products
The document code C085 (CHED-PP) is not recognised in the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) Tariff. On your customs declaration, you should use the document codes:
- N002 (conformity certificate)
- N851 (phytosanitary certificate)
The accompanying document identifier in DE 2/3 should be written in format ‘GBCHDyyyy.nnnnnnn’:
- GBCHD
- yyyy. — the year the pre-notification was made followed by a full stop
- nnnnnnn — the 7-digit CHED number generated by the IPAFFS
This format should be used for all types of CHED if you’re declaring:
- fruit and vegetables, using document code N002 (CHED-PP)
- plants or plant-related products, using document code N851 (CHED-PP)
- live animals, using document code C640 (CHED-A)
- products of animal origin, using document code N853 (CHED-P)
- high-risk food not of animal origin, using document code C678 (CHED-D)
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) document code

If you’re using document code C673 (IUU Catch certificate), use the document identifier GBIUU.

The BTMS will inform the IUU decision (IUU OK, IUU N/A or IUU HOLD) recorded by Port Health inspectors in Box 42 of the CHED-P Part II.

Document codes in DE 2/3 that are not required by the CDS Tariff system

CDS Tariff validation will only accept additional document codes if you have included all the relevant documentary requirements for any ‘all countries’ prohibition and restriction measures which apply to your goods.

Example

You do not need to declare document code N851 (Phytosanitary Control) in the Customs declaration if you’re importing:
- green bananas (Commodity Code xx-xxxx-xxxx (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/xx-xxxx-xxxx))
- fresh lemons (Commodity code xx-xxxx-xxxx (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/xx-xxxx-xxxx))
You will need an N002 (Certificate of Conformity).

You will receive an X00 ‘no match’ message if you:
- declare additional BTMS document codes in DE 2/3 which are not required by Tariff
- have not made a supporting Defra pre-notification
Completion of goods description DE 6/8

Do not use the copy and paste function to directly lift descriptions in the CDS Tariff for completion of the goods description in DE 6/8. If descriptions contain special accent characters, using the copy and paste function:
- may prevent messages being automatically sent to the BTMS
- will cause a delay in customs clearance as HMRC will need to complete a manual process to remove the special characters
Receipt of X00 ‘no match’ messages

If the BTMS generates an X00 ‘no match’ message, you should correct the data element shown in the message as soon as possible. If you made the error on the Import of products, animals, food and feed system pre-notification, you can either:
- amend your existing pre-notification
- delete your pre-notification and submit a new one
If you have made the error on the CDS, you can amend your declaration. If your software does not allow you to amend your declaration, you need to cancel your declaration before submitting a new one.

The BTMS will re-run its data-matching process. If the mismatch has been corrected, it will provide a decision notification to the CDS.

If the mismatch has not been corrected:
- the BTMS cannot provide a decision notification to the CDS
- your customs declaration will not be cleared
The BTMS can successfully apply data matching on:
- multiple CHEDs declared on a single customs declaration — for example, where racehorses need a separate CHED-A for each animal
- the CHED covers more than a single exporter or importer
- the consignment is split between free circulation and a special procedure, such as customs warehousing
- multiple CHED’s applied across multiple customs declarations
Where BTMS is unable to provide an automated release after a successful SPS inspection has been carried out you will need to apply for a manual release (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-manual-release-of-certain-plant-animal-and-food-products).

Importing caught fish into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)

If you import caught fish, you should pre-notify on the IPAFFS the:
- products of animal origin CHED-P
- IUU Catch certificate
If you do not do this, the BTMS will generate a ‘no match’.

For more information on importing caught fish, read chapters 3 and 16 of the Tariff (https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff).

Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate — general marketing standard (GMS)

The Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI) carry out inspection checks on a random selection of Great Britain destined horticultural products that fall under general marketing standard, covering most fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, herbs and cultivated mushrooms.

If your GMS products are selected for inspection, you will receive a GMS ‘no match’ message. You must then:
- make a GMS pre-notification on the IPAFFS
- amend your customs declaration to include the CHED-PP details in DE 2/3
Where a GMS product is prepared, processed or intended for industrial processing, additional information (AI) code “GMSPR” should be declared in DE 2/2 at item level on your import declaration. This will indicate that the product is imported for processing and the HMI’s GMS does not apply. If you do not use AI code “GMSPR”, where applicable, it may lead to the GMS item being selected requesting you make a GMS pre-notification on the IPAFFS which will unnecessarily delay the clearance of your goods.

Use of National and EU waiver document codes

Specific National waiver document codes have been assigned to a number of prohibition and restriction measures. This is to give more clarity about the documentary requirements of the UK Trade Tariff.

For example:
- National waiver 920Y can be used on several commodity codes to satisfy the ‘HMI Conformity Certificate (fruit and veg) issued in UK’ measure
- EU waivers already in existence, such as document code Y930 or C084, can be used on several commodity codes to satisfy the ‘Veterinary control’ measure
You should only use a waiver document code when a:
- waiver is appropriate for your SPS consignment
- waiver document code is available to use for your chosen commodity code
Using the waiver document code, instead of a CHED document code, will help minimise delays in customs clearance.

Further checks

Carriers may need to take their SPS consignments to a Border Control Post (BCP) when they arrive in the UK. CDS messaging services will tell the carrier which BCP to take their consignments to.

When the BTMS returns a release decision, Customs and Border Force may carry out additional checks, such as:
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) checks
- checks to resolve any outstanding accounting queries
The customs declaration will only be cleared after any additional checks are completed.

Customs Declaration Service messaging services will tell you if:
- additional checks are needed
- other queries have been raised