What happens when official controls are triggered at the EU border
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-02)

Guidance on intensified official controls and imposed checks at the EU border. Understand what happens, who to contact and what you need to do.

This guidance is for businesses that export animal products from Great Britain to the EU. It applies to exports of:
- products of animal origin
- germinal products
- animal by-products
- composite products
Goods that are sent to the EU may be stopped at the EU border for document checks, identity checks or physical checks.

If your goods do not meet the relevant import requirements, they may be rejected.

If you seriously or repeatedly fail to meet the requirements, intensified official controls (IOC) will be applied to your business.

If 3 more failures happen during the intensified official controls, then there will be a more extensive round of checks and testing, known as ‘imposed checks’.

If your business fails to address the problem, carries out a poor-quality investigation or does not develop an effective action plan, it risks being delisted for trade with the EU.

Intensified official controls

If your business is placed on intensified official controls, the EU border control point will contact you via your import agent.

Your business must:
- ensure your product is compliant with export requirements as set out in the export health certificate
- understand why the intensified official controls have happened
- put steps in place to make sure any further non–compliances do not happen
Intensified official controls will apply to the next 10 consignments from the same establishment that contain the same category of goods as the failed checks.

The goods will be physically checked and tested if required.

When the process ends

The process will end when 10 consignments in a row get satisfactory results.

The total weight of the checked consignments must be at least 10 times the weight of the consignment that failed sampling, or 300 tons (whichever is less). This means that in some cases, more than 10 consignments in a row need to get a satisfactory result.

If a consignment fails to get satisfactory results, the count will start again. A further 10 consignments or more will be checked, until you reach the weight requirement. Your business will have 3 chances to get satisfactory results for 10 consignments in a row and meet the weight requirement.

If 3 or more consignments have the same failure, the business will be placed on imposed checks.

Imposed checks

Businesses are placed on imposed checks if they fail the intensified official controls process.

During imposed checks, every consignment that contains the same category of goods that failed checks, from the same establishment, will be checked. They will be physically checked for the same criteria that previously failed and tested if required.

When the process ends

Imposed checks will end when both of the following conditions are met:
- at least 30 satisfactory checks or results in a row are recorded in TRACES
- a satisfactory action plan has been sent by Defra to the European Commission
The weight of consignments is not considered during imposed checks.

Investigations and action plan

During imposed checks, the European Commission will ask the UK Chief Veterinary Officer for:
- investigations to take place to find out the reasons for the issues
- an action plan to effectively fix the problem
- a report on the investigations and action plan
This information is used to prevent action, such as delisting the establishment from the list of businesses approved to export to the EU (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/businesses-approved-to-export-to-the-eu).

Informing the relevant authorities

If you find out that your business is under intensified official controls or imposed checks, you must immediately tell the relevant competent authority in Great Britain. This is the authority that granted your export approval, for example APHA, FSA, FSS or the relevant local authority.

They can then start an investigation process and support you to develop an action plan.

Defra will engage with the relevant competent authorities to co-ordinate the response to the EU.

Animal by-products, germinal products or certification errors

For animal by-products, germinal products or a certification error, you must tell APHA:
- xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)
APHA will work directly with the business or Official Veterinarians to investigate the cause of the non-compliance and to agree a mitigation plan.

Food products and products of animal origin

For food products and products of animal origin, you must tell either:

Food Standards Agency (FSA) for businesses in England and Wales - xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) for businesses in Scotland - xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

FSA or FSS will liaise with relevant local authorities as part of the investigation.

What information to provide

You must provide as much information as you can about the rejected consignments. For example, give the:
- date of production
- dispatch date
- arrival date at the border control post (BCP)
- date when consignment was checked
- weight of consignment
- number of boxes and whether they are frozen or chilled
- export health certificate number
- identified problem
- photos if they are available
If you do not give enough information for the reasons behind the rejection it could cause delays.

Your business is also responsible for providing information on the measures that have been put in place to prevent future non-compliance. For example, risk mitigation steps, testing procedure restrictions or other steps.

Information for meat processing establishments

For investigations into meat processing establishments, FSA or FSS may ask you for the following additional information:
- batch numbers, to find the date and time of slaughter
- batch number of the export, to find the slaughterhouse or cutting plant
- date of processing, which needs to map to the kill number
- kill number, which should map to animal electronic identification (EID) or ear tag information
- ear tag data, which should map to lot numbers from the food chain information, or electronic records
Defra investigation and action plan

When a business is placed on intensified official controls or imposed checks, Defra will work with relevant bodies to:
- carry out an investigation to find out the reasons for the failure
- make sure the business has a satisfactory action plan to fix the non-compliance
For intensified official controls Defra will create a summarised report and tell the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer.

For imposed checks Defra will send a more detailed report to the European Commission within 30 days from the time of initial notification.

Rejected consignments and arranging returns

Rejected consignments may be destroyed, returned to the UK, or subjected to further treatment. The relevant authority in the EU country will decide.

If the EU country offers to return your consignment to Great Britain, you must formally notify APHA before making any arrangements. Email xxx@xxx.xx to tell them about your plans and request a re-import authorisation.

APHA will consult with the FSA or FSS to conduct a risk assessment before approving the return of the rejected consignment. FSA or FSS will notify local authorities if needed. Depending on the reason for rejection (public health or animal health), either local authorities, or FSA or FSS, will conduct site visits to assess the condition of the returned consignment before re-export. They will document their findings and create a report to ensure proper oversight of returned consignments.

You must also notify the Official Veterinary practice you selected during registration in the electronic health certification system, especially if you plan to re-export the consignment.

Testing samples at EU approved laboratories

If a sample needs to be sent to a laboratory for testing, it will be collected by the BCP and handed over to your import agent, typically the operator responsible for the consignment. Your import agent can then choose to send the sample to any EU approved laboratory, based on factors such as sample transport times, test availability or turnaround time for results.

Check the lists of approved laboratories for testing in some countries:
- France (https://agriculture.gouv.fr/laboratoires-officiels-et-reconnus-en-alimentation)
- Netherlands (https://english.nvwa.nl/topics/approved-establishments/laboratories)
- Belgium (https://www.fasfc.be/about-fasfc/laboratories)
- Ireland (https://www.fsai.ie/enforcement-and-legislation/official-controls/monitoring/laboratories)
- Northern Ireland (https://www.food.gov.uk/about-us/feed-and-food-official-laboratories)