Getting fresh produce into Great Britain.

Every consignment needs a GB-established importer with an EORI number starting GB. Under our brokerage model the importer of record is agreed per programme: either your business, or our licensed import partner, who then sells to you duty-paid and cleared. We always state which one in the offer, because it decides who is responsible for the declarations and duty.

Since 2024 Great Britain classifies plants and plant products as high, medium or low risk. Most fresh fruit and vegetables are medium risk: they need a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country, pre-notification on IPAFFS, and documentary, identity and physical checks at a Border Control Post, at a frequency set by risk. A short list of fruits — including bananas, pineapples, coconuts, dates and durians — is exempt from the phytosanitary certificate requirement. EU goods moved onto the same regime in stages during 2024 and 2025.

Issued by the exporting country's plant health authority, the PC confirms the produce meets GB plant health import requirements (for example freedom from specified pests such as false codling moth on citrus or certain fruit flies). The original or electronic certificate must match the consignment exactly — product, quantity, origin and treatments. Mismatches are the most common reason for holds.

Imports of medium-risk plant products must be pre-notified on the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) before arrival, generally at least one working day ahead for sea and road freight and at least four hours ahead for air freight. Our customs partner lodges this and uploads the PC.

Checks take place at designated BCPs such as those serving Dover and the Channel Tunnel (Sevington), Felixstowe, London Gateway, Southampton, Portsmouth and Heathrow. Inspection fees and, at government-run BCPs on the short straits, the Common User Charge apply per consignment. Pooling means these fixed costs are shared across more pallets.

A full import declaration is made on HMRC's Customs Declaration Service (CDS) using the correct 10-digit commodity code. Duty depends on the UK Global Tariff, the season (several fruits and vegetables carry seasonal or entry-price duties) and whether the origin qualifies for preference under a UK trade agreement — for which a valid proof of origin is required. Imports are also subject to VAT rules; most fresh fruit and vegetables are zero-rated.

All fresh produce sold in GB must meet marketing standards. Ten products — apples, citrus fruit, kiwifruit, lettuces and endives, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes — have specific standards on class, size, labelling and defects; everything else follows the general standard. The Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI) in England and its equivalents carry out conformity checks.

Produce must comply with GB maximum residue levels (MRLs), which have diverged from EU levels since 2021. We ask growers for recent residue test results against GB MRLs and hold GLOBALG.A.P. (or equivalent) certificates on file. Some products and origins are subject to increased official controls for residues or contaminants — we check the current list before every new programme.

Each package must show the product, variety where required, class, origin country, packer or dispatcher, and for citrus any post-harvest treatments (e.g. waxes, fungicides). Retail packs need full consumer labelling. We check artwork against GB requirements before packing begins.