CHED-P or CHED-D: which one do I raise for my product?

CHED-P or CHED-D: which one do I raise for my product?

CHED-P is for products of animal origin. CHED-D is for high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin. Same form, different worlds.

Get the type right and your pre-notification matches the regime your goods actually sit under. Get it wrong and you can have a consignment accepted in IPAFFS, booked, and on its way — and still have a problem waiting at the border. This piece walks through how the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) splits by type, how to work out which one your product needs, what each type changes downstream, and where the rules can shift under you. It covers CHED-A, CHED-P, CHED-D and CHED-PP, products of animal origin (POAO), the high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO) list in assimilated Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, IPAFFS, the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), commodity codes, and the role of Port Health Authorities and APHA. Food only, advisory — not regulated legal advice.

What is a CHED, and why does the letter matter?

A CHED is the Common Health Entry Document — the pre-notification you raise in IPAFFS before a consignment of SPS-controlled goods arrives in Great Britain. The letter after it (A, P, D or PP) tells the authorities which sanitary or phytosanitary regime your goods fall under, which control point applies, and who checks them.

The letter is not cosmetic. It changes which authority is responsible — Port Health Authorities for most food, APHA for live animals and plants — and it changes whether a consignment can be selected for identity and physical checks at a Border Control Post (BCP) or whether it stays on the documentary regime. Per GOV.UK's import-of-products, animals, food and feed (IPAFFS) guidance, the CHED type is selected by the person responsible for the consignment when they pre-notify. IPAFFS will not let you continue without choosing one.

So the question in the title is the right question, and it's one you answer before goods move, not at the frontier.

What is the difference between CHED-P and CHED-D?

CHED-P covers products of animal origin (POAO) — meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, composite products containing them. CHED-D covers high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO) — a short, named list of plant-based products from specific countries that carry an elevated contamination risk. The dividing line is what the product is and where it comes from, not whether it's "food".

That distinction trips up more importers than any other part of the system. The instinct is to ask "is it food?" and reach for whichever CHED feels closest. But "is it food?" decides nothing here. Origin and risk category do.

The four CHED types are:

• CHED-A — live animals (APHA-led).
• CHED-P — products of animal origin and composite products containing POAO.
• CHED-D — high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin on the assimilated Regulation 2019/1793 list, plus certain products subject to intensified official controls.
• CHED-PP — plants, plant products and other objects with phytosanitary requirements (APHA-led).

For the food importer, the live question is almost always P versus D — or whether you need one at all.

Does my product need a CHED-P? (the animal-origin test)

If your product is, or contains, a product of animal origin, it falls under the POAO regime and is pre-notified on a CHED-P. That includes obvious cases — chilled meat, frozen fish, cheese — and less obvious ones, such as composite products where an animal-derived ingredient pushes the whole consignment into POAO controls.

Two things catch people out here.

First, composite products. A product that is mostly plant-based can still need a CHED-P if it contains processed POAO and falls within the scope of the composite-product rules. A ready meal, a filled pastry, a sauce containing dairy or meat extract — these are assessed on their composition, not their headline description. The label "vegetarian" or "vegan" decides nothing about the CHED type; the actual ingredients and the applicable rules do. GOV.UK publishes specific guidance on importing composite products into Great Britain, and it's worth reading against your exact product before you assume P or nothing.

Second, the BTOM risk category. Under the Border Target Operating Model, POAO is sorted into low, medium and high risk by commodity and country of origin. The risk category doesn't change whether you raise a CHED-P — it changes the certification and the likelihood of checks. High and medium-risk POAO generally needs an Export Health Certificate (EHC) signed in the country of origin; the CHED-P references it. Get the risk category wrong in your assumptions and you can arrive without the right certificate, which is a different (and worse) problem than the wrong CHED letter.

Does my product need a CHED-D? (the high-risk non-animal test)

CHED-D applies to a short, named list of high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin set out in assimilated Regulation (EU) 2019/1793. The list pairs a product with one or more countries of origin — for example certain dried fruits, nuts, herbs, spices and vegetables from specified countries, controlled for things like aflatoxins, pesticide residues or salmonella. If your product-and-origin combination is on that list, you raise a CHED-D. If it isn't, you generally don't raise a CHED-D at all.

This is where the candour matters: most plant-based food does not need a CHED-D. A CHED-D is the exception, triggered by a specific product from a specific origin appearing on a specific list. A bag of dried apricots from a high-risk listed country goes on a CHED-D; the same product from a country not on the list for that commodity may need nothing at all under this regime.

Two cautions:

• The list is amended, not fixed. Per the assimilated Regulation and the GOV.UK guidance that sits on top of it, the HRFNAO list and the frequency-of-checks rates are reviewed and changed periodically. A product added at the last review now needs a CHED-D when it didn't before — and one removed no longer does. Check the current list for your exact commodity and origin before every consignment cycle, or ask us.
• CHED-D does not mean "documents only, no inspection." The D is the regime, not a promise your goods sail through. Consignments on a CHED-D can be selected for identity and physical checks — including sampling and laboratory testing — at the rates set for that product. Treat the documentary check as the baseline, not the ceiling.

How do I actually decide? A worked example, start to finish

Let's run a real-shaped decision through the whole process. You're a supply-chain lead importing two products in the same week.

Product one: tinned tuna in brine, from a third country. Tuna is fish — a product of animal origin. So this is POAO, and it's pre-notified on a CHED-P. Before you can complete the CHED-P, you need the correct commodity code (which confirms the product and drives the controls), the consignment details, and the supporting health certification appropriate to the product and origin. You raise the CHED-P in IPAFFS ahead of arrival, within the pre-notification window, and the system routes the consignment to the correct establishment for any checks. Done in advance, this is routine.

Product two: dried figs from a country on the HRFNAO list for that commodity. Figs are non-animal origin, so this is not a CHED-P. You check assimilated Regulation 2019/1793 for "dried figs" against the country of origin. If the combination is listed, you raise a CHED-D, attach the required documentation (which can include results of sampling and analysis depending on the product), and accept that the consignment may be selected for physical checks at the listed frequency. If the combination is not listed, you raise no CHED-D for this regime — though you still owe the general food-safety and labelling obligations that apply to all imported food.

Notice what decided each case: not "is it food?" — both are — but what the product is (animal vs non-animal origin) and, for the non-animal one, whether the product-and-origin combination is on the list. That's the entire decision tree:

1. Is it, or does it contain, a product of animal origin? → CHED-P (check composite-product rules if it's a mixed product).
2. If not, is the product-and-origin combination on the assimilated Reg 2019/1793 high-risk list (or subject to intensified controls)? → CHED-D.
3. If neither, is it a plant or plant product with phytosanitary requirements? → CHED-PP (a different, APHA-led question).
4. If none of these → likely no CHED, but confirm against your commodity code and the current guidance.

What supporting documents does each CHED type actually need?

Each CHED type sits on top of different paperwork, and the CHED itself is the pre-notification, not the underlying authorisation. Here's what each route typically leans on.

A CHED-P is built around the consignment's health certification. For most medium and high-risk POAO that means an Export Health Certificate (EHC) completed and signed by a certifying officer in the country of origin, plus commercial documents and the correct commodity code. The CHED-P references the EHC and the establishment of origin; mismatches between them are a common cause of delay.

A CHED-D is built around evidence that the high-risk product meets the controls in the assimilated Regulation. Depending on the listed product, that can include a common health entry document supported by results of sampling and analysis (for example, for aflatoxins or pesticide residues), and in some cases an official certificate from the country of origin. The required documents are product-specific — the Regulation and the GOV.UK guidance specify them per commodity.

Across both, the commodity code is load-bearing. It confirms what the product is for customs and feeds the controls that determine the CHED type and the check regime. A wrong code can route you to the wrong regime entirely. If you're unsure whether your classification matches the CHED type you've been raising, that's worth checking before the next consignment, not after a hold.

What happens downstream once I've chosen the type?

The CHED type determines routing. A CHED-P or CHED-D consignment that's selected for checks is directed to an appropriate Border Control Post (BCP), where Port Health Authorities carry out documentary, identity and, where selected, physical checks. The type tells the system which regime — and therefore which schedule of checks and which responsible authority — applies. A consignment cleared on documents alone still had to be on the right documentary regime to clear.

Per GOV.UK's BTOM guidance, the frequency of physical checks varies by commodity and origin and is reviewed over time. So the CHED type isn't just an administrative label — it's what tells the border which check schedule your goods belong to. That's the operational consequence of getting the letter right.

And a practical responsibility point: your freight forwarder or customs agent may raise the CHED on your behalf. Confirming it's the right type for the product sits with you as the importer of record. "Someone defaulted it" is not a defence at the BCP. If you outsource the keystrokes, keep ownership of the decision.

Can the right answer change between consignments?

Yes — and this is the part habitual importers miss. The CHED type you used last year may not be the right one now. The BTOM moved many products into new or revised risk categories as it phased in, and the high-risk non-animal foods list in assimilated Regulation 2019/1793 is amended periodically. A product added at a review now needs a CHED-D it didn't need before; a change in risk category can change the certification expected behind a CHED-P.

Because both the list and the check frequencies move, the safe operating posture is to treat the CHED type as a per-cycle check against current guidance for your exact commodity and origin — not a setting you configure once. When the rules can change, the honest answer is "check the current position for your commodity, or ask us," not "this is how it works permanently."

How this connects to the rest of your import

The CHED decision doesn't sit on its own. It's wired into three adjacent things you're already handling:

• Commodity codes — these confirm the product and drive which controls (and therefore which CHED type) apply. The CHED follows the classification.
• IPAFFS pre-notification timing — the CHED is raised in IPAFFS within the pre-notification window before arrival. Late or wrong pre-notification is an avoidable, self-inflicted delay.
• Labelling and general food law — even where no CHED is required, imported food still carries food-safety and labelling obligations. "No CHED-D" never means "no compliance."

Get those three lined up with the right CHED type and clearance becomes predictable. That's the whole game with perishable and time-critical food: predictability bought in advance, because the cost of a hold on a chilled or short-shelf-life consignment compounds by the hour.

The short version

If it is or contains a product of animal origin, it's a CHED-P. If it's a high-risk food or feed of non-animal origin on the assimilated Reg 2019/1793 list (or under intensified controls), it's a CHED-D. If it's a plant with phytosanitary requirements, that's a CHED-PP. If it's none of those, you likely raise no CHED — but confirm against your commodity code and the current guidance. "Is it food?" doesn't decide it. What it is, and where it's from, does.

Borders are complicated. We aren't. Something held, or moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs & SPS issues — tell us the goods and the route, and we'll tell you exactly which CHED you need. [support.falsum.co.uk](https://support.falsum.co.uk)

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