How to Import Cod and Haddock into the UK from China: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step
A step-by-step guide to importing cod and haddock from China to the UK: POAO import rules, CHED-P in IPAFFS, health and catch certificates, commodity codes and BCP checks.
How to Import Cod and Haddock into the UK from China: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step
Cod and haddock from China are POAO. They land at a Border Control Post, on a CHED-P you pre-notify in IPAFFS — not at the dock gate.
If you're importing cod and haddock from China to the UK, you're moving products of animal origin (POAO) — and that puts your consignment squarely inside the GB sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime. The chain is specific: an approved establishment in China, a signed export health certificate (EHC), a validated catch certificate under the UK's IUU rules, a CHED-P raised in IPAFFS before arrival, a customs declaration on CDS, and a slot at a Border Control Post (BCP) where the goods face documentary, identity or physical checks. Each one can stop the lorry. This guide walks the cod and haddock import controls in order, names every system once, and tells you who owns each step.
A note before we start: rules for POAO change, and check frequencies under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) are staged and revised. Treat this as a practitioner's map, not a permanent legal position — check the current rules for your specific commodity and route, or ask us.
Is imported cod and haddock from China treated as POAO?
Yes. Cod and haddock are fishery products, which fall under products of animal origin (POAO) for GB import control purposes. That classification is the master switch: it routes your consignment to a Border Control Post, requires a CHED-P pre-notification in IPAFFS, and demands an export health certificate signed in the exporting country. POAO status, not the product's frozen state, drives the controls.
This matters because a lot of first-time fish importers assume "frozen" means "simpler". It doesn't. A frozen container of cod hits the same BCP, the same CHED-P and the same check regime as a chilled one. The temperature affects your cold-chain risk and your shelf life — it does not lighten the SPS burden. Per GOV.UK's guidance on importing fish and fishery products, fishery products for human consumption are subject to the full POAO control chain.
Can you legally import cod and haddock from China at all?
Only if two conditions are met: China must be on the GB list of third countries approved to export fishery products, and your specific supplier must operate from an approved establishment on the relevant Defra/APHA list. Both have to be true at the same time. An approved country with an unlisted supplier doesn't move; a listed supplier in an unapproved country doesn't either.
This is the prerequisite that fails after goods are already in transit, so verify it first. GOV.UK publishes the lists of approved third countries and approved establishments for products of animal origin, including fishery products. Before you book freight:
- Confirm China is currently approved for the specific fishery product you're importing (the approval can be commodity-specific).
- Get your supplier's approved establishment number and check it against the published list.
- Confirm the establishment is approved for the right activity (e.g. processing, freezer vessel, cold store) for your product.
If the establishment number isn't on the list, no amount of correct paperwork downstream will release the goods. This is the single most valuable check you can do before money moves.
What documents do you need to import cod and haddock from China?
You need a stack, not a single licence. There is no one "import licence" for cod from China — there's an export health certificate, a catch certificate under IUU rules, a CHED-P pre-notification, and a customs declaration. Each is issued by a different party at a different point, and each can independently hold the consignment. Miss or mis-fill any one, and the lorry waits.
Here's what each document is and who produces it:
- Export health certificate (EHC) — the official health attestation signed by a competent authority (or authorised certifying officer) in China, confirming the consignment meets GB import conditions. It uses a specific model certificate for the commodity. The certificate travels with the goods and is referenced in your CHED-P. Produced in China, before dispatch.
- Catch certificate — for wild-caught cod and haddock, a validated catch certificate proving the fish was legally caught, required under the UK's Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing controls. It is validated by the flag state's authority. This runs alongside the health certificate — it is not the same document. (Farmed/aquaculture product follows different rules; check what applies to your specific product.) Validated in the exporting/flag state, before dispatch.
- CHED-P (Common Health Entry Document, Part 2 for POAO) — your pre-notification of the consignment to GB authorities, raised in IPAFFS before arrival. Raised by you (the importer) or your agent.
- Customs declaration — the import declaration submitted on CDS (Customs Declaration Service), declaring the commodity code, value, origin and duty. Submitted by you or your customs agent.
- Commercial documents — commercial invoice, packing list, transport documents, and any evidence supporting your declared classification and value.
The point to internalise: these documents have owners in different countries and different timelines. The certificates originate in China and must be in order before the goods leave. The CHED-P and customs declaration are GB-side and yours to control. If you treat the whole thing as "the freight forwarder's problem", the CHED-P is exactly where it falls down.
Who raises the CHED-P — you or your freight forwarder?
Raising the correct CHED-P in IPAFFS is the importer's responsibility, not the freight forwarder's. Your forwarder books the physical slot at the Border Control Post and handles the logistics. The CHED-P — the SPS pre-notification that tells port health what's arriving and lets them schedule checks — sits with you or whoever you've explicitly appointed to do it. Assuming it's "handled" is how consignments arrive un-notified.
This is the most expensive misconception we see among ops teams. The mental model that "the forwarder does the border bit" blends two genuinely separate jobs: the commercial/logistics slot at the BCP, and the regulatory pre-notification in IPAFFS. Decide explicitly, in writing, who raises the CHED-P for each consignment — and make sure they have the EHC reference, the establishment number and the commodity code to do it accurately.
What does your IPAFFS pre-notification actually declare?
Your IPAFFS pre-notification creates the CHED-P and declares the specifics of the consignment: the commodity and its commodity code, the country of origin, the approved establishment number, the EHC certificate reference, quantities and packaging, and the BCP of arrival. Get any of these wrong — a transposed establishment number, a mismatched certificate reference — and the consignment can be held pending correction.
Accuracy here is the difference between a clean documentary check and a hold. The fields in the CHED-P must match the physical consignment and the certificates accompanying it. Practical discipline: have the EHC and catch certificate in front of you when you raise the CHED-P, and reconcile every reference field against the actual documents — not against last shipment's figures.
There's also a minimum advance-notice window for the CHED-P before the goods arrive. Raise it too late and the consignment waits, perishable clock running or not. Build the pre-notification into your dispatch timeline, not your arrival-day scramble.
How do you classify cod and haddock for customs (commodity codes)?
Frozen and fresh cod and haddock fillets sit under chapter 03 of the UK Integrated Online Tariff (fish and crustaceans). The exact 10-digit commodity code depends on species, presentation (whole, fillet), and state (fresh, chilled, frozen). That code drives three things at once: your duty rate, your CHED-P requirements, and the check regime applied at the border. Classify before you book, not after.
Classification is the decision that cascades through the whole import, so it's worth getting independently confirmed. Cod and haddock are distinct species with distinct subheadings; "white fish" is not a tariff term. Frozen fillets, fresh fillets and whole frozen fish can land in different codes with different consequences. Use the UK Integrated Online Tariff on GOV.UK to find and confirm the code, and keep evidence of how you arrived at it. A wrong code doesn't just risk underpaid (or overpaid) duty — it can mismatch your CHED-P and trigger a hold.
A note on duty and origin: goods of Chinese origin do not benefit from a UK–China preferential trade deal in the way EU-origin goods might under the TCA, so don't assume zero duty. Check the tariff for the applicable rate and any conditions for your specific code. Where you've overpaid because of a wrong code, duty can sometimes be reclaimed — but the cleaner route is to classify correctly up front.
What happens at the Border Control Post?
When your cod lands, the Border Control Post decides the check type: a documentary check (always), and then potentially an identity check (matching the goods to the paperwork) and/or a physical check (opening and examining the consignment, sometimes with sampling and testing). Which checks apply, and how often, is set by the commodity's risk category under BTOM. Your paperwork influences the documentary outcome; risk category drives the rest.
Under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), fishery products carry a defined risk category that sets a check frequency — the proportion of consignments selected for identity and physical checks. These frequencies are published and have been adjusted as BTOM has rolled out in stages, so a frequency you assumed last year may not be the one applied now. The documentary check, though, happens every time, which is precisely why your CHED-P and certificate references have to be clean.
If a physical check is called, the consignment is held at the BCP until it's completed and passed. For frozen fish that means cold-store time; the cold chain doesn't pause for paperwork. Every hour at the BCP awaiting a check is a cost and a quality risk — which is the real reason to get the documents right rather than rely on a low check frequency.
A worked example: a frozen cod fillet consignment, start to finish
Walk one consignment through the whole chain, and the dependencies become concrete. Say you're importing frozen cod fillets from a processor in China. Reverse-engineer it from the outcome you want — release — and every prior step is a dependency: customs cleared, CHED-P cleared at the BCP, EHC and catch certificate accepted, pre-notification raised in time, prerequisites confirmed before dispatch.
Forwards, in order:
- Before you order. Confirm China is approved for frozen fishery products and your supplier's establishment number is on the published list. Classify the product under the correct chapter 03 commodity code and check the duty rate on the tariff.
- Before dispatch (China side). Your supplier arranges the export health certificate on the correct model certificate, signed by the competent authority. For wild-caught cod, the catch certificate is validated. Both must be valid for the dispatch and ready to travel with the goods — a certificate signed outside its window can be rejected.
- Before arrival (GB side). You (or your appointed agent) raise the CHED-P in IPAFFS, declaring the commodity code, establishment number and EHC reference, within the minimum notice window. Your customs declaration is prepared for submission on CDS.
- Logistics. Your freight forwarder books the BCP slot for arrival and arranges the move from port to BCP.
- At the border. The BCP runs the documentary check against your CHED-P and certificates; identity and physical checks follow if selected under the BTOM risk frequency. Frozen storage runs while you wait.
- Release. CHED-P cleared and customs cleared, the consignment is released for onward movement to your cold store.
Where this goes wrong is almost always step 1 or step 2 — an unlisted establishment, a mis-classified code, or a certificate problem discovered only when the goods are already on the water. Fix the upstream and the border becomes routine.
Don't forget labelling and end-market rules
Clearing the border is not the end of your obligations. Cod and haddock sold in GB must comply with food information rules (FIC) — correct species naming, allergen information, storage and use-by/best-before, and any requirements specific to fishery products. These are end-market rules, separate from import clearance, and they apply regardless of where the fish came from. Build them in before the product hits a shelf, not after.
If you're also intending to move any of this product onward to Northern Ireland or the EU, that's a different control set again — don't assume GB clearance carries you across the next border. Scope each leg of the journey on its own terms.
What you don't need to worry about (yet)
Advisory, not a black box — so here's what isn't on your critical path for a straightforward GB import of cod and haddock from China. You do not need a single mythical "import licence" — the controls are the document stack above. You do not need to register the product as a novel food (cod and haddock are conventional foods). And you don't need EU-side certification unless you're re-exporting onward. Knowing what to ignore is as useful as knowing what to do.
Importing cod and haddock from China: the short version
Cod and haddock are POAO, so the import runs on the SPS chain: an approved establishment in an approved country, an export health certificate, a catch certificate for wild-caught fish under IUU rules, a CHED-P pre-notified in IPAFFS within the notice window, a customs declaration on CDS under the correct chapter 03 commodity code, and checks at a Border Control Post set by the BTOM risk category. The forwarder books the slot; the CHED-P is yours. Get the upstream right and the border is the easy part.
Rules for POAO and BTOM check frequencies change — confirm the current position for your exact species, presentation and route before you commit freight.
Something held, or moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs & SPS issues — [support.falsum.co.uk](https://support.falsum.co.uk). Tell us the goods and the route, and we'll tell you exactly what you need.
FAQ
Yes. Cod and haddock are fishery products and fall under products of animal origin (POAO) for GB import control. That triggers a CHED-P pre-notification in IPAFFS, an export health certificate signed in China, and checks at a Border Control Post — regardless of whether the fish is fresh, chilled or frozen.
The importer is responsible for the CHED-P, not the freight forwarder. The forwarder books the physical slot at the Border Control Post and handles logistics, but raising the correct CHED-P pre-notification in IPAFFS — with accurate commodity code, establishment number and certificate references — sits with you or whoever you've explicitly appointed.
For wild-caught cod and haddock, yes. A validated catch certificate is required under the UK's IUU fishing controls, separate from and in addition to the export health certificate. They are different documents from different processes. Farmed product follows different rules, so confirm what applies to your specific consignment.
Frozen cod and haddock fillets sit under chapter 03 of the UK Integrated Online Tariff (fish). The exact 10-digit code depends on species, presentation and state (fresh, chilled, frozen). The code drives your duty rate, CHED-P requirements and border checks, so confirm it on GOV.UK's tariff before you book freight.
Every consignment gets a documentary check. Identity checks (matching goods to paperwork) and physical checks (examination and sampling) follow if selected, at a frequency set by the commodity's risk category under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). These frequencies are published and change in stages, so check the current position.
A question about your goods specifically?
Tell us the product and the route — we'll tell you exactly what you need.