How to import fresh tomatoes into the UK from Spain: the controls, documents and checks, step by step

How to import fresh tomatoes into the UK from Spain: the controls, documents and checks, step by step

Fresh Spanish tomatoes are PNAO — plants and plant products. They need a phytosanitary route into GB, not an EHC.

If you're importing fresh tomatoes from Spain to the UK, that one distinction is where most confusion (and most delay) starts. Tomatoes are regulated plant produce, not products of animal origin. That means your consignment moves through IPAFFS (the import notification system), needs a phytosanitary certificate issued in Spain, and is checked against a CHED-PP — the plant-products entry document — at the GB border. The framework setting all of this is the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), which Defra uses to assign each plant product a risk category that decides what checks apply. Get the commodity code, the category and the pre-notification right, and a perishable load clears cleanly. Skip one, and a chilled lorry waits while the clock runs.

This is a practical walkthrough, not regulated advice — and because the BTOM is being phased in, treat every check level here as "check the current position for your commodity and route". The systems are stable; the intensity of checks on EU plant imports is still moving.

Are fresh tomatoes from Spain a plant or animal product for import purposes?

Fresh tomatoes are plants and plant products (PNAO) — produce not of animal origin. That single classification decides everything downstream: you need a phytosanitary certificate from the Spanish plant-health authority, an IPAFFS pre-notification, and a CHED-PP at the border. You do not need an Export Health Certificate (EHC); that document belongs to products of animal origin (POAO).

This matters because the two routes look similar from the outside but use different systems, different certificates and different border control points. An EHC is signed by an official veterinarian and covers meat, dairy, fish and similar. A phytosanitary certificate is issued by a national plant protection organisation and covers plants and fresh produce — including tomatoes. Per GOV.UK's import guidance for plants and plant products, fresh tomatoes are regulated produce subject to plant-health controls on entry to Great Britain. Assuming you need an EHC for tomatoes wastes days chasing a document the consignment will never use. Name the right document first, and the rest of the process falls into place.

Why do tomatoes still face controls if EU trade is tariff-free?

Because tariffs and controls are two separate things. The UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement removed duties on qualifying goods, but it never removed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls. Fresh produce like tomatoes carries plant-health controls regardless of whether any duty is payable — duty-free does not mean control-free.

"It's just tomatoes from the EU" is exactly where the hold starts. Tariff-free trade addresses the cost of the goods at the border; plant-health controls address the biosecurity risk — pests and diseases that fresh produce can carry. Defra and APHA run those controls to protect GB plant health, and they apply to EU consignments under the BTOM. So you can have zero duty payable and still face a documentary check, an identity check, or a physical inspection at a Border Control Post (BCP). Treat the customs side (duty, the commodity code, the CDS declaration) and the SPS side (IPAFFS, phytosanitary certificate, CHED-PP) as two parallel tracks the same consignment runs on. Both have to be satisfied before the tomatoes are released.

What documents do you need to import fresh tomatoes from Spain?

You need four things in place: the correct commodity code, a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Spanish authority, an IPAFFS pre-notification that generates a CHED-PP, and a customs declaration in CDS. The phytosanitary certificate comes from Spain's plant-health body — not your supplier's invoice and not the freight forwarder.

Here's what each does, defined once:

• Commodity code — the classification number for fresh tomatoes. It drives the duty rate, the import controls and, crucially, whether the goods need a CHED-PP at all. Get the code wrong and the duty, the controls and the document type all move with it. Fresh tomatoes generally sit under heading 0702; confirm the exact code for your variety and form.
• Phytosanitary certificate (PC) — the official plant-health certificate confirming the consignment was inspected at origin and meets GB import requirements. It is issued by the Spanish national plant protection organisation, on application by your exporter. Your supplier sending an invoice and a CMR is not the same as having a PC.
• IPAFFS pre-notification — the notification you (the GB importer) submit through the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System before the goods arrive. Submitting it generates the CHED-PP (Common Health Entry Document for plants and plant products), which the border uses to decide and record checks.
• CDS customs declaration — the import declaration through HMRC's Customs Declaration Service, covering the commodity code, value, origin and any duty. This is the customs track, separate from the SPS track above.

Two responsibilities people routinely misplace: the phytosanitary certificate is applied for in Spain (your exporter arranges it with their authority), and the IPAFFS pre-notification is raised by you in GB — not the freight forwarder, unless you've explicitly appointed them to do it. The forwarder books the crossing. Raising the correct IPAFFS pre-notification is still your responsibility.

How do you find the right commodity code for fresh tomatoes?

Use the commodity code for fresh or chilled tomatoes — generally within heading 0702 00 00, with the full code depending on the season and price-entry rules that can apply to fresh produce. The code determines duty, whether an entry-price system applies, and the plant-health controls. Confirm it against the UK Integrated Online Tariff on GOV.UK before you declare.

Fresh produce is one of the areas where classification carries more weight than importers expect. The same broad description can fall under different codes depending on form (fresh, chilled, processed), and tomatoes specifically can be subject to seasonal entry-price arrangements that affect how duty is calculated. Because the code is the single data point that drives duty, the CDS declaration and the CHED-PP requirement, an error here cascades. If you're unsure, check the Tariff tool, look at a recent correctly-cleared entry for the same product, or get the classification confirmed — a wrong code found after clearance can mean a reclaim or a demand later, and a wrong code found at the border can mean a hold. For a perishable load, that's the worst time to discover it.

What checks happen at the GB border, and what decides them?

The CHED-PP records the checks: a documentary check (always), and — depending on the BTOM risk category for tomatoes — possibly an identity check and a physical inspection at a Border Control Post (BCP). The risk category, not the lorry, decides the check level. Lower-risk produce sees fewer physical inspections; higher-risk produce sees more.

Under the BTOM, Defra places each plant product into a risk category — low, medium or high — based on the biosecurity risk it carries. That category sets the percentage and type of checks a consignment faces. For most fresh produce from the EU, the practical reality is a documentary check on every consignment and physical/identity checks on a proportion, applied at frequencies that the BTOM is still phasing in. APHA carries out the plant-health checks. When your CHED-PP comes back "documentary check only", that outcome was earned upstream: a valid phytosanitary certificate, a clean pre-notification, and a correct code. When it comes back for a physical inspection, the consignment is directed to a BCP — and for tomatoes, a hold at a BCP doesn't pause. It ripens. The cost of a perishable hold compounds by the hour, which is why getting the paperwork right before the lorry leaves Spain matters more for fresh produce than for almost anything else.

What does your IPAFFS pre-notification actually need to say?

Your IPAFFS pre-notification declares what the consignment is and where it's from: the commodity (fresh tomatoes), the commodity code, the country of origin (Spain), the place of dispatch, the quantity, the point of entry into GB, and the expected arrival. It must be submitted within the required window before arrival — not after the goods are already moving.

This is the form most importers submit and never scrutinise, and it's where avoidable errors hide. The pre-notification has to match the phytosanitary certificate and the physical consignment — same origin, same description, same quantity. A mismatch between what IPAFFS says and what the certificate says is a classic trigger for a documentary query, which on a perishable load is exactly the delay you're trying to avoid. Submit it inside the notification window — the window is not open-ended — and link the phytosanitary certificate reference. Done properly, the system generates the CHED-PP that travels with the consignment to the border. Treat the pre-notification as the declaration it is, not a box-tick, and most of the friction at the border disappears before it starts.

A worked example: a chilled load of Spanish tomatoes, start to finish

Walk one consignment through end to end. Suppose you're a GB importer bringing in a refrigerated load of fresh tomatoes from a grower near Almería, crossing via the short straits route into a GB port.

1. Classify. You confirm the commodity code for fresh tomatoes against the UK Integrated Online Tariff, including whether the seasonal entry-price arrangement applies on your arrival date. This fixes the duty position and confirms the goods need a CHED-PP.
2. Arrange the phytosanitary certificate (in Spain). Your exporter applies to the Spanish plant-health authority. The consignment is inspected at origin and the PC is issued, certifying it meets GB import requirements. You get the certificate reference.
3. Raise the IPAFFS pre-notification (in GB). Before the lorry leaves — and inside the notification window — you submit the pre-notification: tomatoes, the commodity code, origin Spain, place of dispatch, quantity, point of entry, expected arrival, and the PC reference. IPAFFS generates the CHED-PP.
4. Lodge the customs declaration (CDS). Your customs agent (or you) submits the import declaration in CDS — commodity code, value, origin, duty. This runs in parallel with the SPS track.
5. Crossing and arrival. The forwarder books the crossing. The CHED-PP and customs entry travel with the load.
6. Border decision. The CHED-PP records a documentary check on arrival. Based on the BTOM risk category for tomatoes, the consignment may be selected for an identity or physical check at a BCP — or released on documents.
7. Release. With the documentary check passed and customs cleared, the tomatoes are released and on to your customer — still fresh, because nothing sat waiting.

Now run the failure version: the exporter sends an invoice and a CMR but no phytosanitary certificate; the pre-notification goes in late, after the lorry's moving; the commodity code on the declaration doesn't match the produce. The CHED-PP can't be validated against a missing PC, the late notification flags, and the load is directed to a BCP for a query it can't quickly answer. The difference between the two versions isn't luck. It's whether three things were true before the lorry left Spain: the right code, a valid PC, and a clean, in-window pre-notification.

How does this interact with customs duty and the rest of the import?

The plant-health track (IPAFFS, phytosanitary certificate, CHED-PP) and the customs track (commodity code, CDS declaration, duty) run on the same consignment but are decided separately. Both must clear before release. Tariff-free treatment under the UK–EU agreement depends on the goods meeting rules of origin — it isn't automatic just because the goods come from Spain.

It's worth being clear that "from the EU" and "EU origin for preference" aren't always the same test, though for Spanish-grown tomatoes the originating status is usually straightforward. The point is that the customs side has its own requirements — correct classification, correct value, and an origin claim you can support — sitting alongside the SPS side. Labelling is the next adjacent piece once the goods are in: fresh produce carries country-of-origin and other consumer-information rules under retained food law, which is a separate question from clearing the border. For a single perishable load, the priority order is simple: get the SPS documents right so the goods clear fast, get the customs declaration right so you pay the correct duty and don't trip a later reclaim, and handle labelling and downstream compliance as the goods enter the supply chain.

The short version

Fresh tomatoes from Spain are regulated plant produce. The route is: confirm the commodity code, get a phytosanitary certificate issued in Spain, raise an IPAFFS pre-notification that generates a CHED-PP, and lodge the CDS customs declaration — with checks at the border set by the BTOM risk category, not the vehicle. No EHC, because these aren't animal products. The biggest risk isn't the rules; it's a perishable load sitting at a BCP because one document was missing or late.

Because the BTOM is still being phased in, check the current check levels for fresh produce on your route before you commit a load — what applied last season may not apply now.

Something held, or moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs and SPS issues — support.falsum.co.uk. And if you're planning the route rather than firefighting one: tell us the goods and the route, and we'll tell you exactly what you need.

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