How to import green coffee into the UK from Brazil: the controls, documents and checks, step by step

How to import green coffee into the UK from Brazil: the controls, documents and checks, step by step

You don't need an EHC to import green coffee — that's a POAO document, and coffee isn't of animal origin.

That single distinction trips up more first-time coffee importers than anything else, so let's clear it first. Green (unroasted) coffee is plant-origin food, not a product of animal origin (POAO). It moves under the rules for plant and plant-product imports and food not of animal origin, classified with a commodity code in chapter 09 of the UK tariff, cleared through customs on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), and — depending on the current risk position — subject to plant-health (phytosanitary) controls and potential food-safety contaminant checks (ochratoxin A is the one to know for coffee). The named systems below — commodity codes, CDS, the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), APHA's plant-health regime, and your import VAT position — are the things that decide whether your consignment from Santos clears or sits. This guide walks them in the order they actually bite.

To be candid up front: this is practical guidance, not regulated advice, and plant-origin import rules change. Treat every requirement here as "check the current position for your exact commodity code and route" rather than as a permanent rule.

Does green coffee from Brazil need an EHC or a phytosanitary certificate?

Green coffee needs a phytosanitary certificate (PC) if a plant-health certificate is required for that commodity and origin — never an Export Health Certificate (EHC). An EHC covers products of animal origin; coffee is plant material. The PC is issued by the plant-health authority in Brazil and travels with the consignment, and where required you pre-notify GB before arrival.

The reason the EHC/PC confusion matters is that importers who've handled animal-origin food before reach for the wrong document and the wrong border process. POAO consignments run through a CHED-P and IPAFFS pre-notification; plant and plant-product consignments run through the plant-health regime and the GB plant-health import system, with their own certification (the PC) and their own risk categorisation under BTOM.

The honest position on green coffee specifically: phytosanitary and food-safety control requirements for low-risk plant commodities have been adjusted repeatedly under BTOM, and they vary by commodity code and country of origin. Do not assume green coffee currently requires a PC, and do not assume it's exempt — confirm the live requirement for your exact chapter 09 code and for Brazil as origin on GOV.UK's plant-health import guidance, or ask us to check it against your consignment. That confirmation is step one, not a detail to settle after you've booked freight.

What commodity code does green coffee fall under, and why does it decide everything?

Green coffee is classified in chapter 09 of the UK tariff (coffee, tea, maté and spices), with codes distinguishing unroasted from roasted and, within unroasted, decaffeinated from not. The exact ten-digit commodity code sets your duty rate, your import VAT treatment, and which controls (plant-health, food-safety) the system flags — so getting it right is the first load-bearing decision.

This is where the freight forwarder boundary needs drawing clearly. Your forwarder books the customs entry and lodges the declaration on CDS — but confirming the commodity code and the controls that attach to it is your responsibility, not theirs. A forwarder works from what you tell them. If you hand over "green coffee, Brazil" without a confirmed code, you've delegated a decision that determines your landed cost and your compliance exposure to someone who can't see your contract or your product spec.

Use the Trade Tariff tool on GOV.UK to find and verify the code. Check three things against it: the third-country duty rate, any preferential rate that might apply (more on origin below), and the measures the tariff lists for that code — these flag whether plant-health or food-safety documentation is in scope. The window to fix a wrong code is before entry. After the declaration is lodged, you're into amendment, and if you've over- or under-declared duty, you're into reclaim or a demand. Get it right going out, not coming back.

Does the UK–Brazil trade relationship waive duty or controls on coffee?

No. There is no comprehensive UK–Brazil free trade agreement that zero-rates coffee, and even where origin-based preference exists for some goods, a trade agreement never waives plant-health or food-safety controls. Origin affects duty; it does not affect the SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) regime. Those are two separate questions answered by two separate official sources.

Brazil does benefit from the UK's Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which can reduce or remove tariffs on qualifying goods from eligible countries — and green coffee may attract a low or nil third-country duty rate regardless. But you confirm this against the current tariff for your commodity code, and any preferential rate depends on meeting the scheme's rules of origin and holding the right proof of origin. Don't assume duty-free; verify it.

The practical takeaway for an ops lead: treat duty/VAT and SPS controls as two parallel workstreams from the start. The tariff (HMRC, via the Trade Tariff) governs the first. The plant-health and food-safety regime (Defra/APHA and the FSA) governs the second. Both have to be satisfied for the consignment to clear, and a clean customs entry tells you nothing about whether a plant-health requirement has been met.

What food-safety checks apply to green coffee — and what is ochratoxin A?

Green coffee is subject to GB food-safety controls on contaminants, and the one that matters most for coffee is ochratoxin A (OTA) — a mycotoxin that can develop in improperly dried or stored beans, with regulatory maximum levels for coffee. Consignments from certain origins can face increased official controls (documentary, identity and physical/sampling checks) at the border under the retained food-and-feed-controls regime.

Whether your Brazilian green coffee falls under an increased-controls listing at any given time depends on the current regulation — the list of products and origins subject to a temporary increase in official controls is reviewed and amended. Check the FSA's and GOV.UK's guidance on increased official controls on food not of animal origin for the live position for coffee from Brazil before you ship.

What this means operationally: even if no phytosanitary certificate is required, your coffee can still be selected for food-safety sampling at the point of entry. Sampling means time. For a commodity that's stored in bulk and where a hold ties up container, warehouse slot and cashflow, a hold compounds by the hour. The way you reduce that exposure is upstream — buy from suppliers who can evidence drying and storage practice, and keep the supporting documentation (analysis certificates where available) ready, not scrambled for after a sample is pulled.

What documents do you actually need to import green coffee from Brazil?

You need, as a baseline: a commercial invoice and packing list, transport documents (bill of lading or airway bill), the commodity code and a customs declaration on CDS, proof of origin if you're claiming preference, and — where current rules require them — a phytosanitary certificate and any pre-notification in the relevant GB plant-health system. Food-safety documentation (e.g. an OTA analysis) supports the goods where increased controls apply.

Here's what each does, and who owns it:

• Commercial invoice and packing list — describe the goods, value and quantity; drive the customs value and the duty/VAT calculation. You/your supplier own accuracy.
• Bill of lading / airway bill — the transport contract and evidence of shipment. Forwarder/carrier.
• Commodity code — classifies the goods; sets duty, VAT and controls. You confirm; forwarder lodges.
• Customs declaration (CDS) — the legal import declaration. Forwarder or customs agent lodges; you provide the data.
• Proof of origin — supports any preferential duty claim under the applicable scheme. You/your supplier, per the scheme's rules.
• Phytosanitary certificate — certifies plant-health status, where required for the code and origin. Brazilian authority issues; you ensure it's obtained before shipment.
• Plant-health pre-notification — notifies GB ahead of arrival, where required. You or your appointed agent.
• Food-safety / contaminant documentation — supports the consignment if selected or if increased controls apply. You/your supplier.

The thing to notice: the documents you can't fix after the goods sail are the phytosanitary certificate and the proof of origin. A PC has to be issued in the country of origin, often before or at export — you cannot retro-fit it at the GB border. Proof of origin similarly has to exist at the point of claim. Everything else can, at a push, be corrected. These two can't. So they sit at the front of your pre-shipment checklist.

What does the import process look like, step by step?

End to end, importing green coffee from Brazil runs: classify and confirm controls → register and appoint → arrange origin documents → arrange any plant-health certification → pre-notify if required → ship → lodge the customs declaration → clear duty and VAT → manage any border check → release. Each step has an owner and a deadline, and the order matters because several steps can only happen before the goods leave Brazil.

Walk a single consignment through it.

1. Classify and confirm controls. Find the commodity code on the Trade Tariff. Read the measures: third-country duty, any preference, and whether plant-health or food-safety controls are flagged for that code and for Brazil. This is the step that defines all the others.

2. Register and appoint. Make sure you have an EORI number to import into GB. Decide who lodges your customs declaration — your freight forwarder, a customs agent, or you. If plant-health pre-notification is in scope, decide who raises it.

3. Arrange origin documents. If you're claiming preference (e.g. under DCTS), confirm the goods meet the rules of origin and that your supplier can provide the required proof. If not, you'll pay the third-country rate — fine, as long as you've budgeted for it in your landed cost.

4. Arrange plant-health certification (if required). Where a phytosanitary certificate is needed for the code and origin, your supplier arranges it with the Brazilian plant-health authority before the goods ship. Confirm it exists and matches the consignment before the container is loaded.

5. Pre-notify GB (if required). Where the current rules require advance notice into the GB plant-health import system, that notification goes in ahead of arrival. Build the lead time in — this is not a same-day task at the quayside.

6. Ship. The goods leave Santos (or wherever) with the commercial invoice, packing list, transport documents, and any PC and proof of origin travelling with or referenced against the consignment.

7. Lodge the customs declaration on CDS. Your agent submits the import declaration with the confirmed commodity code, the customs value from the invoice, and the duty/VAT calculation.

8. Clear duty and import VAT. Pay the duty due. For import VAT, most VAT-registered importers use Postponed VAT Accounting (PVA) to account for import VAT on the VAT return rather than paying it at the border and reclaiming — confirm your setup so you're not financing VAT you don't need to.

9. Manage any border check. If the consignment is selected for a documentary, identity or physical check (plant-health or food-safety), it's held until the check clears. This is where having the documentation in order, and a buffer in your schedule, earns its keep.

10. Release and onward. Goods released, moved to your roastery or store. Keep the full document set — invoice, declaration, PC, proof of origin, any analysis — on file. Customs and food records have to be retained, and they're your evidence if anything is queried later.

What's the most common mistake, and how do you avoid a hold?

The most common mistake is treating green coffee as "just beans" that will walk through customs, then discovering at the border that a control applies that nobody confirmed before shipment. The fix is the opposite habit: confirm the code and the controls before the goods leave Brazil, and put the two un-fixable documents — phytosanitary certificate and proof of origin — at the front of the plan.

A hold doesn't just delay a container. It ties up the warehouse slot it was booked into, the cashflow tied to the stock, and your roasting or sales schedule downstream. Green coffee is more forgiving than chilled goods, but storage isn't free and demurrage isn't either, so the cost of a hold compounds the longer it runs. Almost every avoidable hold I see traces back to a decision that should have been made before shipment — a code assumed rather than checked, a certificate ordered too late, a preference claimed without the proof to back it.

Borders are complicated. The work that makes them simple all happens before the goods ship.

If you're planning your first green coffee consignment from Brazil — or you've had one flagged and want to know why — tell us the goods and the route, and we'll tell you exactly what you need: the commodity code, the controls that attach to it, and the documents that have to exist before the container loads. Talk to us.

And if something's held or moving imminently, the Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs and SPS issues — support.falsum.co.uk.

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