How to Import Hard Cheese from France to the UK: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step
Importing hard cheese from France? As POAO it needs an EHC, a CHED-P in IPAFFS and a CDS declaration. The controls, documents and BCP checks, step by step.
How to Import Hard Cheese from France to the UK: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step
Hard cheese from France is a dairy product of animal origin — POAO — so it needs a CHED-P raised in IPAFFS before it lands.
That single fact governs almost everything that follows. People assume that because EU trade is tariff-free, French cheese clears freely. The duty may well be zero. The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls are not. Importing hard cheese from France to the UK means meeting a defined set of requirements built around the product's classification as a product of animal origin: an approved source establishment, an export health certificate (EHC) signed by an official vet, a pre-notification (CHED-P) raised in IPAFFS, a customs declaration through CDS, and — depending on the risk category set under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) — documentary, identity or physical checks at a border control post (BCP). This guide walks each step in the order it has to happen.
This is practical guidance, not regulated advice, and the rules change. Always check the current position for your specific commodity code and route on GOV.UK, or ask us.
Why is hard cheese treated as a product of animal origin (POAO)?
Hard cheese is a dairy product, and dairy is a product of animal origin (POAO). GOV.UK lists dairy products among the POAO subject to SPS import controls when entering Great Britain. That classification — not the shelf-stability or the apparent low risk of a hard cheese — is what drives every document and check you need.
It is worth being blunt about the most common misconception here. Hard cheese feels low-risk: it is shelf-stable, it travels at ambient or chilled temperatures, and it does not look like the kind of thing that needs an official vet's signature. The control regime does not care about any of that. POAO import rules apply because of what the product is, not how durable it is. A wheel of Comté and a tanker of raw milk sit in the same broad category for the purpose of import controls, even though the practical risks differ — and that category is what determines the paperwork.
This is also where the tariff-versus-SPS confusion bites. Under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, qualifying goods of EU origin can be imported at zero tariff. But the tariff (the duty you pay) and the SPS controls (the health and safety checks on the goods) are entirely separate systems. Zero duty does not mean zero controls. Your hard cheese can be tariff-free and still be held at the border for an SPS reason.
What documents do I need to import hard cheese from France?
To import hard cheese from France you need three core documents in place before the goods move: an export health certificate (EHC) signed by an official vet in France, a CHED-P pre-notification raised in IPAFFS before arrival, and a customs declaration submitted through CDS. The EHC must travel with the consignment.
Let's define each one, because in practice the document names get used loosely and that is where errors creep in.
Export health certificate (EHC). This is an official document, issued in the country of export, certifying that the goods meet GB import health requirements. For dairy POAO entering Great Britain, the EHC is completed against the relevant model certificate and signed by an official veterinarian (or, where permitted, another authorised certifying officer) in France before the goods leave. The signed original travels with the consignment. APHA publishes the model certificates and the certification requirements for imports into GB. Critically, the EHC is a pre-departure document — it must be signed before the load moves. You cannot backfill it once the lorry has left.
Common Health Entry Document, type P (CHED-P). This is the pre-notification you, the importer (or your agent acting for you), raise in IPAFFS — the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System. The "P" denotes products of animal origin. The CHED-P tells the GB authorities what is arriving, from which approved establishment, under which EHC, and through which BCP, so the relevant checks can be scheduled. It must be in IPAFFS before the consignment arrives at the border — the window is pre-arrival, not on the day.
Customs declaration (CDS). Separate from the SPS pieces, the goods need a customs import declaration, submitted through the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). This is where the commodity code, customs value, origin (for the tariff treatment) and the link to the CHED-P reference are declared.
There is also a quieter, foundational requirement behind all of this: the source establishment in France must be approved to export that product to GB. POAO must come from an establishment on the relevant approved list. If the establishment isn't approved, no EHC and no CHED-P will save the consignment.
What is BTOM, and which checks will my cheese face?
The Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is the UK government's framework for SPS import controls. It places goods into risk categories — broadly low, medium and high — and the category sets whether a consignment faces documentary checks only, or also identity and physical checks at the BCP, and how frequently. Hard cheese, as dairy POAO, sits within this regime.
Three check types are worth defining once:
- Documentary check — officials review the CHED-P and EHC to confirm the paperwork is in order and consistent.
- Identity check — officials confirm the goods presented match the documents (seals, labels, the consignment itself).
- Physical check — officials physically examine and may sample the goods.
Under BTOM, medium-risk POAO are subject to documentary checks on every consignment and to identity and physical checks at a set frequency, applied risk-based and not to every load. Low-risk goods face lighter controls. The exact category your specific product falls into is tied to its commodity code and the current risk classification — and this is precisely the sort of thing that changes. Confirm your product's risk category against the current commodity list before you book the crossing. Do not assume the category from a piece you read last year, including this one.
The practical takeaway: even where physical checks are infrequent, documentary checks are not optional, and a consignment selected for an identity or physical check will be directed to a BCP and held until the check is complete. For a chilled load, time held is not neutral — the cost compounds by the hour.
Who is responsible for getting the cheese cleared — me or my freight forwarder?
Your freight forwarder books the crossing and moves the goods. Raising the CHED-P and holding a valid EHC is your responsibility as the importer, not automatically theirs. Many forwarders and customs agents will do this for you as a service, but only if you instruct them and supply the underlying information — it is not assumed.
This is the assumption that lands operations leads with a hold they never saw coming. "The forwarder handles it" is true for the logistics. It is not automatically true for the SPS pre-notification or the export-side certification. The EHC has to be arranged with the exporter in France and signed before the goods leave; that is a conversation you or your supplier must have with the certifying vet, not something a UK-side forwarder can conjure after the fact.
Be candid about the split: you need to know who is doing each job. Is your agent raising the CHED-P, or are you? Has the French exporter confirmed the establishment is approved and the EHC is being issued against the right model certificate? Who is submitting the CDS declaration? Pin each of these to a named party before the first load moves. Advisory, not a black box — the worst position is everyone assuming someone else owns the step that stops the goods.
A worked example: one consignment of French hard cheese, end to end
Trace a single consignment of French Comté from order to release, and you can see exactly where each document does its job — and where it can break.
- Before anything ships, confirm the source establishment is approved to export dairy POAO to GB. The exporter in France should be able to confirm this. No approval, no import — full stop.
- Classify the goods and confirm the commodity code. Hard cheese has a specific commodity code that determines both the tariff treatment in CDS and the SPS risk category under BTOM. Get this right early: a wrong code can mean the wrong duty and the wrong check regime.
- Arrange the EHC. The French exporter works with the official vet to complete and sign the export health certificate against the correct GB model certificate, before the consignment leaves. The signed original travels with the goods.
- Raise the CHED-P in IPAFFS, pre-arrival. You (or your agent) enter the consignment details — commodity, establishment, quantity, the EHC reference, the arrival BCP and expected arrival — into IPAFFS. The details on the CHED-P must match the EHC. A signed EHC does not guarantee release; if the CHED-P does not match it exactly, the consignment can still be held.
- Submit the customs declaration through CDS and ensure the movement is handled correctly — for accompanied loads through the relevant ports, movement is controlled via GVMS (the Goods Vehicle Movement Service), which ties the declarations to the vehicle's crossing.
- At the GB border, the consignment is checked according to its risk category — documentary always, identity and physical by selection. If selected, the load is directed to a BCP.
- On a satisfactory check, the CHED-P is finalised and the consignment is released for onward delivery.
Now find the break points. The establishment isn't on the approved list. The EHC is signed but the commodity code on the CHED-P doesn't match. The CHED-P was raised after arrival rather than before. The forwarder assumed you were doing the pre-notification and you assumed they were. Every one of these is a document or a hand-off raised — or missed — days before the lorry reaches the port. The fix for a hold at the BCP almost always lives upstream.
What does the IPAFFS pre-notification actually declare?
The CHED-P you raise in IPAFFS declares, among other fields, the commodity and its code, the consignment quantity and weight, the approved establishment of origin, the EHC reference number, the BCP of entry, and the expected date and time of arrival. Each of these has to be accurate and consistent with the EHC, because mismatches are a common reason consignments are stopped.
It is worth slowing down on this, because the pre-notification is the document importers file most routinely and scrutinise least. The commodity code links the SPS world to the customs world — get it wrong and you can mis-set both the check regime and the duty. The establishment reference has to be a genuinely approved establishment. The EHC reference ties the pre-notification to the physical certificate travelling with the goods; if officials can't reconcile the two, the documentary check fails. The arrival details have to be right because the CHED-P has to exist before arrival and route the goods to the correct BCP.
None of this is exotic. It is field-by-field accuracy under time pressure — which is exactly why it goes wrong on a Friday afternoon when a load is moving and a detail was entered in a hurry.
How does the cheese's commodity code affect the rest of the process?
The commodity code is the hinge between the customs process and the SPS process. It sets the tariff treatment in CDS and feeds the BTOM risk categorisation that determines your checks. Getting the code right is therefore not just a duty question — it shapes which controls your hard cheese faces at the border.
Classification of cheese can be more involved than it looks, because the tariff distinguishes between types, fat content and presentation. A misclassification can mean overpaid (or underpaid) duty and an incorrect assumption about the check regime. If you are importing regularly and aren't confident in the classification, it is worth getting it confirmed — a wrong code repeated across many consignments compounds into a real problem, and corrections after the fact are harder than getting it right at the outset. This is one of those points where professional sign-off earns its keep.
Do I need to think about labelling at the same time?
Yes — labelling is a separate regime from SPS import controls, but it applies to the same product, and it is far cheaper to resolve before goods land than after. Food sold in GB must meet the relevant food information rules (FIC-derived requirements): the legal name, ingredients, allergens, durability, and a GB-address food business operator, among others.
Hard cheese carries allergen (milk) and naming considerations, and if the product is moving on into other markets the labelling picture changes again. The point for an operations lead is sequencing: don't treat labelling as a downstream afterthought once the consignment has cleared. The import controls get the goods across the border; the labelling rules govern whether you can lawfully sell them once they're here. Both belong in the plan from the start. Before it goes to print, it is worth having the label checked against every market the product will sell into.
What happens if my hard cheese is held at the border?
If a consignment is held, it is usually because a check has failed or a document doesn't reconcile — a CHED-P that doesn't match the EHC, a classification query, an establishment issue, or a selected physical check awaiting capacity. The goods stay at the BCP until the issue is resolved, which for a chilled or perishable load means cost accumulating by the hour.
The honest answer is that the best response to a hold is to have made it unlikely days earlier: approved establishment confirmed, EHC signed pre-departure, CHED-P raised pre-arrival and matched to the certificate, correct commodity code, clear ownership of each step. When a hold does happen, you need to know precisely which authority owns the check that's stopping you and what they need to release it — and you need to act fast, because the perishable clock doesn't stop for paperwork.
Bringing it together
Importing hard cheese from France to the UK is not complicated once you see the spine of it: it is POAO, so it needs an approved establishment, an EHC signed by an official vet before departure, a CHED-P in IPAFFS before arrival, a CDS declaration, and checks set by its BTOM risk category. The duty may be zero; the controls are not. Most held consignments trace back to a document raised late, a mismatch between the EHC and the CHED-P, or an assumption about who owned a step. Get the sequence and the ownership right before the first load moves, and clearance becomes routine.
Borders are complicated. We aren't.
Something held, or moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs & SPS issues — support.falsum.co.uk. And if you're setting up a new lane for French cheese, tell us the goods and the route — we'll tell you exactly what you need.
FAQ
Yes. Hard cheese is dairy — a product of animal origin (POAO) — so it requires a CHED-P pre-notification raised in IPAFFS before the consignment arrives at the GB border. The CHED-P must match the export health certificate travelling with the goods, or the consignment can be held.
Qualifying EU-origin goods can be imported at zero tariff under the UK–EU agreement, so the duty may be zero. But the tariff and the SPS controls are separate systems. Zero duty does not mean zero controls — your cheese still needs an EHC, a CHED-P and customs clearance.
An official veterinarian (or other authorised certifying officer where permitted) in France signs the EHC against the correct GB model certificate. It must be signed before the goods leave — you cannot backfill it after departure — and the signed original travels with the consignment.
It depends on the BTOM risk category for your commodity code. Documentary checks apply to every consignment; identity and physical checks apply by selection at a set frequency, not to every load. Confirm your product's current risk category against the commodity list before booking.
The forwarder books the crossing, but raising the CHED-P and holding a valid EHC are the importer's responsibility. Agents will do this if instructed and given the information — it isn't automatic. Confirm in advance who owns each step to avoid an unexpected hold.
A question about your goods specifically?
Tell us the product and the route — we'll tell you exactly what you need.