How to Import Hard Cheese from Italy to the UK: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step

How to Import Hard Cheese from Italy to the UK: The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step

Hard cheese from Italy is POAO. That single classification triggers an IPAFFS pre-notification, a CHED-P, and a health certificate before the lorry leaves.

That's the whole shape of it, said plainly. When you import hard cheese from Italy to the UK, you are not moving a grocery item — you are moving a product of animal origin (POAO), and POAO crossing into Great Britain is subject to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). Those controls are run through three named systems that have to line up: IPAFFS (the pre-notification service), the CHED-P (the official entry document for products of animal origin), and an export health certificate (EHC) signed by an official vet in Italy. The goods enter through a Border Control Post (BCP), where they may face documentary, identity or physical checks depending on the BTOM risk category for dairy. Get the sequence and the paperwork right and a wheel of Parmigiano clears cleanly. Get one reference number wrong and it sits at the border while the clock runs.

This piece walks the whole process, step by step, in the order it actually happens — and it flags clearly where the rules can change, so you check the current position for your specific commodity and route before you book. This is practical guidance, not regulated advice; where a movement is high-value or unusual, get professional sign-off.

Is hard cheese a product of animal origin (POAO)?

Yes. Hard cheese is a dairy product, and dairy is a product of animal origin (POAO) under GB import rules. That classification is what brings the SPS controls into play. Per GOV.UK's guidance on importing animals and animal products, POAO from the EU is subject to pre-notification, health certification and risk-based checks — it is not treated like ambient, non-animal food.

This is the assumption that catches people. "It's just cheese" is where the hold starts. To you, it's a pallet of Pecorino; to the GB border, it's POAO, and POAO doesn't move without a CHED-P and a health certificate. The product being shelf-stable and the trade being tariff-free under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement makes no difference to the SPS position. Tariff-free is not control-free. Duty and SPS are two separate questions, governed by two separate sets of rules, and you have to satisfy both.

Hard cheese — Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Pecorino, aged provolone and the like — generally classifies under commodity code heading 0406 (cheese and curd), with the specific eight- or ten-digit code depending on type, fat content and presentation. The commodity code matters here for two reasons: it sets the customs duty and import VAT position, and it feeds the SPS pre-notification, where the code and product description must match what's on the health certificate. The same code has to read consistently across your customs declaration, your IPAFFS entry and your EHC. Mismatches between those are a common, avoidable cause of delay.

What import controls apply to hard cheese from Italy?

Importing hard cheese from Italy means satisfying two parallel regimes: customs (the duty, VAT and declaration) and SPS (the animal-health controls). The SPS controls are the ones that most often trip up first-time dairy importers, because they require action before the consignment leaves Italy, not at the UK border.

Under the Border Target Operating Model, EU dairy moved from effectively no routine SPS checks to a risk-categorised regime. Defra and the FSA assign POAO commodities a risk category — high, medium or low — and that category drives how the consignment is treated at the BCP. Dairy products like hard cheese typically fall into the medium-risk category for SPS purposes, which means they require pre-notification and a health certificate and are liable to documentary checks and a proportion of identity and physical checks. The exact category and the check rates can change as BTOM is reviewed, so confirm the current categorisation for your specific cheese before you plan a movement — the rule as written today governs your consignment, and that rule moves.

On the customs side, you'll need an EORI number beginning GB, a customs declaration submitted through CDS (the Customs Declaration Service), and movement through GVMS (the Goods Vehicle Movement Service) if you're routing through a GVMS-controlled port such as Dover or the Eurotunnel. These two regimes run alongside each other — the customs entry and the SPS entry are separate submissions, in separate systems, and both have to be satisfied for the goods to be released.

What documents do I need to import hard cheese from Italy?

You need four core documents and references that all have to reconcile: an export health certificate (EHC) signed by an EU official vet, an IPAFFS pre-notification with a CHED-P reference, a customs declaration in CDS, and the commercial documents (invoice, packing list, transport documents). Three reference numbers — the EHC, the CHED-P and the IPAFFS entry — have to match. Most holds are a mismatch.

Here's what each one actually does:

• Export health certificate (EHC). The EHC is the document that says, on the authority of an official vet, that the cheese meets GB import conditions. For dairy from the EU there is a specific model certificate — APHA and Defra publish the model health certificates, and the EU exporter's vet completes and signs the correct one. The certificate is signed before loading, against the actual consignment. This is not paperwork you chase after the fact: without the EHC signed before the goods leave, the consignment shouldn't depart Italy at all. EHCs carry validity periods and the goods presented at the border must match what was signed — relevant if a movement is delayed.
• IPAFFS pre-notification and the CHED-P. IPAFFS (Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System) is the GB service where the importer — or their agent acting on their behalf — pre-notifies the authorities that the consignment is coming. Completing the IPAFFS entry generates a CHED-P (Common Health Entry Document for Products of animal origin). The CHED-P is the official entry document for POAO into GB; the consignment isn't cleared until it's validated. The pre-notification has to be raised before arrival at the BCP — pre-notification timing is a window, and missing it means a hold.
• Customs declaration (CDS). The import declaration, lodged in CDS, with the commodity code, customs value, country of origin and the supporting document references. This is where duty and import VAT are accounted for.
• Commercial and transport documents. Commercial invoice, packing list, and the transport/movement references — these underpin both the customs and SPS entries and must agree with them.

One responsibility point worth stating plainly, because it's where surprise holds come from: your freight forwarder books the crossing, but raising the correct CHED-P in IPAFFS before arrival is the importer's responsibility. A forwarder or agent can do it on your behalf — but only if you've instructed them, given them the EHC details and confirmed who is doing what. Assume nothing here. Confirm, in writing, who raises the IPAFFS entry.

Does the Italian dairy need to be on an approved establishment list?

Yes — and this is the verification step most import plans skip. POAO can only be imported into GB from establishments that are approved and listed for export. The Italian dairy or packing facility that produced and dispatched the cheese must appear on the relevant approved establishment list, and the establishment's approval number is referenced on the health certificate. If the producing or dispatching establishment isn't listed, the consignment isn't eligible — no amount of correct paperwork downstream fixes an ineligible origin.

So before you book anything, confirm the establishment is approved and listed. Where in your process does someone check that? If the answer is nowhere, that's the gap to close first. Your Italian supplier should be able to give you their approval number; if they can't, that's a flag worth resolving before money moves.

When do I raise the CHED-P, and how does the timeline work?

You raise the CHED-P via the IPAFFS pre-notification before the consignment arrives at the BCP — the timeline starts in Italy when the EHC is signed, not at Dover. The order matters as much as the documents. Walk it forwards and each step gates the next.

Here is the sequence as it actually runs for a consignment of hard cheese from Italy:

1. Confirm eligibility. Check the dispatching establishment is on the approved list and that hard cheese (your specific commodity code) is currently importable from the EU under the conditions in the model EHC. Confirm the current BTOM risk category and check rates for dairy.
2. EHC issued and signed in Italy. The EU exporter arranges for an official vet to complete and sign the correct model health certificate against the consignment, before loading.
3. Customs declaration prepared. You (or your customs agent) prepare the CDS import declaration with the correct commodity code, value and origin.
4. IPAFFS pre-notification raised → CHED-P generated. Before arrival, the importer or appointed agent raises the pre-notification in IPAFFS, entering the commodity, the dispatching establishment, the EHC reference and the consignment details. This generates the CHED-P reference. Crucially, the EHC number, the CHED-P and the IPAFFS entry must all reconcile.
5. Movement booked through GVMS (if applicable). For GVMS-controlled crossings, the movement references are assembled into a goods movement reference so the vehicle can board.
6. Arrival at the BCP and checks. At the Border Control Post the consignment faces a documentary check (always), and may be selected for an identity check (matching the goods to the paperwork) and a physical check (inspection, and possibly sampling) according to the dairy risk category and the day's selection rates.
7. Validation and release. Once the CHED-P is validated and the customs entry is cleared, the goods are released for onward movement.

The perishability point is real even for hard cheese. Aged hard cheeses are robust compared with chilled fresh dairy, but they still travel under temperature control and against a signed certificate. A delay that outruns the certificate's validity, or a check that pulls the load for sampling, costs time and money — and the cost of a held consignment compounds by the hour. Building the timeline backwards from the EHC signature is how you avoid finding the gap at the border.

What checks happen at the Border Control Post?

At the BCP, a consignment of hard cheese gets a documentary check on every entry, and a risk-based proportion of consignments are pulled for identity checks and physical checks. The documentary check verifies the CHED-P and the EHC; the identity check matches the physical goods, marks and seals to the declared consignment; the physical check is a hands-on inspection that can include sampling.

Which checks you get, and how often, is governed by the BTOM risk category for dairy and the selection rates in force at the time — these are set by Defra and the FSA and are reviewed periodically. You don't control whether you're selected, but you do control whether you pass: the single biggest factor in a clean clearance is that the documents reconcile and the goods match what was declared. The reference numbers agree, the commodity code is consistent across CDS, IPAFFS and the EHC, the establishment number is valid, and the physical consignment matches the paperwork. When those line up, even a physical check is a formality. When they don't, the hold is on you, not the border.

A worked example: a pallet of Parmigiano from Emilia-Romagna

Say you're bringing in a pallet of Parmigiano Reggiano from a producer near Parma, routed Italy–France–Dover. Run it through the process. First, you confirm the producing dairy's approval number and check the current import conditions for cheese under code 0406 — eligible, medium-risk, pre-notification and EHC required. The Italian exporter arranges the official vet to sign the dairy model EHC against the actual pallet before it loads, and sends you the certificate number. Your customs agent drafts the CDS declaration. Before the lorry reaches the BCP, you raise the IPAFFS pre-notification — entering the commodity code, the Parma establishment's approval number and the EHC reference — and the system issues the CHED-P. Those three references now match. The crossing is assembled in GVMS. At the BCP the consignment clears its documentary check; it isn't selected for a physical this time; the CHED-P validates and the customs entry clears; the pallet is released. No drama — because the work happened before the truck rolled, not after it stopped.

Now change one thing: the IPAFFS entry was raised against a slightly different commodity code than the one on the EHC. The documentary check flags the mismatch. The consignment is held while it's resolved — and a hold on perishable goods is exactly the cost you were trying to avoid. That's why the reconciliation step isn't admin. It's the whole game.

Common questions about importing hard cheese from Italy

The pattern across almost every dairy import problem is the same: a missing or mismatched reference, an unapproved establishment, or a pre-notification raised too late or not at all. None of those are exotic. They're sequencing and reconciliation, and they're entirely preventable with the right process in place before you book.

A final, honest caveat. Import rules for POAO are reviewed and change — risk categories, check rates and certificate models all move under the Border Target Operating Model. Treat the steps here as the shape of the process, not a frozen rulebook, and confirm the current position for your specific cheese and route before you commit a load.

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 what you need. Reach us at support.falsum.co.uk.

FAQ