How Do I Import Table Grapes Into the UK From Chile? The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step

How Do I Import Table Grapes Into the UK From Chile? The Controls, Documents and Checks, Step by Step

Grapes are food, but at the GB border they're controlled as plants — that one distinction changes every document you need.

If you're importing table grapes from Chile to the UK, the controlling fact is this: table grapes are regulated plant produce, not products of animal origin (POAO). That means your consignment moves through the plant-health import regime — a phytosanitary certificate from Chile, an IPAFFS pre-notification, and a CHED-PP raised before arrival — under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). There is no Export Health Certificate (EHC); that document belongs to POAO. Get the commodity framing right and the rest of the table grapes import controls fall into a clear sequence.

This guide walks the whole route, end to end: classification, the documents, who issues what and when, the pre-notification, what happens at the Border Control Post (BCP), and the perishable-timing traps that turn a routine consignment into a hold. It's written for the operations and compliance lead who owns the consignment — the person it lands on at 4pm on a Friday.

A note before we start, in keeping with how we work here: plant-health import conditions for specific commodities and origins change. Everything below reflects the framework as it stands, with the official sources named so you can check the current position. Treat this as practical guidance, not a substitute for confirming the live rules for your exact commodity code and route — or asking us.

Are table grapes treated as food or as plants at the UK border?

At the GB border, table grapes are treated as regulated plant produce, so they clear through the plant-health (phytosanitary) regime — not the POAO regime that governs meat, dairy and other animal products. This single classification decides every document, every system and every check that applies. It's the distinction first-time importers most often get wrong.

The reflex, especially among experienced importers who cut their teeth on meat and dairy, is to reach for an EHC and a CHED-P because "it's an import of food". For grapes that's the wrong document for the wrong commodity. There is no EHC for table grapes. The animal-health controls — and the CHED-P that goes with them — simply don't apply to fruit.

Plant produce has its own pre-notification document: the CHED-PP (Common Health Entry Document for Plants and Plant Products), raised in IPAFFS (the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System). The supporting document from the origin country is the phytosanitary certificate, issued by Chile's national plant protection organisation. Anchor on "plants, not animals" and the rest of the chain is straightforward.

What plant-health risk category do Chilean table grapes fall into under the BTOM?

Under the BTOM, regulated plants and plant products are sorted into risk categories — high, medium or low — and the category determines the rate and type of checks a consignment faces at the BCP. The risk level depends on the commodity and the country of origin together, and the categorisation is published and updated, so it must be checked against the current GOV.UK plant-health import lists for grapes from Chile.

The BTOM is the framework that replaced the old, phased post-Brexit import controls with a single risk-based model. Defra sets the categorisation; APHA (the Animal and Plant Health Agency) administers the plant-health side in practice. For an importer, the practical consequence is the check rate: a medium-risk fruit faces documentary checks routinely and identity and physical checks at a defined frequency, while a low-risk commodity may face documentary checks only.

Why this matters operationally: the check rate is not something your freight forwarder decides, and it isn't fixed forever. The BTOM sorted plant produce into risk categories, and the category your grapes face now may not be the one you planned for last season. Before you book the shipment, confirm the current risk category for fresh table grapes (your commodity code) from Chile on GOV.UK's plant-health import requirements pages, because that single fact shapes your timeline and your costs at the border.

Which commodity code applies to table grapes, and why does it matter?

Fresh table grapes are classified under commodity heading 0806 ("grapes, fresh or dried"), with the full ten-digit commodity code distinguishing fresh from dried and, for fresh grapes, sometimes the time of year of import. The exact code drives your duty rate, your import declaration on CDS, and the plant-health requirements the system applies to the consignment.

The commodity code is the spine of the whole import. It tells CDS (the Customs Declaration Service) what duty to apply, and it tells IPAFFS which plant-health rules attach to the goods. Get it wrong and two things happen: you may pay the wrong duty (over or under), and the plant-health checks the system expects may not line up with what you've actually shipped — which is exactly how consignments end up queried at the border.

Check the current classification using GOV.UK's Trade Tariff tool, which gives you the live commodity code, the duty rate, and a link through to the import controls for that code. If there's any doubt about the right code — and for seasonal fresh produce there often is — get the classification confirmed rather than guessed. A wrong commodity code is one of the most common, and most recoverable, errors we see; it's worth getting right before the goods move, not reclaiming after.

What documents do I need to import table grapes from Chile?

To import table grapes from Chile to the UK you need three things to line up before the consignment arrives: a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Chilean authorities, a CHED-PP pre-notification raised in IPAFFS, and a customs import declaration on CDS against the correct commodity code. You do not need an EHC. Get these three aligned and the consignment has what it needs to clear.

Here's what each document does and who is responsible for it:

• Phytosanitary certificate. Issued by Chile's national plant protection organisation, this certifies that the grapes have been inspected and meet the GB plant-health import conditions for that commodity. It must be issued before the grapes ship — it can't be obtained retrospectively. Your Chilean exporter arranges it, but you should confirm it covers the right commodity and references the consignment accurately, because the details on it have to match your IPAFFS entry.
• CHED-PP (raised in IPAFFS). This is your pre-notification to the UK authorities that a regulated plant consignment is inbound. You — the importer, or your agent acting for you — raise it in IPAFFS, referencing the phytosanitary certificate. It must be submitted before arrival within the notice period that applies to the goods.
• Customs import declaration (CDS). The declaration that clears the goods through customs, against the correct commodity code, declaring value and origin for duty purposes. Usually filed by your customs agent or freight forwarder on your behalf.

A point on responsibility, because it's the one that catches people: your freight forwarder books the customs side and may raise the CHED for you. But knowing it's a CHED-PP (not a CHED-P), and that the phytosanitary certificate has to match the IPAFFS entry exactly, is your job as the importer. The forwarder moves the box; the compliance sits with you.

How do I raise the IPAFFS pre-notification (CHED-PP) for the consignment?

You raise the CHED-PP in IPAFFS before the grapes arrive in GB, creating a notification that names the commodity, its commodity code, the origin (Chile), the quantity, and the phytosanitary certificate reference. The notification has to be submitted within the required notice period ahead of arrival, and the details must match the supporting documents and the physical consignment.

Practically, the steps run like this. First, you (or your agent) log in to IPAFFS and start a new plant-and-plant-products notification. You select the commodity and enter the commodity code, the country of origin, the place and date of arrival, and the BCP the consignment will route through. You then enter the phytosanitary certificate details so the system can tie your notification to the origin document. Once submitted, the notification generates the CHED-PP reference that travels with the goods.

The single most common avoidable failure here is mismatch. If the commodity code, quantity, or certificate reference on the IPAFFS entry doesn't match the phytosanitary certificate — or what's actually in the container — the consignment can be held while the discrepancy is resolved. For a perishable like table grapes, that delay isn't an inconvenience; the cost of a hold compounds by the hour. The point your Chilean grapes can go wrong isn't the border. It's the pre-notification you raised before they arrived.

What checks happen at the Border Control Post, and how often?

At the BCP, plant consignments can face up to three types of check: a documentary check (do the certificate and CHED-PP line up?), an identity check (is this physically the consignment described?), and a physical check (inspection of the goods themselves, including for pests). How often identity and physical checks happen depends on the commodity's BTOM risk category and the published check rate.

Documentary checks are systematic — the paperwork is reviewed for every notified consignment. Identity and physical checks happen at a frequency set by the risk category: a medium-risk fruit will be selected for physical inspection at a defined rate, while lower-risk produce is checked less often. You won't know in advance whether a specific consignment is pulled for a physical check, which is why your documents and your IPAFFS entry have to be right every time, not just on average.

Where checks happen matters too. Regulated plant produce is inspected at a designated BCP or Control Point with plant-health facilities — not every port handles every commodity. Confirm your routing covers grapes before you book, and build the possibility of a physical check into your cold-chain planning. The grapes don't stop being perishable because they're under inspection.

Do I pay duty on table grapes imported from Chile?

Whether duty applies depends on the commodity code and on the UK–Chile trade arrangement in force, including any preferential tariff and the rules of origin that come with it. Fresh table grapes may attract a tariff that varies seasonally, and a preferential rate is only available if the goods genuinely meet the origin rules and you hold the right proof. Check the live position on the Trade Tariff before you commit.

Two things trip importers up on duty. The first is assuming a trade agreement means automatically duty-free: preferential rates come with rules of origin, and you need the correct origin proof to claim them — "there's an agreement" is not, by itself, a duty calculation. The second is the seasonal element on fresh produce, where the tariff for fresh grapes can change across the year. Both are checkable on GOV.UK's Trade Tariff against your exact commodity code and date of import.

If you discover after the fact that you paid duty against the wrong commodity code, that's often recoverable — overpaid duty from a misclassification can frequently be reclaimed. Better, though, to classify correctly and claim any preference correctly the first time. This is practical guidance rather than a duty ruling for your specific consignment; where the numbers are material, get the classification and origin position confirmed.

A worked example: a chilled container of Chilean table grapes, start to finish

Let's run a single consignment through the whole process so the sequence is concrete.

You're bringing in a reefer container of fresh table grapes from a Chilean grower for a UK retailer. Weeks before shipment, you confirm the commodity code on the Trade Tariff (heading 0806, the fresh-grape sub-code for your time of year), check the duty position and any UK–Chile preference, and confirm the current BTOM plant-health risk category for grapes from Chile on GOV.UK. You also confirm your chosen port has a BCP that handles regulated plant produce.

At the point of shipment, your Chilean exporter arranges the phytosanitary certificate from the local plant protection authority — issued before the container ships, certifying the grapes meet the GB import conditions. You confirm the certificate names the right commodity and matches the shipment.

Before arrival, you (or your agent) raise the CHED-PP in IPAFFS, entering the commodity code, origin, quantity, arrival details and the phytosanitary certificate reference, and submit it within the notice period. In parallel, your customs agent prepares the CDS import declaration against the same commodity code.

On arrival at the BCP, the documentary check confirms the phyto and the CHED-PP line up. The consignment is — or isn't — selected for an identity and physical check based on the risk category's check rate. If everything matches and passes, the consignment is released; the reefer moves on to the retailer's DC with its cold chain intact. If there's a mismatch or a physical query, it's held — and every hour counts.

That's the route. The work that makes it boring — in the best sense — is front-loaded: classification, the phyto, and a clean IPAFFS entry, all squared away before the grapes leave Chile.

What's the most common reason a grape consignment gets held?

The most common avoidable hold comes from a mismatch between the phytosanitary certificate, the IPAFFS / CHED-PP entry and the physical consignment — a wrong commodity code, a quantity that doesn't tally, or a certificate that doesn't reference the goods correctly. A missing or late pre-notification is the other frequent cause. Both are upstream, controllable failures.

"It's just fruit" is how a Chilean grape consignment ends up held at a control post for a paperwork mismatch that could have been caught before it shipped. The fix is unglamorous: get the classification right, make sure the exporter's phytosanitary certificate matches what you're actually importing, raise the CHED-PP in good time, and check the details against each other before the container moves. Borders are complicated. The discipline that keeps them moving isn't.

Bringing it together

Importing table grapes from Chile comes down to one reframe and three documents. The reframe: at the GB border, grapes are controlled as plants, not POAO — so you're in the phytosanitary regime, not the animal-health one. The documents: a phytosanitary certificate from Chile, a CHED-PP raised in IPAFFS before arrival, and a CDS customs declaration against the right commodity code. No EHC. The checks and their frequency follow from the commodity's BTOM risk category, and the timing traps are all perishable ones — late pre-notifications and mismatched paperwork that hold a cold-chain consignment by the hour.

Get the upstream right and the border becomes routine. That's the whole job.

Something held, or a Chilean grape consignment moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs and SPS issues — support.falsum.co.uk. Tell us the goods and the route, and we'll tell you exactly what you need.

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