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

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

Table grapes are regulated plant produce — they need a phytosanitary certificate and an IPAFFS pre-notification before they reach the GB border.

That one sentence is the whole job in miniature. Table grapes from Spain are fresh produce of plant origin, so they fall under GB plant health controls, not just customs. Bringing them in means managing a phytosanitary certificate issued in Spain, a pre-notification in IPAFFS, a CHED-PP (the common health entry document for plants and plant products), the right commodity code on your CDS customs declaration, and the possibility of identity and physical checks at a border control post. Get those aligned before the load departs and clearance is routine. Get one wrong and a perishable consignment sits.

This guide walks the grapes from the Spanish packhouse to the GB shelf, in order, naming each system as you'll actually meet it. Rules under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) are still settling, so treat this as the shape of the process and check the current position for your specific commodity code and route before you ship.

Why do table grapes from Spain need plant health controls at all?

Because free movement ended for plant produce too. Since GB left the EU's sanitary and phytosanitary regime, fresh fruit and vegetables from the EU are subject to GB plant health controls — the same category of controls that have always applied to produce from the rest of the world. "It's just fruit from the EU" is exactly the assumption that gets a load of Spanish grapes held.

GB plant health controls exist to stop plant pests and diseases entering the country. They're administered by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, under Defra policy, with the regime and timings set out in the Border Target Operating Model on GOV.UK. The key concept BTOM introduces is risk categorisation: every regulated plant product is sorted into high, medium or low risk, and that category decides what controls apply, what document you raise, and whether your grapes face checks beyond the paperwork.

So the first thing to establish for any produce import isn't the price or the freight — it's the risk category. For grapes, that's where the process really starts.

What risk category are table grapes under the Border Target Operating Model?

Most fresh table grapes for consumption sit in the medium-risk plant produce category under BTOM, which means they require a phytosanitary certificate and pre-notification in IPAFFS, and they can be selected for documentary, identity and physical checks. Risk categories are set by Defra and can be revised, so confirm the current category for your exact commodity code before you commit to a shipment.

The risk category is the single fact that drives every downstream step, so it's worth being precise about what it does and doesn't mean. A medium-risk classification tells you:

• A phytosanitary certificate is required for the consignment.
• You must pre-notify the import in IPAFFS, which generates a CHED-PP.
• The consignment is eligible for checks — documentary always, with identity and physical checks applied on a risk basis, not to every load.

What it doesn't mean is that every consignment gets physically inspected. Medium-risk produce is selected for identity and physical checks by a risk-based, frequency-driven model — some loads clear on documents alone, others are pulled. You can't reliably predict which, so the operating assumption for a perishable load is: be ready for a check, and make sure the paperwork would survive one.

Low-risk produce faces lighter controls; high-risk produce faces the full regime and, in some cases, additional restrictions. Grapes are not high-risk in normal circumstances, but pest-related safeguard measures can change a commodity's treatment at short notice — another reason to check the live position rather than rely on how a previous shipment was handled.

Do table grapes need a CHED-P or a CHED-PP?

Table grapes need a CHED-PP, not a CHED-P. The CHED-PP (Common Health Entry Document for Plants and Plant Products) is the entry document for regulated plant produce. The CHED-P covers products of animal origin (POAO) — meat, dairy, fish, composite products. Grapes are plant produce, so the plants-and-plant-products document applies. This produce-versus-POAO distinction trips up first-time importers constantly.

It matters because the CHED type is the spine of the import. You don't fill in a CHED-PP as a separate form on a separate website — you generate it by completing a pre-notification in IPAFFS (the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System), the GOV.UK platform for notifying SPS imports. IPAFFS issues the CHED reference, and that reference is what the customs declaration and the border systems hang off.

For reference, the CHED family you may see named:

• CHED-PP — plants and plant products (your grapes).
• CHED-P — products of animal origin (POAO).
• CHED-A — live animals.
• CHED-D — feed and food of non-animal origin subject to specific controls.

If anyone in the chain — your forwarder, your supplier — tells you the grapes need a CHED-P, that's the wrong document, and it's worth stopping to correct before the entry is built on the wrong footing.

What documents do you need to import table grapes from Spain?

To import table grapes from Spain you need a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Spanish plant health authority, an IPAFFS pre-notification that generates a CHED-PP, a customs declaration in CDS using the correct commodity code, and the standard commercial documents — invoice, packing list and transport paperwork. Each has a different owner, which is where things slip.

Here's what each document is and who produces it:

The phytosanitary certificate (the phyto). This is an official certificate confirming the consignment has been inspected in the country of export and meets GB plant health requirements. It is issued by the Spanish plant health authority before export — you, the GB importer, do not produce it, but you are entirely dependent on your Spanish supplier securing it. The phyto travels with the consignment and is checked against your IPAFFS entry on the GB side. A missing, expired or mismatched phyto is the classic reason a produce load is held.

The IPAFFS pre-notification. You (or your agent) raise this in IPAFFS before the goods arrive. It declares what's coming, from where, the commodity, quantity and the point of entry, and it produces the CHED-PP reference. The details on the IPAFFS entry must match the phytosanitary certificate — same botanical description, same quantities, same exporter. Mismatches between the two documents are a leading cause of delay because the border systems can't reconcile them.

The customs declaration in CDS. Separately from the plant health side, the goods need a customs import declaration on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), with the correct commodity code for fresh table grapes. The commodity code drives the customs duty treatment, any tariff-rate quota, and links the declaration to the SPS controls. (More on the code below — it does more work than people expect.)

Commercial and transport documents. Commercial invoice, packing list, and the transport documentation for the movement. These support both the customs value and the SPS description, so they need to be consistent with everything else.

The thread running through all of this: the documents have to agree with each other. The phyto, the IPAFFS entry, the commodity code and the invoice all describe the same grapes. Where they diverge, the consignment stops while someone reconciles them — and for a perishable, that time is expensive.

What does the commodity code do for a grape import?

The commodity code classifies your table grapes for customs and connects the customs declaration to the plant health controls. It determines the duty rate, whether a tariff-rate quota or preference applies, and it's how CDS knows the goods are a controlled SPS product needing a CHED-PP. The wrong code can mean the wrong duty, a missed preference, or a broken link to the SPS entry.

Two practical points for grapes specifically:

Origin and preference. Grapes of Spanish origin may qualify for preferential (typically zero) duty under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement — but preference is not automatic. It depends on the goods meeting the agreement's rules of origin and on you holding valid proof of origin. "It came from the EU" is not the same as "it qualifies for zero duty". This is one of the most common, and most avoidable, overpayments in food imports.

Classification precision. Fresh table grapes are classified differently from grapes for other uses, and seasonal entry-price arrangements can affect the duty calculation at certain times of year. The code you set early can drift out of date or simply be wrong — and a wrong code feeds a wrong declaration. Worth checking against the live UK Integrated Online Tariff on GOV.UK rather than copying what was used last season.

If you suspect a previous code was wrong and you overpaid, that's potentially reclaimable — but get the classification confirmed first.

Walk it through: a table grape consignment from Spanish packhouse to GB shelf

Here's the whole sequence in order, the way it actually runs. Walk the grapes from packhouse to shelf: phyto, IPAFFS notification, CHED-PP, possible checks, release.

1. Before departure — in Spain. Your supplier arranges inspection by the Spanish plant health authority and secures the phytosanitary certificate for the consignment. You confirm the exact botanical description, quantities and exporter details, because these have to match what you'll enter in IPAFFS. This is the cheapest possible moment to catch a problem.

2. Pre-notification — before arrival. You (or your customs agent) raise the import in IPAFFS, entering the consignment details and the point of entry. IPAFFS issues the CHED-PP reference. The pre-notification needs to be in before the goods arrive — confirm the current minimum notice period for your point of entry, as it's set by the regime and can change. Late or missing pre-notification is a self-inflicted hold.

3. Customs declaration — CDS. In parallel, the customs import declaration is submitted on CDS with the correct commodity code, your proof of origin if you're claiming preference, and the CHED reference linking customs to the SPS controls.

4. Arrival and check selection. When the consignment arrives, the border systems reconcile the customs entry, the CHED-PP and the phyto. The consignment is either released on documents or selected for checks — identity (does the load match the paperwork?) and/or physical (an actual inspection of the grapes). Selection is risk-based; you prepare for it either way.

5. Checks (if selected). Where checks apply, they take place at a border control post (BCP) or designated control point. The clock matters here: a perishable load held for inspection is losing shelf life and possibly cold-chain integrity by the hour. Documents that are clean and consistent are what get a checked load moving fastest.

6. Release and onward movement. Once cleared, the grapes are released for onward delivery to your depot or customer.

The lesson the sequence teaches is front-loaded: almost everything that determines whether step 4 goes smoothly was decided in steps 1 to 3. By the time the lorry is at the port, your room to fix a problem cheaply has mostly gone.

What actually triggers a check, and who pays for the delay?

Identity and physical checks on medium-risk produce are applied on a risk and frequency basis — the regime selects a proportion of consignments rather than inspecting every one. Triggers include the commodity's risk profile, the origin, any active pest safeguard measures, and inconsistencies between your documents. The importer bears the cost and the time of a check, including any BCP handling charges.

This is the hidden cost driver for perishable importers, and it's worth being honest about: you cannot guarantee a check-free clearance, because selection isn't entirely in your control. What is in your control is everything that makes a checked consignment clear quickly and avoids the avoidable selections:

• The phyto and the IPAFFS entry describe exactly the same goods.
• The pre-notification is in on time.
• The commodity code is right and the declaration is clean.
• The commercial documents are consistent with both.

A missing or wrong phytosanitary certificate doesn't just risk a check — it stops the consignment outright. The lorry being at the port doesn't mean the grapes can move. For a perishable, that distinction is the difference between a sale and a write-off.

How does this fit with the rest of the import — labelling, storage, the bigger picture?

The border clearance is one part of a larger compliance picture. Once the grapes are in, the usual GB food rules apply — labelling, traceability and food safety obligations sit with you as the business placing the food on the market. Fresh table grapes carry lighter labelling requirements than packaged composite foods, but country-of-origin, lot marking and any packer/importer details still need to be right for your packaging format.

If you're importing grapes regularly, it's also worth looking at the picture across a season rather than consignment by consignment: a consistent commodity code, a reliable supplier who can produce a clean phyto every time, and a pre-notification routine that's never late will do more for your clearance reliability than firefighting individual holds. The mechanisms — phyto, IPAFFS, CHED-PP, CDS, the commodity code — are the same every time. The discipline is making them agree, every time, before the load leaves Spain.

Borders are complicated. The grape import itself doesn't have to be — once you know which controls bite and get the documents aligned upstream, it becomes a routine you can run.

Something held, or moving soon? The Falsum Helpdesk triages live customs and SPS issues — if a grape consignment is at risk or already stopped, that's exactly what it's for: support.falsum.co.uk.

And if you're setting up a new produce route rather than fighting a fire: tell us the goods and the route — we'll tell you exactly what you need.

FAQ