The UK’s listed status application has been agreed by
European Union (EU) Member States after it met the animal
health and biosecurity assurances required for a third
country to export live animals and animal products.
This confirmation is part of the EU’s published no deal
contingency planning – without it, exports of animal
products and most live animals to the EU could not take
place in the event of a no-deal exit from the EU on April
12.
It also means the movement of equines between the UK and
the EU will also now continue in a no deal scenario,
offering welcome reassurance to this sector.
Food and Animal Welfare Minister said:
This is good news for UK businesses. It demonstrates our
very high standards of biosecurity and animal health
which we will continue to maintain after we leave the EU.
If you or your business import or export animal and
animal products or imports high risk food then I urge you
to visit our guidance pages on gov.uk for what you need
to do to be ready to continue to trade post-Brexit.
Our top priority remains delivering a negotiated deal,
but it is the job of a responsible Government to ensure
we are prepared for all scenarios, including no deal.
The EU’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and
Feed (SCoPAFF) confirmed the acceptance of the UK’s listed
status application yesterday [9 April]. National listed
status is the EU’s classification for non-Member states and
the UK’s application, submitted in November 2018, has
passed the high criteria on biosecurity measures for animal
health and food hygiene.
UK exports of animals and their products to the EU will
need to go through an EU Border Inspection Post and
businesses will still require an Export Health Certificate
(EHC) and meet its requirements. Our guidance remains to
send an EHC with the export consignment, and to send a copy
of the EHC to the EU importer.
With listed status now confirmed, exporters will need to
follow the EU rules for exports from third countries to the
EU. Our guidance for importers and exporters is
available on GOV.UK.
In a deal scenario, the UK will not need to be listed
during the implementation period. To give certainty to
businesses and citizens, common rules will remain in place
until the end of the implementation period meaning
businesses will be able to trade on the same terms as now
up until the end of 2020.
Disruption for those businesses which import live animals,
germinal products and certain animal products will also be
minimised as they will now continue to have access to the
TRACES (TRAde Control and Expert System) after the UK
leaves the European Union until later this year. TRACES is
the system used by importers to notify authorities of such
imports from non-EU countries.
As originally planned, imports from non-EU countries will
need to go through the UK’s new IPAFFS system from day one.
