On December 14, 2019, EU regulations regarding the transportation of plant-based goods and food products will change. In the EU, the import and transit of plants and certain products of non-animal origin from third countries will be subject to registration in the special TRACES-NT system.

On December 14, 2019, the European Union and EU Council Regulation 2017/625 will come into force. The policies relate to the official control and other activities concerning the import and transit of plants from third countries.

Malgorzata Matwiejuk, Head of the AsstrA Customs Agency in Koroszczyn, says:

“According to Article 56 of the decision of the European Parliament and the EU Council, each
shipment of plant-derived goods that is subject to border phytosanitary control must be accompanied by a Common Health Entry Document for Plants and Plant Products (CHED-PP), a standardized permit to import plants and plant-derived products.”

Cargoes that contain food products listed in the EU Commission’s decree of 10.22.2019 must be
registered via a Common Health Entry Document for Feed and Food of Non-Animal Origin (CHED-D),
a standardized import document recognized by all EU countries that will replace the CED document.
The requirement to use a CHED-D document will be in effect from December 13 of this year.

 

 

The part of CHED-PP and CHED-D related to the shipper should be filled out via a freely available
account in the Trade Control and Expert System - New Technologies (TRACES-NT). Such an account must be approved by the appropriate division of an EU member country’s state authorities. In Poland, for example, those authorities are the State Inspectorate for Plant and Seed Protection (Państwowa Inspekcja Ochrony Roślin i Nasiennictwa – PIORiN) and the State Sanitary Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Sanitarna – SANEPID).

According to Malgorzata Matwiejuk, a TRACES-NT account can be created by EU importers or their authorized representatives, such as customs agencies.

“The AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG corporate group includes 8 customs agencies. AsstrA offices in Poland and Lithuania are already registered with TRACES-NT. AsstrA specialists, on the basis of importers’ authorizations, submit applications to ship plant-based cargo. This way, our customers are guaranteed prompt transportation,” says Malgorzata Matwiejuk.

It is worth remembering that it is necessary to inform the relevant regulatory authorities about shipments before the arrival of the goods at the border crossing. According to official requirements, the goods must be declared for inspection at least 24 hours before their physical arrival in the EU. In the case of air transport, a declaration must be made 6 hours before arrival. Border control will not be carried out without a properly completed and submitted CHED document.

The CHED-PP application form will need to be provided to enable imports of plants and plant products as well as products related to agricultural or forestry equipment making contact with soil. In other words, goods from third countries whose import and transit require phytosanitary certificates.

CHED-D application forms are necessary for non-animal foods imported to the EU from third countries. The list of specific products is in Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1793 of 22.10.2019. Foodstuffs and goods coming in contact with foodstuffs not listed in this regulation may be imported into the EU under the same conditions.

In addition, the standardized CHED-P import document will be necessary for the importation of goods that are subject to veterinary control.