Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS)
Use IPAFFS to notify enforcement authorities about imports to Great Britain.
You must use IPAFFS to notify authorities before the following goods arrive in Great Britain:
- live animals and germinal products from the EU
- animal by-products and high risk food and feed not of animal origin from the EU (except Republic of Ireland) – from 1 January 2022
- products of animal origin from the EU (except Republic of Ireland) – from 1 January 2022
- composite products from the EU (except Republic of Ireland) – from 1 January 2022
- plants and plant products from the EU (except Republic of Ireland) – from 1 January 2022
- live animals, animal products and high risk food and feed not of animal origin from non-EU countries
Before you start
If you have registered your organisation for another Defra service, you can register for IPAFFS by following these steps:
- Sign in to your service.
- Go to your manage account screen.
- Click on the ‘register for more services’ button.
You should decide who’s the responsible person to register the business or organisation before you register.
You can use an existing Government Gateway account or create a new one. Each person must have a Government Gateway account that’s personal to them. Do not share Gateway accounts.
If you’re the first person to register the business or organisation, you automatically become the organisation administrator for that business. You’ll then have permission to invite and remove other team members.
Make sure that you allocate at least one other team member to an administrator account role, so you can share the account management.
Find out how to register a business or organisation for the IPAFFS service (ODT, 11.9KB).
Get help
If you need technical help with import notifications, you can call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) helpline on 0330 041 6999 or email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk.
If you need help to complete the import information for:
- live animals or products of animal origin, email imports@apha.gov.uk
- high risk food and feed not of animal origin, email imported.food@food.gov.uk
- plants and plant products, email phsi-importers@apha.gov.uk
If you need help with your customs declaration
You can call the HMRC helpline 0300 322 9434. Monday to Friday 8am to 10pm, and Saturday to Sunday 8am to 4pm.
Last updated 20 December 2021 + show all updates
