Importing Aquaculture - Live Fish, Including Live Ornamental Fish, Shellfish and Trout Eggs into Northern Ireland from Outside the European Union

From 1 January 2021, under the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland will remain in the same sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) zone as the EU. Therefore any consignments of live fish entering NI from GB or any other non EU country post transition, will be treated as entering the EU SPS zone from a third country.

This means that all imports of live fish from GB and other non EU countries post transition will have to be inspected as per the Official Controls Regulation (OCR) (EU) 2017/625, at a Northern Ireland Point of Entry. The current rate of inspection for all live animals including live fish from a third country is 100% document, identification and physical checks.

Steps to Successfully Move Live Fish from GB to NI or From Rest of World to NI via GB

Step 1 - Receive Digital EHC and Documentation Associated with Consignment from GB Supplier

• The Export Health Certificate (EHC) will have been provided to the GB supplier by the Competent Authority in GB (Marine Scotland or CEFAS). If your supplier is a GB consolidator and the consignment originates from outside GB (i.e. RoW) the EHC will be provided by the Competent Authority in the Row country of origin.
• There is also the option for NI businesses to import live fish from Row countries via GB without using the services of a GB consolidator. For all Row imports of live fish to NI via GB please contact email: fish.health@daera-ni.gov.uk for further information.

Step 2 - Pre-notification

• You must pre-notify the Northern Ireland Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Inspection Facility. (NB: You can only import live fish through Larne Port or Belfast Port).
• Pre-notification must be done a minimum 24 hours in advance of the arrival of the consignment.
• Pre-notification is done online through the TRACES-NT (Trade Control and Expert System New Technology) system.
• Your registration must be approved before you can use TRACES-NT. Therefore, if you are not already registered, you need to register now as an "operator" and a "business user". Guidance for registering is available here.
• You must complete Part 1 of the Common Health Entry Document (CHED) on TRACES-NT. A CHED-A is used for live animals. Find a step-by step guide on how to create a CHED-A here.

  • Please note, you will need to have the activities of 'animal importer' and 'responsible for the load' validated (by DAERA) on TRACES-NT in order to complete the CHED-A.

• Whilst creating the CHED, you must upload the colour scanned digital copy of the Export Health Certificate (EHC) and all the supporting documentation eg. Packing list, onto TRACES-NT.
• In order to avoid delay please ensure that a copy of the colour scanned EHC is uploaded to Traces in advance, along with the CHED.

Step 3 - Checks on Arrival

• As mentioned earlier, Larne and Belfast are the only SPS Inspection Facilities designated for live fish.
• The driver must follow the inspection facility signs at the port.

  • Please note: for Live fish imports - you must proceed for inspection to Duncrue Street OCTA at Belfast Port and to Redlands Road OСТА at Larne Port.

• The Competent Authority will conduct checks on the consignments and will decide to accept, partially accept or refuse the consignment.
• If the checks have been successful, the consignment is cleared: the decision is entered in Part 2 of the CHED, which will be provided to the consignee in electronic form. Your consignment is now free to move to destination.

Aquaculture - Movement of Live Fish - NI Consignee Checklist

Legal Requirements for Importing Fish into the European Union

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 sets out the rules for the importing of aquaculture animals and products into the European Union (EU).

Detailed rules on the movement of aquaculture animals and the placing on the market of aquaculture animals and products are set out in the Regulations. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2236 sets out the certificates required for the placing on the market of imports into the EU.

All imports from third countries, including GB, must enter Northern Ireland through an approved Point of Entry (POE) and be accompanied by the appropriate Export Health Certificate (EHC), which has been completed and signed by the Competent Authority of the exporting country.

In Northern Ireland there are 2 Points of Entry designated for importing live fish; these are Belfast Harbour and Larne Harbour. A checklist for importers of live fish from GB to Northern Ireland post transition can be found by clicking on the following link:

Checklist for live aquaculture imports

Addresses

• Belfast POE,
  Old Ulster Bus Yard,
  Duncrue Street,
  Belfast,
  BT3 9BJ
• Larne POE,
  Redlands,
  Coastguard Road,
  Larne,
  BT40 1AX