Use IPAFFS to notify the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) about imports from the EU to Great Britain (GB) of live animals and germinal products.

If you’re importing live animals and germinal products from the EU to Northern Ireland you must notify the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

You do not have to notify APHA of products of animal origin (POAO) coming into the UK from the EU unless there’s a safeguard measure in place.

You do not have to notify APHA of high risk food and feed not of animal origin (HRFNAO) coming into the UK from the EU.

Find out more about moving live animals or animal products as part of EU trade.

Register for IPAFFS

You’ll need to create a Government Gateway account for the business or organisation you represent.

If you have a personal Government Gateway account, you should create a new one so your business contact details are linked to it.

If you’re registering on behalf of a business or organisation, you also need the:

• main contact details for your business or organisation (for example, for head office)
• Companies House number if you’re registering on behalf of a limited company

If you’re the first person to register on behalf of a business or organisation you automatically become the organisation administrator for that business. You will have the permissions to invite and remove team members. Make sure that you allocate at least one other team member to an organisation administrator role so that you can share the management of the account.

Registration guides

Find out how to register if you’re a:

• sole trader (PDF, 287KB, 6 pages)
• limited company, public limited company, limited liability partnership or charity (PDF, 289KB, 7 pages)

When to submit a notification

You must submit your notification in IPAFFS 24 hrs before your consignment is due to arrive. You can submit your notification up to 30 days in advance.

What you need

You need to know:

• what you’re importing