Border controls for non-food products
Guidance for businesses on OPSS border controls.
This guidance is for businesses operating at the border importing non-food products.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards’ (OPSS) objective at the border is to detect, deter and disrupt the importation of unsafe products whilst taking every step to maintain the flow of compliant products into the UK.
OPSS works closely with HMRC to target and select products that are considered a high risk of being unsafe or non-compliant.
Consignments arriving in the UK are subject to controls by market surveillance authorities including Trading Standards to ensure that they meet the requirements of all applicable product safety legislation before being released onto the market.
Routing codes
Where a consignment hits an OPSS control it can be identified by its routing code. The second character on the route code identifies OPSS interest and whether there is also other government department (OGD) involvement.
If an entry is showing as ‘Route 1’ or ‘Route 2’ but there is no letter suffix after the routing number, or if the routing number does not match any shown in the table below, the entry is not for the OPSS Borders Profiling Team. If this is the case and you require further assistance, please contact the NCH directly: nch@hmrc.gov.uk.
| Route | Meaning and involvement | Uploading of import documents to Government portal by importer / freight agent |
|---|---|---|
| 1S | OPSS / Trading Standards | To OPSS |
| 2S | OPSS / Trading Standards | To OPSS |
| 1U | OPSS / Trading Standards and Customs (NCH) | To OPSS and NCH |
| 2U | OPSS / Trading Standards and Customs (NCH) | To OPSS and NCH |
| 1V | OPSS / Trading Standards and Border Force | To OPSS and at the Frontier |
| 2V | OPSS / Trading Standards and Border Force | To OPSS and at the Frontier |
Documents to be provided for clearance
If you have been advised an entry for your goods has been selected for product safety checks and has been suspended by HMRC please ensure that you have submitted documentation to the Customs Declaration System (CDS) via secure document upload.
Documents to be supplied include as a minimum:
- Import Declaration Report
- Bill of Lading/Airway Bill as applicable
- Invoice and packing list
If you are experiencing issues with accessing or uploading documents to the Government Portal, please follow the below link and complete the online form:
Report problem submitting declaration using customs declaration service.
Releasing goods
Every effort is taken to reduce the time consignments are suspended from the free circulation procedure. Unless your consignment is referred to a Market Surveillance Authority for further checks, it will be released within three working days (or four for Northern Ireland) in line with Market Surveillance legislation.
You will be notified when the status of your consignment changes.
Contact information
OPSS Borders
Email: opss.borders@businessandtrade.gov.uk
NCH enquiries
Email: nch@hmrc.gov.uk
Complaints
Further information
Regulation 756/2008 on Accreditation and Market Surveillance
Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
Updates to this page
Published 5 January 2021Last updated 26 July 2024 + show all updates
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Content updated, with the list of relevant routing codes streamlined.
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First published.