Sevington border control post (BCP)
Information about Sevington BCP and the checks that take place there.
Applies to England
Sevington border control post (BCP) is a new Defra inspection post at Sevington inland border facility in Ashford, Kent:
Sevington inland border facility
Ashford
TN25 6GE
You need to go to Sevington BCP if you are called for a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) check at Sevington BCP. These checks are needed to protect the UK’s biosecurity and public health.
Sevington BCP will carry out all SPS checks for the following imported goods that are under SPS controls, and enter the UK through the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel:
- animal products
- high and medium risk A plants and plant products (although you can choose to have the SPS check at a designated Control Point)
- high risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO)
- plastic kitchenware from China or Hong Kong
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) or Ashford Port Health will charge you for SPS checks (which could include a document, identity or physical inspection charge). This is separate to the common user charge.
You must notify Sevington BCP by completing a common health entry document (CHED) before you import these products. You do not need to do this for plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong.
If you are importing plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong through the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel, you must notify Ashford Port Health Authority at Sevington BCP. You need to do this at least 2 working days before the consignment arrives at Sevington BCP.
Sevington BCP is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Find out if your consignment needs sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks
The way to find out if your consignment needs a SPS check will depend on whether your transporter is using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) to clear customs.
For plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong, Sevington BCP will tell you if you need an SPS check after you have submitted your declaration and a laboratory report.
Using GVMS
If your transporter is using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service, they should use the check if you need to report an inspection service to find out what they need to do.
They should check this service again before they reach the point of entry. You can also check the screens on board the ferry or train for notifications on where to go.
Using the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS)
If your transporter does not use GVMS, IPAFFS will provide an initial risk assessment telling you if your consignment needs SPS checks when you submit your import notification.
If your consignment does need checks, you’ll also receive a text and email message 2 hours before your transporter’s estimated time of arrival in Great Britain. The message will confirm what you need to do.
If IPAFFS tells you your consignment has not been selected for SPS checks, you should still check for messages until your consignment has cleared the port, because the authorities may still call you for checks based on their final risk assessment.
SPS checks at Sevington BCP
Find out more about SPS checks at BCPs.
GVMS will say if you also need a customs check. HMRC will complete a customs check at the same time as the physical inspection, where possible. If they cannot do both checks at the same time, then staff will direct you where to go afterwards for the customs check.
What to do when you get to Sevington
When you enter the Sevington inland border facility, you will need to give your goods movement reference to staff. Staff will direct you to Sevington BCP for an SPS check on the goods.
At Sevington BCP, staff will direct you to an allocated parking space on the site. You need to park your vehicle there and then take your documents to the BCP front office.
The BCP front office
The BCP front office will check your paperwork (including the CHED or the CHED reference, where relevant) and confirm that the goods have been called for an SPS check. They will tell you which unloading bay you need to go to for the physical inspection. If an unloading bay is not available at that time, they will ask you to wait with your vehicle and tell you when an unloading bay is ready.
When requested, you will need to take your vehicle from the parking space to the unloading bay for the inspection. Drivers are responsible for reversing their vehicles into the unloading bay, but traffic marshalls will guide you.
Welfare facility
The driver will need to wait at the welfare facility inside the BCP until the inspection is complete. BCP staff will tell you where the welfare facility is.
For health and safety reasons, you will not be able to:
- wait with your vehicle or consignment
- enter the inspection sheds
There will be water and toilets available for drivers while they wait for the checks to be completed.
Facilities at Sevington BCP
There are 7 unloading bays for POAO and HRFNAO, and 11 unloading bays for plants and plant products, which support the inspection areas.
Large items that do not fit in the inspection bay will be inspected on the vehicle, wherever possible.
Sevington BCP has:
- frozen and ambient areas
- 19 external refrigeration trailers for storage of consignments
- a storage room that has 3 freezer units and 6 ambient or chilled storage rooms in the POAO inspection sheds
How long the physical inspection may take
The time the physical inspection takes will vary, depending on the case.
For example:
- what needs to be unloaded for inspection
- what needs to be tested
- if samples need to be taken and sent to laboratory
- if the consignment needs to be held for non-compliance, for example if there is a document error or if the consignment fails an inspection
SPS check charges
APHA and Ashford Port Health may charge you for any of the following:
- document check – usually done before the goods arrive in Great Britain
- identity check
- physical inspection
The charges are based on the type of consignment, risk level and weight, where relevant. These are separate to the common user charge.
Find out the SPS check charges for:
For mixed load consignments of plant and plant products and POAO, you will be charged for both.
For plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong, the charges will be based on cost recovery.
After the physical inspection
If no pests, disease or contamination are found during the physical inspection, the sample is carefully reloaded back onto the lorry and the goods can continue into the UK.
If the inspector believes the goods are contaminated and have a biosecurity or public health risk, they may need to take samples to test at the laboratory. In this case, the consignment would be put on a hold and will not be released until the results of the laboratory test come back.
Consignments that are put on hold
Staff at Sevington BCP will handle all goods hygienically and in a bio-secure manner. Once a consignment is released, Sevington BCP will contact you to arrange a suitable time to collect the consignment.
If a certain consignment on the vehicle needs to be held and the rest of the load does not, then the rest of the load will be released and can continue into the UK.
Inspection fail
A consignment may fail the document, identity or physical check.
A consignment may fail a physical inspection for a many reasons. For example:
- if a check on the means of transport shows there has been a change in temperature
- if there is a difference between the real weight of the consignment and the weight on the veterinary certificate
- if the consignment’s wrapping material and marks do not meet the requirements
- if sensory examinations or physical, chemical and laboratory tests identify a risk
If a consignment fails an inspection, the goods could be:
- put on hold
- destroyed
- given special treatment like treating, processing or decontaminating the consignment
- re-exported back to the country of origin
How to leave Sevington BCP
You can only leave the site when all checks are complete, and your goods are authorised to continue to their destination. You will get an exit card which means you can leave the site.
You will need to stop at the vehicle exit point so traffic management staff can view your exit card before you can leave.
You can leave the site at the junction with the A2070.
Groupage consignments
Sometimes there are multiple consignments from several importers on one vehicle, but not all these consignments may be called for an SPS check. In this case, the haulier needs to notify the other importers that some consignments in the load need an SPS check.
Common user charge (CUC)
You need to pay the common user charge if you are a UK business importing a consignment of goods that:
- enters or transits through Great Britain through the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel
- is eligible for SPS checks at a government-run border control post in England
Intelligence checks at the point of entry
Border Force and HMRC will continue to carry out intelligence-led checks on all goods moving through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel. When illegally imported plant or animal products are identified at the point of entry, they will be destroyed by port health authority officers and Border Force.
Updates to this page
Last updated 22 May 2024 + show all updates
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There has been an update to information on SPS check charges and welfare facilities.
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First published.