United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Export requirements for processed egg

Notice

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where Great Britain includes the devolved nations of England, Wales and Scotland and their islands is now considered by the European Union (EU) as a third country. However, a special status has been granted to Northern Ireland which remains aligned with the EU on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.

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1. Eligible/ineligible product

The export certificates refer to a list of Harmonized System (HS) code(s). It is the responsibility of the exporter to ensure that the product being exported will be covered by the certificates issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Eligible

  • The list of Harmonized System codes can be found on the model health certificates

Ineligible

  • Information not available

2. Pre-export approvals by competent authority of importing country

Country

To export egg products to Great Britain, the exporting country must be part of the list of authorized third countries.

Establishments

  • The egg products must come from an establishment licensed under the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR)

    The United Kingdom (UK) requires that egg products originate from an establishment operating under the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles (see Preventive control plan [PCP]) as stipulated in Commission Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In addition, these establishments must be regularly audited by the competent authorities (CA) in accordance with Regulation (EC) 853/2004 which applies to processed and unprocessed products of animal origin.

  • Establishments must appear on the appropriate establishment list administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • The lists pertinent to these products are available on the Establishments approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain (GB)

    Please select List of establishments in non-EU countries approved to export animal products to GB.

    Please sort by

    • country name "CA Canada"
    • sector "food"
    • section X Egg and egg products
  • To request inclusion on any of the GB approval lists, please submit the following information to your local CFIA office

    The inspector will submit the request following the Operational procedure: Procedure for maintaining food export eligibility lists.

    As part of the application the inspector will provide a recent CFIA inspection report to demonstrate that an inspection based on HACCP principles has been carried out before submitting the request for approval by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). To complete this task, the inspector responsible for the establishment should be familiar with relevant EU regulations related to HACCP. See 6 below.

    Element 1: Process and product controls will be prioritized in order to assess the operator's preventive control plan on the following sub-elements:

    • 1.1a Incoming inputs
    • 1.1bc Product formulation, specifications and processing
    • 1.2 Product controls
    • 1.3 Import controls
    • 1.4 Export controls

    Note: particular attention will be given to critical control points (CCPs), for example, compliance with temperature control requirements for foodstuffs as well as the corrective actions that will be taken in the event of a non-conformity.

    The manufacture and export of the products can start once the establishment in on the GB list.

  • The CFIA is responsible to keep the lists of establishments up to date and to inform the commission of any changes necessary

    However, the manufacturer has the obligation to inform the CFIA if changes are made to the following:

    • approval number (establishment identification number)
    • establishment name
    • address, city and region
    • activity code (Processing plant (PP), Cold Stores (CS))
    • any other relevant information

3. Production controls and inspection requirments

The inspector must verify during a preventive control inspection that the manufacturer is aware of the standards and requirements of the EU and has a specific export procedure in place. This procedure must contain the following elements in particular:

  • reference to relevant GB regulations
  • how the manufacturer follows the changes in the GB legislation
  • comparison of GB regulations/standards/parameters with those in Canada
  • in the event of a difference between regulations/standards/parameters between GB and Canada, the procedure to be followed to ensure that the product meets the requirements for GB
  • in the event of any non-compliance, the corrective and preventative actions to be considered

Certification requirements

Health certificates whose final destination is GB contain animal health and public requirements.

  • The following tests must be completed. These tests can be conducted by a CFIA laboratory or by a lab accredited by either the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) or the Canadian Association of Laboratory Accreditation (CALA). The results of these analyses must accompany the EU export certificate.
    • Organic acid (3 OH-butyric acid and lactic acid)

      If laboratory results show no detection of organic acids, the results should be recorded as negative. If results are positive, the laboratory should indicate the type and amount of organic acid present. To be eligible for certification the amount of each organic acid cannot exceed that listed below:
      Lactic acid: 1000 mg/kg
      3 OH-butyric acid: 10 mg/kg
      Example of instruction to the laboratory technician: "Test for organic acids (3 OH-butyric acid and lactic acid)"

    • Enterobacteriaceae

      A lot is not eligible for certification if any result for Enterobacteriaceae is reported as more than 100 colony forming units (CFUs) per gram or mL, or if more than 2 samples are greater than 10 colony forming units per gram or mL.

    • Extraneous material (egg shell, egg membrane, and other particles)

Collect and identify a separate sample of finished product for analysis of extraneous material.

Imported ingredients

  • The use of imported egg product ingredients is acceptable; however, the operator must demonstrate through official documentation (for example, the model health certificate as per Regulation (EU) 2020/2235 issued by the competent authority of the country of origin) that the imported ingredients meet EU requirements. This also applies to imported ingredients from EU member states and countries maintaining international agreements with the EU.
  • The manufacturer of the imported ingredients requires to be included on the EU eligibility list.

4. Labelling, packaging and marking requirements

Exported products depending on their final destination (Great Britain and/or Northern Ireland) mainly must meet certain packaging and labelling requirements. The exporter must work closely with the importer to ensure the compliance of their products. The labelling activity must be conducted in the approved establishment.

5. Required documents

Canada does not have negotiated certificates with Great Britain.

The export health certificate below covers products exported to Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. References to EU legislation within these certificates are references to direct EU legislation which has been retained in Great Britain (retained EU law as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).

As a manufacturer/exporter, in order to facilitate the certification process, it is important that you are familiar with the content of parts I and II of the UK model certificates includes the notes in part III. All health certificates of the UK are published on the website gov.uk

It's the responsibility of the applicant to choose model health certificate that corresponds to the product intended for export and to provide the inspector with the information entered in Part I. Details of dispatched consignment of the certificate. This information (for example: the origin of egg/egg products, the heat treatment of egg products, animal species, the date of production, etc.) should be provided in the form of a manufacturer's declaration when applying for an export certificate.

Part II. Certification, must be completed by an official veterinarian in collaboration with the official inspector. However, some information will have to be provided by the applicant in order for Part II to be completed if applicable.

Official health certificates must be completed according to the guidance provided at How to complete a health certificate for export to Great Britain, as well as the notes on the export certificates.

If a container is used to ship the products, it is mandatory that the exporter provides the container and seal number in Part I: Details of dispatched consignment.

Certificate

  • Health certificate for egg products (EP-P) GBHC421. (CFIA/ACIA FA1026)
  • Health certificate for for transit or storage of specified pathogen-free eggs, meat, minced meat and mechanically separated meat of poultry, ratites and wild game-birds, eggs and egg products (POU-T) GBHC331. (CFIA/ACIA FA1028)

Note:

  • references to Great Britain in this certificate include the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
  • the model health certificate (CFIA/ACIAFA1028 ) is used for transit through or storage in Great Britain of composite products destined for a third country.
  • The health certificates are signed by the official veterinarian after having read and understood the notes in Part III.
  • Please ensure that the certificate issued by the CFIA doses not contain Part III. Notes for completion the certificates.
  • Export certificates cannot be issued after the products have left Canada.

6. Other information

Exported products transiting through a third country may require transit documentation. It is the responsibility of the exporter to ensure that the shipment will be accompanied by all necessary certificates. Please work closely with your importer.

Samples (personal or commercial) of products may be subject to the same requirements as a regular shipment. A special import permit could be required. It is strongly recommended that the exporter verify these requirements with their importer and/or with the border control post where the products will be shipped.

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