Port health authorities are the local UK authority at ports and airports. They are responsible for protecting the health of the public, the environment, and animals. Port health authorities will conduct a range of health controls at the UK borders. They do checks on imported food and inspect ships and aircraft for food safety and disease control, as well as conduct general public and environmental health checks.
Who Conducts Checks on Food and Health?
Port Health Officers (specialist Environmental Health Officers) and Official Veterinary Surgeons (specialist vets, employed by local or port health authority) carry out checks at ports and borders to ensure that the food that’s been imported into the UK is safe for consumption and has met the import conditions.
Many ports and airports in the UK have specialist facilities that deal with high-risk food imports, which include foods of animal origin, such as meat, fish, and dairy products, as well as other high-risk foods such as peanuts. Checks on high-risk food are essential to keep the public and animals safe from potential diseases from unsafe food.
Port Health Checks
Port health checks include three levels which include documentary, identity, and physical.
Documentary Check: the documentary check includes an authenticity assessment of the health certificates and any additional laboratory test results, and commercial documents to ensure they match with the consignment.
Identity Check: the identity check involves inspecting the consignment, checking the product, container seals, packaging, stamps, identification marks, and other additional necessary product and package information to ensure that it conforms to the declaration on the health certificates.
Physical Check: the physical check involves the inspection of the product. The packaging will be opened, and the product will be examined to ensure that it is the same product as certified and that it is safe for consumption. The physical check may also involve the inspector taking a sample of the product to look for pathogenic micro-organisms or contaminants of the product, which can include residues of veterinary drugs or heavy metals.
Frequency of Physical Checks
The level of frequency for physical checks varies between 1% and 30% depending on the type of product. Higher health risk products might result in a higher level of physical checking.
Failure to Meet Check Conditions
The inspector conducting your port check decides whether your consignment meets the lawful import conditions. You or your agent will be informed of your options, which include:
- Re-export
- Destruction
- Remedial action
If your consignment is deemed to be a risk to human or animal health, or if the person responsible for the consignment fails to comply with a direction for re-dispatch, the consignment will be sent to be destroyed. The destruction costs will be met by the person responsible for the consignment.
