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Export Health Certificates

As part of the post-Brexit trade agreement concluded between the UK and EU, export health certificates (EHC’s) are required for the export of products of animal origin from Great Britain to EU member states. An Export Health Certificate is a document confirming that an export consignment has been checked and certified by an Official Veterinarian (OV) or Certification Support Officer (CSO) to be compliant with relevant sanitary regulations, so that live animals and/or products of animal origin can be exported. Each export consignment must be accompanied with an EHC demonstrating certification.

Security Seals

Instructions issued by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) recommends sealing each consignment or group of consignments with a security seal, and to record the seal on the corresponding EHC.

Security seals are tamper-proof and uniquely numbered security devices used to provide evidence of chain of custody, or otherwise show evidence of tampering in the event that they are opened whilst in transit.

The APHA Instructions recommends that security seals are used to seal the consignment under the supervision of the certifying officer, who can then record the unique seal number on the EHC. Seal numbers cannot be added or amended on an EHC once signed and stamped by the certifying officer. Border control staff can then use a seal check as an ‘identity check’ without having to open up each individual consignment – although more detailed physical checks will sometimes be undertaken. The type of enclosure onto which the seal is applied will depend on the precise scenario in question, but can range from the sealing of individual cartons and palletised cargo, to the sealing of a road trailer containing multiple consignments of products of animal origin.

Universeal UK offers different types of security seals to suit the type of enclosure being sealed, as below:

1)      Pallet and Carton Security

Our StrapSecure Pallet Security seal is a unique security device used to seal pallets and large cartons by protecting the pallet strapping which is commonly used to secure cargo onto pallets or within cardboard packaging.

Each StrapSecure consists of an aluminium cross-plate and Flexigrip cable seal with matching identity / security number, which can be used to the seal the intersection of pallet banding placed around each side of a pallet or large cardboard carton. Once sealed in place, the StrapSecure prevents the pallet strapping from being slid off the pallet and replaced, ensuring that the cargo arrives without being tampered with, or its contents removed / replaced.

Each pallet security seal is uniquely numbered and barcoded, and once the cargo is secured under the supervision of the certifying office, the corresponding security number can be recorded on the Export Health Certificate as evidence of the integrity of the export consignment. As discussed above, this can assist border control officers by enabling them to make a faster ‘identity check’ of a sealed consignment. This can help you as a food business by assisting in the smooth processing of export consignments, helping to deliver fragile, often perishable cargo more quickly and without unnecessary disturbance or delay.

In addition, we also supply a range of security labels and tape for the sealing of cartons. Security carton / box tape is tamper-evident, leaving a void message on the carton upon removal, providing secure chain of custody for even small consignments. Security tape can be supplied in pre-printed, sequentially numbered or custom formats. Sequential numbers can be printed at regular intervals along each reel of security tape, providing security identification numbers which could also be recorded on Export Health Certificates by the certifying officer, subject to approval of relevant agencies.

2)      Trailer and Container Security Seals

For the sealing of larger multiple consignments whilst in the transport network, we supply indicative and high-security metal seals. These types of seals provide security to the mode of transport itself, in particular road trailers and rail cars, shipping containers and air cargo containers. Our Globe metal strip seals, Flexigrip 150M cable seals, and Locktainer 2020 bolt seals are all accepted by HMRC / customs officials as an accepted trader seal, meaning that they have been tested and found to be sufficiently tamper-evident across border points. Further information can be found in Government Notice 205

Please contact us to discuss how our security seals can help you in delivering your cargo smoothly and without delay.