ALVS (CHIEF-TRACES) Extension Quick Reference Guide v2.0

HM Revenue & CustomsDepartment for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Border ForceAnimal and Plant Health Agency Food Standards AgencyAssociation of Port Health Authorities IBM

What is ALVS?ALVS ....•the acronym stands for Automatic Licence Verification System.•has been in use since 2009/10 for horticultural/plant imports from 3rd countries controlled on the PEACH system.•is not a system that you can log-on to, need a password to use, or can even view. It is a background IT component that sits between HMRC’s “CHIEF” system, the EU “TRACES” system and the HMI/PHSI “PEACH” system. It operates 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.•has no connection to any Port system (e.g. Destin8, CCS, CNS) or Port Health System.•has no impact on any interaction or communication between the Trade and Port Health/ Animal Health.•does not cost anything for the Trade to use.•will, from 5th November 2014, be used by all Agents who import live animals/live fish from 3rd countries using TRACES and 13th January 2015 for animal products or ‘high risk’ food/feed imports that are controlled on TRACES.

What imports are included within ALVS?Since 2009/10:•3rd country Horticultural products that require a Specific Marketing Standard (SMS) certificate – regulated by Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI)•A random percentage check of Horticultural products that fall under General Marketing Standards (GMS) – regulated by HMI•3rd country Horticultural products and plant material that require a phytosanitary certificate – regulated by Plant Health & Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI)

Live pilot commencing May 2014 extended ALVS to include :•3rd country Live Animals/live fish imports that require a Common Veterinary Entry Document ‘A’ (CVEDA) –regulated by Animal Health•3rd country Products of Animal Origin imports that require a Common Veterinary Document ‘P’(CVEDP) – regulated by Port Health (PHA)•3rd country Marine fishery products requiring an IUU catch certificate and CVEDP – regulated by PHA •3rd country Food not of Animal Origin imports (i.e. “high risk food/feed”) that require a Common Entry Document (CED) – regulated by PHA

…where these are on a GB or non-GB CVED/CED and contain a UK destination address in Box 8 of the CVED/CED Part 1 or when a GB CVED/CED is issued and a non UK destination address is entered in TRACES Box 8.

What imports are NOT included within ALVS?

The following are out of scope of ALVS and will remain subject to existing procedures for clearance:•Animals that enter under the PET Travel Scheme •Animals/Animal Products that need a Defra Animal Health Certificate but no CVED•Personal imports•Intra-EU imports•Imports from the EEA Countries (Iceland, Norway), Switzerland, Faroes, Lichtenstein or from EU Special Territories (the Åland Islands, the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mount Athos, and Reunion)•Subsequent enforcement action by Lead Authorities after an import has been refused entry.•Any additional customs checks that HMRC or Border Force instigate (e.g. CAP documentary or CITES checks)•Customs clearance of a live animal import where AHVLA are unable to complete the CVED A Part 2 and so issue a detention notice•Goods removed from a Customs Warehouse into Free Circulation •Caught fish from Iceland, Norway, Faroes that require an IUU BUT DO NOT have a CVED•High risk food products, accompanied by a CED, that enter the UK through Port of Dover [currently Port of Dover staff are not registered to use TRACES]

ALVS & non GB CVED/CED’sWhere the following apply:

•The CVED/CED Reference Number allocated by TRACES is unknown and a Member State's own National Reference number is used on the CHIEF entry, or •Where the Member State has not updated the CVED/CED Part 2 and validated the (Acceptable /Reject Decision) on TRACES in a timely manner, or•Where the CED/ CVED was issued in another Member State with a non-GB destination address (TRACES Box 8)

Then these will also require a manual clearance by the National Clearance Hub.

What benefits does ALVS bring to the Trade?

Under ALVS:Your CHIEF Entries (with Items and Checks) are sent automatically into ALVS

Your TRACES applications (Part I, Part II with AHVLA/PHA decisions) are sent automatically into ALVS

ALVS matches the two pieces of information together and sends the AHVLA/PHA decision back to CHIEF to facilitate automatic customs release of the CHIEF entry.

•This means that the clearance time for “Route 1” consignments is reduced to 10 minutes unless additional customs checks are required. •The agent/importer no longer faxes the release certificates (i.e. CVED, CED or IUU) to the NCH. The Trade do not send any release documentation to the Hub unless there is an additional documentary check (such as for CAP or CITES)

Are there any changes to process for Agents / Importers with ALVS ? (Slide 1 of 5)

YES. Agents/Importers need to:1.Use the correct document code(s) on the customs declaration (this ensures CHIEF sends the relevant checks into ALVS & can match to the correct document certificates)•C640 – CVED A•N853 – CVED P•N852 – CED•C673 – IUU Catch certificate•N002 – Conformity Certificate•C633 – Fruit & vegetables for processing•N851 – Foreign Phytosanitary Certificate•9115 – Quarantine Release Certificate

Note:if your fish product has an IUU exemption then you should use document code Y927 with an ‘XX’ document status code.

Are there any changes to the import process for Agents / Importers? (Slide 2 of 5)

YES : They MUST2. Enter the CVED/CED Reference number generated by TRACES in to Box 44 of the customs declaration. This must be in the following format GBCVDYYYY.1234567 or GBCEDYYYY.1234567

Note:Do not enter any Version number (e.g. V1) Remember you must enter all 7 digits and include the dot (not a comma, hyphen or forward slash)If you are matching one customs declaration, to two or more TRACES applications, then you must type all of the TRACES application no’s into Box 44 in the correct format – do not enter these as YYYY.1234567,7654321 etc. as ALVS will treat this as one long reference number and will report a mismatch. The TRACES CVEDA example above would be entered into Box 44 as GBCVD2014.0000200

Are there any changes to process for Agents / Importers with ALVS ? (Slide 3 of 5)

YES - They MUST:3.Ensure that the commodity code entered into Box 33 of the customs declaration matches that entered onto TRACES.

NoteCommodity codes are entered into Box 33 of the customs declaration in a 10 digit format, whereas in TRACES they can be 4, 6 or 8 digits. ALVS will match to the number of digits from the TRACES commodity code. e.g. for a 6 digit commodity code, ALVS will check that the first 6 digits match those on the customs declaration

Are there any changes to process for Agents / Importers with ALVS ? (Slide 4 of 5 )

YES - For live animal (CVED(A)) imports Trade MUST:

4.Ensure that the number of animals entered into Box 41 of the customs declaration exactly matches that entered onto TRACES.

NoteALVS does not check the number of packages Note, there are 31 Commodity Codes (mostly under the 0301 and 0106 chapters) where CHIEF

does not allow or require the entry of Supplementary Units in Box 41. For these imports, ALVS will only match on TRACES Reference number and commodity code.

Are there any changes to process for Agents / Importers with ALVS ? (Slide 5 of 5 )

YES – For products(CVED(P)) or for goods that require a CED then Trade MUST:

5. Ensure that the number of weight (kg, net mass) entered into Box 38 of the customs declaration exactly matches that entered onto TRACES

Note ALVS ignores gross weight and number of packages

ALVS uses flexible matching rules to allow your Import(s) to matchALVS has multiple matching rules to help match your CHIEF Entry Items to TRACES commodities.ALVS has multiple rules to use to try and match your data (this presentation does not cover all the rules).These cover :•Matching a single CHIEF Entry to a single CVED/CED•Matching a single CHIEF Entry to multiple CVED/CED(s)•Summing Number Of / Net Weight on multiple CVED/CED(s)•Summing Number Of / Net Weight on multiple CHIEF entry Items•Matching multiple CHIEF Entries to multiple CVED/CED(s)

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One to one match of single HMRC item to single CVED/CED commodity on a single CVED/CED

CHIEF item 1 (Box 41) (Box 38)CN Code (33) Description Sup Units Net Weight

0407110000 Gallus 1000 50 KG

Box 44 C640 GBCVD2014.0000333 TRACES CVED StatusCVEDA.GB.2014.0000333 Valid

CN Code Description Number of 0407 11 00 Gallus 1000

Match on Item 1 Doc Reference

Match on commodity code 8 digits

Match on Quantity ‘Number Of’Decision Valid = Release

C640 Document Code tells ALVS to look for a CVEDA

CHIEF Entry Entry can be released

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One-to-one matches of HMRC items (on a single CHIEF Entry) to CVED commodities on multiple CVEDs/CEDs

CHIEF item 1 (Box 41) (Box 38)CN Code (33) Description Sup Units Net Weight

0303899090 Frozen tilapia 4120 KG

Box 44 N853 GBCVD2014.0015487

TRACES CVED StatusCVEDP.GB.2014.0015495 In Progress

Match on Item 1 & 2 Doc References

Match on commodity code 8 digits

Match on Quantity ‘Net Weight’Decision for Item1

Item 2Valid = Release

CN Code Description Net Weight (KG) 0304 61 00 Tilapia 3576

CHIEF item 2 (Box 41) (Box 38)CN Code (33) Description Sup Units Net Weight

0304610000 Tilapia fillets 3576 KG

Box 44 N853 GBCVD2014.0015495

TRACES CVED StatusCVEDP.GB.2014.0015487 Valid

CN Code Description Net Weight (KG) 0303 89 90 Farmed Stock 4120

In Progress = Hold

CHIEF Entry (Worse Case) Entry being Held

What happens if ALVS can not match your CHIEF entry successfully?Where ALVS can not successfully match your CHIEF entry and item(s) to a TRACES application and commodity(s) then Trade will receive an error message generated as an E0 report by the customs entry software.You will see this as Customs OGD Route ‘E’.This is a detailed error message in plain English, explaining the nature of the mismatch error.

Four types of mismatch message exist:•ALVS can not match your CHIEF Entry to a TRACES application.•ALVS can not match your Item to a TRACES Commodity.•ALVS can not match your Number Of / Net Weight of Item to Commodity•ALVS can not find the ‘IUU OK’ or ‘IUU NA’ decision in TRACES CVEDP Box 42

What happens if the Reference no. is entered incorrectly?If the TRACES Reference number is not entered into the customs declaration (Box 44) in the correct format (or you used the wrong TRACES document code e.g. CVEDA document code instead of CVEDP document code) then customs clearance will not occur.

“A Customs Declaration has been submitted however no matching CVEDP(s) have been submitted to Port Health (for CVEDP number(s) 2014.0001234). Please correct the CVEDP number(s) entered on your customs declaration”

If this error occurs then check the customs declaration and ensure the TRACES Reference number is entered in Box 44 in with the county code GB, prefix CVD/CED and YYYY.1234567 format. Some real examples of incorrectly entered Box 44 Document References

GBCVD.2014.000034531 9 digits entered and not 7 digits GBCVDOVS/14/379 Incorrect format! GBCVD.2014.0034872V1 Included Version number (do not supply) GBCVD.2014.0034911,0034912 Use of short hand to list multiple CVEDs

What happens if the commodity codes do not match?If the commodity code entered into Box 33 of the customs declaration does not match that entered onto TRACES then customs clearance will not occur.

“A Customs Declaration has been submitted (CED number(s) 2014.0001235) but the item with Commodity code 0805102011 Oranges cannot be matched to a commodity on the CED submitted to Port Health. Please review/correct the CED commodity details and/or correct the Commodity code on your Customs Declaration item”

If this error occurs then check the commodity code on the customs declaration and/or the TRACES application and correct as appropriate.

What happens if the number of animal / Net Weight do not match? CVEDA example message “A Customs Declaration has been submitted which contains Commodity code 0101200000 Horses. However, for this Commodity code, a quantity of 1 has been entered on the CVEDA submitted to AHVLA but a quantity of 2 has been entered on the matching customs declaration (for CVEDA number(s) 2014.0001234, 2014.0001235). Please review/correct the CVEDA commodity number of details and/or correct the quantity on your Customs Declaration item”

CVEDP / CED example message“A Customs Declaration has been submitted which contains Commodity code 0709999000 Okra. However, for this Commodity code, a net weight of 2530 KGs has been entered on the CED submitted to Port Health but a net weight of 2531 KGs has been entered on the matching customs declaration (for CED number(s) 2014.0001236). Please review/correct the CED commodity net weight details and/or correct the net weight on your Customs Declaration item.”If this error occurs then check the number of animals (CVEDA) or Net Weight (CVEDP/CED) entered on the customs declaration and/or the TRACES application and correct as appropriate.

OGD & Customs Route Codes

OGD (Other Government Department) and Customs Route Codes show the status of the entry. Under ALVS, the OGD route codes are:

Customs Route Codes

1F Documentary check by Border Force

1Y Additional check by NCH

1Z Additional documentary check by Border Force

2F Goods examination by Border Force

2Y Additional goods examination by HMRC

Are there any changes to process for AHVLA or PHA with ALVS ? (slide 1 of 2)

YES. PHA/AHVLA need to:

1.Complete the CVED/CED Part 2 on TRACES as quickly as possible after completing the inspection. Customs clearance will not occur until the CVED/CED Part 2 has been validated

Cont…

Are there any changes to process for AHVLA or PHA with ALVS ? (slide 2 of 2)

2.For imports of caught fish that require a CVED(P) and an IUU certificate, PHA’s need to enter the following words into Box 42 of the CVED(P) Part 2:

– IUU OK where the catch certificate has been presented and is correct– IUU NA where the catch certificate is not required– IUU HOLD where the catch certificate is missing, delayed or incomplete

The words must be entered exactly as described above. If these are omitted or mistyped (e.g. IUUOK, IUU O/K, IUU N/A) then customs clearance will be delayed and the Trade will receive the following error message which will be generated as an “E0” report via their customs entry software:

“Clearance of the Customs Declaration has been withheld. Confirmation of the outcome of IUU catch certificate check (under Council Regulation 1005/2008) is required. To resolve this contact your local Port Health Authority (imports) or MMO (landings).”