Is a CHED the same as a GGB?

Yes. CHED is the EU name, GGB the Dutch name of the same common health entry document. In TRACES-NT and on the import declaration you use the CHED code and the CHED reference number.

Which CHED type do you use for meat?

CHED-P, for products of animal origin. CHED-A is for live animals, CHED-D for certain foods of non-animal origin, CHED-PP for plants. The type follows from the goods code, not from the trade name.

Who completes part II of the CHED?

The competent authority of the Member State of entry. In the Netherlands that is the NVWA. The operator completes part I. Without part II there is no inspection release.

Can a container need two CHED types?

Yes. A mixed load with an animal line and a plant line can need a CHED-P and a CHED-PP at the same time. One line with an animal ingredient pulls the whole consignment onto the veterinary line.

Where do you get the CHED reference number from?

From TRACES-NT, after part I has been filed. You put that number as document code on the import declaration in DMS. An internal file number of the forwarder is not a CHED number.

Is a CHED a replacement for the health certificate?

No. The CHED is the notification and the decision at the EU border. The health certificate or the phytosanitary certificate is the document from the exporting country on which that notification rests. They have to match literally.

CHED

Also known as: GGB

CHED is the Common Health Entry Document, the EU health document at entry that you notify in TRACES-NT. In Dutch the same document is called GGB, gemeenschappelijk gezondheidsdocument bij binnenkomst.

How does the CHED relate to the GGB?

CHED is the EU name, GGB the Dutch one. It is the same document, in the same system, with the same parts. In TRACES-NT, in TARIC and in conversations with inspectors from other Member States you say CHED. In conversations with the NVWA, on Dutch instructions and in many declarants' files you say GGB. Anyone who treats them as two documents looks for a second form that does not exist. This page is about the EU side: the types, the parts, the link with the certificate and the import declaration. The GGB page is about how the document is named in the Dutch chain and how it reaches the NVWA. The content is the same. Only the entry point differs. On the import declaration you use the EU document code, with the reference number from TRACES-NT. That says CHED, not GGB. A declarant who searches in DMS for a GGB code does not find it, and then wrongly thinks the document is missing.

Which CHED types are there, and which type belongs with which product?

CHED-A is for live animals. CHED-P is for products of animal origin: meat, dairy, fish, eggs, honey, hides, and composite products with an animal share. CHED-D is for food and feed of non-animal origin that fall under increased control. CHED-PP is for plants, plant products and other objects that fall under the plant inspection. The type follows from the goods code and from the measure in TARIC or the DTV, not from the trade name. A soup with a meat component is not a vegetable consignment. One line with an animal ingredient in an otherwise plant-based load makes the container inspection-liable on the veterinary line, and a mixed container can need a CHED-P and a CHED-PP at the same time. The wrong type is a notification the authority cannot sign off. A CHED-P for a consignment that should have had a CHED-D does not pass the documentary check, even if weight and certificate number match. Decide the type at intake on the code, not when filling in the form.

Which parts does a CHED consist of, and who completes what?

Part I is the notification by the operator. There sit the parties, the border control post, the transport, the goods and the certificate. Part II is the decision of the competent authority: released into free circulation, released under conditions, transit, redispatch, destruction, or another measure. Part III covers onward transport to the place of destination, if the consignment after the border control post still continues under supervision. You complete part I. The NVWA completes part II. Part III comes into view if the consignment after the inspection still has to go to another establishment, for example an approved establishment further into the Union. Without part II, part III is meaningless, and without part I the inspector does not act. The CHED is not a summary of the certificate. It has to match it literally. The approval number, the certificate number, the species, the number of packages, the net weight, the container and seal numbers: those are laid side by side. A few kilos of difference is a question. A wrong approval number is a refusal.

Which certificate belongs under which CHED?

Under a CHED-P or CHED-A sits a health certificate from an official veterinarian in the exporting country. Under a CHED-PP sits a phytosanitary certificate from the plant protection service of that country. Under a CHED-D sit, depending on the measure, laboratory results, a health statement or another prescribed document. The certificate travels with the goods, in original or in the digital form the Union accepts for that country. A copy in the mail is useful for intake, but does not replace the document if the inspector wants to see the original. The number on the CHED must be the number on that document, not an internal file number of the forwarder. A consignment without the right certificate you cannot save with a tidy CHED. Part I is then a notification of something that does not exist, and part II becomes a refusal. Stop the consignment at intake if the certificate is missing, instead of sending the notification out in the hope that the document will still follow.

How does the CHED land on the import declaration?

The import declaration in DMS carries the document code of the CHED type plus the reference number from TRACES-NT. Without that number the fiscal declaration does not connect to the inspection. With a number of a CHED that has not yet been signed off, Customs may accept the declaration, but the container stays until part II is green. The order is: certificate complete, file part I, wait for the inspection or receive a documentary release, file the import declaration with the reference number, both statuses green, then only departure. Anyone who files the import declaration first because the terminal is pushing builds a file whose document code is still empty or points to a number that does not exist. A CHED number is consignment-specific. Reusing the number of the previous container, or of the previous week, is a link to the wrong inspection. That shows up at the NVWA, and then at Customs.

What happens if part II is not green?

A rejection is a measure: redispatch to a destination outside the Union, destruction, or a treatment after which the product is admissible after all or gets another destination. For redispatch there has to be a country willing to take the consignment back, and after a veterinary refusal that is not a given. The costs fall on the party with an interest in the cargo: storage, cooling, transport, inspection, administration, and on fresh product the loss of the consignment. The question is rarely whether anything can still be done about the inspection. The question is which route ends fastest, and whether the error sat in the document, in the wrong border control post, or in a product that may not enter here at all. A conditional admission is not a release to do what you like. It is an admission under a condition, for example heating or use as feed, and that condition has to stay visible in the follow-up. Anyone who still puts such a consignment into free circulation as food turns a condition into an infringement.