Simplifying Customs Processes for Animal and Plant-Based Products with CHEDs Automation

We have automated the creation of Common Health Entry Documents (CHEDs) to streamline customs requirements for the movement of live animals, animal products, high-risk food and feed, and certain plant products. This ground breaking enhancement, powered by advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI technology, will form part of our all-in-one digital customs solution, Digicom.

“This latest customs innovation represents a major step forward for cross-border operations between the UK, Ireland and the EU, enabling the generation of CHEDs in under 45 seconds,” explains Colin Robb, Head of Operations & Sales. “The feature significantly reduces the time previously required for this process, while minimising the risk of human error.”

CHEDs are mandatory for importing specific animal- and plant-based goods into the UK and EU to ensure compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations. They confirm that goods meet required health standards and are used for notification, checks and validation at border control points. Our automation has been developed to simplify the creation and validation of CHEDs within the TRACES-NT online platform, delivering greater speed, accuracy and efficiency.

“We are continually improving and adapting our cross-border solutions with advanced digital systems and features. The new CHEDs functionality is one of several enhancements we have planned for our Digicom platform this year, ensuring we remain best placed to comply with new and existing requirements for our supply chain customers. It also reduces the need for manual intervention, improves documentation accuracy and enables faster processing to avoid unnecessary costs, delays and operational risk,” adds Colin.

This enhancement marks another important step in our mission to transform the customs landscape through intelligent automation. We will continue expanding our digital capabilities to ensure our customers remain fully equipped to meet evolving regulatory demands.