Imported Food
There are two ports within the Rochford District Council area,
London Southend Airport and Baltic Wharf Seaport. At present, no
imported food for commercial use enters the country via either of
these ports. We maintain contact with the authorities at these
ports to monitor any changes regarding the importation of food.
If you import food, either commercially or for personal use,
there are a number of rules that you must follow.
A personal import is something that you bring into the country
for your own personal use and not to sell to other people or for
use in any food business. So, for example, if you bring some olive
oil back from your holiday in Turkey for you to use at home, that's
a personal import. Rules relating to personal imports also cover
parcels of food posted from abroad and addressed to an individual
in the UK.
When you import food commercially, you need to know about
regulations that apply to specific products and also more general
rules about things such as labelling and additives. Failure to
comply with UK and EU hygiene and safety rules could cause delay in
shipments, increased costs and action taken by enforcement
authorities.