How to prevent "no-match" scenarios between CDS and IPAFFS snagging your declaration. 

How do you resolve "no-match" scenarios that have snagged your declarations? 

Preventing Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) goods from being unnecessarily held on entry to the UK  



This guide is based on issues that have seen consignments held at the border. It covers actions to take regarding the submission of pre-notifications to Defra’s Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) and customs declarations to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). This will ensure that Defra’s Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) can link declarations to pre-notification and facilitate automatic clearance once any required checks have taken place. 

You must correctly complete and submit the required pre-notifications to IPAFFS.  

Common Heath Entry Document (CHED)s in draft.  

Do not leave your pre-notification in a draft in IPAFFS. You must submit your pre-notification to IPAFFs. 

Delivery address  

Check that the delivery address for your pre-notification includes the correct country. 

Correctly completing your customs declaration.  

1. In data element 2/3 of your customs declaration(s), you must use the correct document code for the type of pre-notification required (see table below for CHED types). The UK’s Integrated Online Tariff (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/find_commodity) provides information on which commodities require which type of pre-notification. Ensure that the correct pre-notification reference has been input and is in the proper format. Please note that the CDS and CHED reference codes will be formatted differently. You must copy the reference code from IPAFFS in the correct format. IPAFFS will provide the proper format for CDS so it can be copied and pasted. The correct format for CDS is GBCHDYYYY.NNNNNNN, where Y stands for the year and N for a number. 
   
   
2. Check that the commodity code (data elements 6/14 and 6/15) on your customs declaration(s) is the same as the commodity code on your pre-notification. ALVS only matches according to the number of digits on the pre-notification.
   
   
3. Check that the net mass (data element 6/1) or, where required, supplementary units for live animals (data element 6/2) on your customs declaration(s) exactly match that entered on your pre-notification. 

Special Characters  

Do not include the special character “\” (backslash) in the goods description and free text fields. If a backslash (“\”) is present, your customs declaration must be invalidated and resubmitted without backslashes.  

Country of dispatch  

Ensure you have included the country of dispatch in data element 5/14 at the header level. If you do not, your declaration must be invalidated and resubmitted. 

Complex relationships between pre-notification and customs declaration  

ALVS can successfully apply data matching on multiple pre-notifications declared on a single customs declaration and against multiple items on a single customs declaration. 

ALVS can also match where a single pre-notification is applied across several customs declarations. 

If you are using a single pre-notification across multiple declarations or multiple items on a single declaration, the information above must be correct on all declarations or items. 

If you submit more than one customs declaration for goods covered by a pre-notification, you may receive an X00 error on submission of the first declaration until the second one is submitted. 

Many pre-notifications to many customs declarations OFFICIAL 

Automatic clearance through ALVS cannot be given where multiple pre-notifications are covered across multiple customs declarations. Before making your pre-notifications, consider whether you can pre-notify and declare differently to avoid this “many-to-many” situation. For example, where possible, keep multiple pre-notifications covering the same exporter and importer on a single customs declaration using multiple line items. 

Resolving “no matching…” X00 error messages 

This guide covers action to take where Defra’s Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) is unable to link customs declarations submitted to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) to pre-notifications submitted to Defra’s Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS). 

If you have a customs declaration under a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) hold and have received an X00 error of any kind from ALVS, you should take the following steps: 

Check that you have completed your customs declaration correctly:  

1. Check data element 2/3 of the customs declaration: o The correct document code has been used on your customs declaration(s) for the type of pre-notification required (see table in Annex A for Common Health Entry Document (CHED) types). The UK’s Integrated Online Tariff (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/find_commodity) provides information on which commodities require which type of pre-notification. 
   
   
2. Your customs declaration(s) have been inputted with the correct pre-notification reference in the proper format. Please note that the CDS and CHED reference codes will be formatted differently. You must copy the reference code from IPAFFS in the correct format. IPAFFS will provide the correct format for CDS so it can be copied and pasted. The correct format for CDS is GBCHDYYYY.NNNNNNN, where Y stands for the year and N for a number. 
   
   Check that the commodity code (data elements 6/14 and 6/15) on your customs declaration(s) is the same as on your pre-notification. 
   
   ALVS only matches according to how many digits there were on the pre-notification. 
   
   
3. Check that the net mass (data element 6/1) or, where required, supplementary units for live animals (data element 6/2) on your customs declaration(s) exactly match that entered on your pre-notification. 

ALVS can successfully apply data matching on multiple pre-notifications declared on a single customs declaration and against multiple items on a single customs declaration. 

ALVS can also match where a single pre-notification is applied across several customs declarations. 

If you are using a single pre-notification across multiple declarations or across multiple items on a single declaration, the information above must be correct on all declarations or items. 

ALVS cannot match where multiple pre-notifications are covered across multiple customs declarations. 

To fix any of the above errors:  
If you can amend your customs declaration  

You should use your software to amend the customs declaration to correct it as usual. 

If you cannot amend your customs declaration  

• You must submit a cancellation request to CDS for the original incorrect customs declaration. 
• If the customs declaration has been arrived, you must also contact the National Clearance Hub (NCH) to approve this request. 
• Once cancellation is confirmed, submit a new entry with the correct details. 

The error will not be resolved if you re-use the Declaration Unique Consignment Reference (DUCR) or the original CHED reference on your new customs declaration before the original declaration has been cancelled. ALVS will be unable to process the clearance request as a live customs declaration will already be trying to link to the same pre-notification. 

Once the original declaration is cancelled, you must submit a valid amendment to the replacement declaration to clear the error or cancel both the original and first replacement declarations and submit a new one. OFFICIAL 

If no error message is received, the CHED status shows in IPAFFS as “Valid” and the inspection status as “Not Required,” but your goods are still held.  

You should check the goods description and free text fields for the special character “\” (backslash). If a backslash (“\”) is present, your declaration must be invalidated and resubmitted without backslashes.  

You should check that you have included the country of dispatch in data element 5/14 at the header level. If you have not included this data at the header level, your declaration will need to be invalidated and resubmitted with the country of dispatch at the header level. 

If, after checking all of the above, you remain unable to clear the SPS hold despite all required CHEDs showing as valid in IPAFFS, please contact the Port Health Authority for animal products or food or feed under additional controls (HRFNAO) or the Animal and Plant Health Agency for plants and plant products (APHA) at the point of entry for further assistance.  

In your email, use ‘SPS hold not clearing’ in the subject line and provide the CHED reference number and the customs declaration Movement Reference Number. 

If you are interested in exploring this topic further, you might find it worthwhile to consider the training courses and live clinics offered by Strong & Herd LLP: