Common terms in UK cold chain shipments

A status granted by HMRC to businesses whose customs compliance, record keeping and financial standing meet a defined standard. It signals that the authority has assessed the operator and trusts them to handle customs correctly. AEOC is the customs simplifications variant, which is the one Canopi holds.

The trade association for UK freight forwarders. Members trade under the BIFA Standard Trading Conditions, which set out the terms on which a forwarder handles your goods. Canopi is a BIFA member.

A designated inspection facility at or near a point of entry, where imported plants, plant products, animals and animal products are checked before release. Checks are documentary, identity or physical, and selection is risk based.

A family of food safety and supply chain standards, including one for storage and distribution that applies to warehouses handling food. Certification is awarded by third-party auditors against a graded scale. Canopi's chilled partner facility is BRCGS certified.

The UK government's framework for controls on imported goods, including sanitary and phytosanitary checks on food, plants and animal products. It sorts commodities into risk categories that determine certification requirements and check frequency. Risk categories are revised periodically: always check gov.uk for the current position.

HMRC's platform for import and export declarations, which replaced the older CHIEF system. Two things on a produce declaration matter most: the commodity code, which sets the duty rate and plant health controls, and preferential origin, which can reduce duty where a UK trade agreement covers the country of origin.

An unbroken sequence of temperature-controlled handling, storage and transport that keeps goods inside a defined temperature range from origin to final delivery. A break at any point shortens shelf life permanently, even if temperature later returns to spec.

A shipping method in which oxygen and carbon dioxide levels inside a reefer container are actively managed alongside temperature. Reducing oxygen slows respiration and ripening, extending usable shelf life on long voyages.

An HMRC-approved account that lets a business delay payment of customs duty, excise duty and import VAT, settling monthly by direct debit rather than consignment by consignment. Canopi holds a deferment account clients can use.

The UK government department responsible for collecting tax and for customs. It runs the Customs Declaration Service, authorises duty deferment accounts and grants AEO status.

The UK government's online service for notifying authorities in advance about imports of animals, animal products, plants and plant products into Great Britain. Notification must be submitted before arrival, within a notice period set by commodity type.

A single shipment moved by two or more modes of transport under one contract and one point of responsibility. For perishables that usually means sea plus road, with one party owning the temperature record across every handover.

A scheme under the Windsor Framework that lets authorised businesses move retail agri-food goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland on a general certificate with reduced checks, rather than full export documentation per consignment.

An official document issued by the plant health authority in the exporting country, confirming a consignment meets the importing country's plant health requirements. Issued before goods leave; cannot be obtained retrospectively.

A refrigerated shipping container with an integral cooling unit that holds a set temperature for the length of a voyage.

The agreement governing how goods move from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. It creates routes intended to reduce checks on goods staying within the United Kingdom, including NIRMS for retail agri-food and plant health labelling for qualifying plants.