What is ALVS ?

1. Presentation to International Trade Operating Systems Working Group 20th November 2013ALVS (Automatic Licence Verification System) extension ProjectMike Peters – Defra ALVS Project ManagerAlan Davis – HMRC ALVS Project ManagerDave Bishop – IBM ALVS Business Analyst

2. What is ALVS ? • The acronym stands for Automatic Licence Verification System. • ALVS is a messaging system that electronically matches Customs entries with the results of other inspection bodies checks. • ALVS for horticultural/plant products introduced in 2009/10 • New Project established by HMRC in Dec 2012 to establish costs and benefits of extending the system to cover 3rd country imports that are controlled on the EU TRACES System

3. ALVS Extension: Project Partners • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) • Dept of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) • Animal Health & Veterinary Laboratory Agency (AHVLA) • Food Standards Agency (FSA) • Association of Port Health Authorities (APHA) • Border Force • Marine Management Organisation (MMO) • IBM (Defra’s IT Supplier)

4. Scope of ALVS Extension Project 3rd country imports into GB & Northern Ireland of : • Live Animals • Products of Animal Origin (POAO) • Food Not of Animal Origin (FNAO) • Illegal, Unregulated & Unreported (IUU) Catch Certificates

5. Out of Scope of ALVS • PETS travel scheme • Any product/animal that is refused entry • Intra-EU trade • Fish imports from EEA Countries (Iceland, Norway, Faroes) • Imports from Switzerland, Lichtenstein • CITES licenses • Live animal/POAO exports • ALVS has no interface or impact on Trade or Port Health systems

6. Current process and what happens with ALVS Clearance time reduces from 2hrs+ to 10-15 mins Import Declaration Advance Notification Trader/Agent Clearance Decision AHVLA or PHA Inspector X Clearance Decision NCH X EU “TRACES” System HMRC “CHIEF” System F A X X X Clearance Decision Inspection Results Advance Notification ALVS removes the need for Agent to fax NCH and for NCH staff to update CHIEF with clearance decision FAX Inspection Results Import Declaration Clearance Decision ALVS matches on criteria including CVED/CED ref no & commodity code ALVS

7. Benefits of Introducing Live Animals, POAO & FNAO Imports to ALVS • Administrative/time saving benefits Trade – no need to fax documents to NCH • Efficiency savings per annum for HMRC • Un-quantified supply chain savings arising from faster clearance, estimated to be millions – clearance times reduced from 2hrs+ to 10 mins • Small ‘green’ environment benefits (removal of paper - approx 1,000,000 sheets of certification per annum) • Removal of potential impact cost (incurred demurrage charges and loss of value) associated with delays to Customs clearance

8. PROGRESS TO DATE • Cross-government Project Team established Dec 2012 • Design Stage Jan 2013 - May 2013 • Interviews with stakeholders : • PHA’s : Tilbury, Felixstowe, Gatwick, Heathrow, Southampton, Stansted, Grimsby • AHVLA : Heathrow, Stansted • Trade : HPL ; Wilder Logistics; Fedex; Fruity Fresh; WTA Group; Eurasia-Maritime; TG Logistics; FastNet Fish; Independent Aquatic Imports; James Cargo • DG’s Sanco & Taxud • HMRC funding approved to complete the Project (Sept 2013) • Trade Association Briefing Sessions held during Oct 2013 with Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association; Int. Meat Traders Association; Fresh Produce Consortium; Sea Fish; British Equestrian Federation; British Frozen Food Federation and Int. Serum Industry Association

9. NEXT STEPS….Part 1 • System Development now in progress (till Dec 2013) • IBM Testing (System, Connectivity, Performance) (till March 2014) • User Acceptance Testing (by PHA’s, AHVLA (&Trade?) late March/early April 2014 • Pilot launch - 1 trader (May 2014) • Extend nos. of Traders on Pilot (June - Sept 2014) • Expected full launch October 2014)

10. NEXT STEPS ….Part 2 • Develop ALVS Info Web Page (Oct 2013) • Launch a new document code C640 for CVEDA (Jan 2014) • Develop User Guide for Trade (April - Sept 2014) • Train PHA/AHVLA/NCH Help-desk Staff (April - May 2014) • Trade Briefing Sessions (June - September 2014) - in various UK locations

11. What the Trade need to do • Trade MUST enter the same data on TRACES and the Customs Entry. • These must match : • CVED or CED Reference No. • Weight or number of (animals) • Commodity Code • If they don’t match, ALVS will generate an E0 Error Report which will be made available to the Agent/Importer via their customs entry software. Trade will need to correct the Entry to progress the clearance.

12. Trade feedback on ALVS for HMI & FERA regulated goods • “ALV has been a triumphant success for us, improving clearance times significantly, and eliminating all the minor queries with the National Clearance Hub”. - Vantec World Transport • “The improved clearance times are definitely noticeable – Route 1’s now go through in about 10 minutes, whereas previously it was about 2 hours” – HPL Kensington & Sea Freight • “The introduction of the ALV system has been a great success resulting in the majority of shipments being cleared within minutes rather than hours once the green light has been given on PEACH” - Channel Ports • “Cargo Overseas happily endorse the ALV service.  Since moving over to the new • verification system the speed of throughput through the airport for these goods • has increased considerably.  Instead of waiting for Customs to process the • paperwork before arranging the delivery we now have a driver waiting at the • airlines whilst they are still breaking down the flight.  The time savings made on • consignments of this nature has been a welcome and surprising value added • service to our customers” - Cargo Overseas