# Get your IPAFFS import notifications through an API > Read your IPAFFS import notifications, CHED references, statuses and check results with one API call each. A workflow can check each weekday morning which notifications for goods arriving soon are still in Draft and email you the list. Page: https://fous.com/automate/ipaffs Updated: 2026-11-12 Works with your own IPAFFS account. Fous is an independent product. ## What you can build on IPAFFS ### List import notifications Reads the import notifications on your IPAFFS dashboard, with each one's CHED reference, type, commodity, status and expected arrival. - Takes: Status (optional), arriving from, arriving to - Returns: CHED reference, CHED type, commodity, status, inspection status, border control post, expected arrival date ### Check the result of the border checks Opens one import notification and reads what the border control post recorded: the CHED status, the inspection status and the decision. - Takes: CHED reference - Returns: CHED reference, status, inspection status, decision, border control post, date of decision ### Get the CHED reference for a customs declaration Reads a notification's CHED reference and CHED type, and gives the reference in the GBCHDyyyy.nnnnnnn format used on a Customs Declaration Service declaration. - Takes: Your consignment reference or CHED reference - Returns: CHED reference in CDS format, CHED type, commodity code, status ### Save a draft plant import notification Selects Create a new notification, chooses Plants, plant products and other objects, enters the commodity details and saves the notification as a draft for you to check. - Takes: Commodity code, genus and species, number of packages, type of package, quantity, net weight (kg) - Returns: Notification reference, status, commodity lines entered ## Automate IPAFFS with a workflow A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use. ### Notifications still in draft for consignments arriving soon Starts: Every weekday at 7:00 1. List the import notifications with an expected arrival in the next two working days. 2. Keep the ones whose status is still Draft. 3. Email you the list with CHED reference, commodity and expected arrival date. ### New check results, posted to your operations system Starts: Every 30 minutes 1. List the import notifications with an expected arrival in the last three days. 2. For each one, check the result of the border checks. 3. Keep the results that changed since the last run. 4. Post CHED reference, status, inspection status and decision to your webhook. ### CHED references handed to your customs declarations Starts: When your system calls the workflow's webhook with a consignment reference 1. Get the CHED reference in CDS format for that consignment. 2. Stop if the notification is still in Draft. 3. Post the CHED reference, CHED type and commodity code to your customs software's webhook. You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month. ## Once built, one call from your code Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “List import notifications” would look like. Example request: ``` curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "method": "import-products-animals-food-feed.service.gov.uk/list_import_notifications", "input": { "arriving_from": "2026-11-12", "arriving_to": "2026-11-14" } }' ``` Example response: ``` { "status": "completed", "data": { "notifications": [ { "ched_reference": "CHEDP.GB.2026.0000000", "ched_type": "CHED-P", "commodity": "Frozen fish fillets", "status": "Valid", "inspection_status": "Not Required", "border_control_post": "Acme Port BCP", "expected_arrival": "2026-11-13" } ], "count": 1 } } ``` An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request. ## IPAFFS’s own options Defra and APHA describe IPAFFS as the web service importers and import agents use to notify the authorities about imports to Great Britain. For plants and plant products, commodity details can be uploaded from a CSV template instead of typed in. Their GOV.UK guidance does not describe an API that importers can connect to. | Option | What it covers | What it takes | | --- | --- | --- | | CSV upload of commodity details | Commodity lines of a plants and plant products notification: commodity code, genus and species or EPPO code, packages, quantity, net weight. | Defra's current CSV template, filled in exactly as its guide says, uploaded while you create a notification. | | IPAFFS by hand | Creating, submitting and following import notifications from the dashboard, with documents uploaded before submitting and check results recorded by the BCP. | A Government Gateway account registered for IPAFFS. Agents register with their own business details. | Read on November 12, 2026: [Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS)](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-of-products-animals-food-and-feed-system), [How to save and upload a CSV file for IPAFFS](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ipaffs-upload-commodity-details-using-a-csv-file/how-to-save-and-upload-a-csv-file-for-ipaffs-plants-and-plant-products), [How to complete a CSV file for IPAFFS](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ipaffs-upload-commodity-details-using-a-csv-file/csv-values-for-ipaffs). ## Signing in to IPAFFS IPAFFS signs you in with your Government Gateway account. If you already use other Defra services, you add IPAFFS with 'register for more services', and an import agent registers with its own business details. With Fous you sign in once through that Government Gateway sign-in with your own account, and the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API or written to logs. ## Worth knowing - **One working day before arrival**: For live animals, germinal products, products of animal origin and ABP from outside the EU, the notification must reach the BCP at least one working day before the goods are expected at the point of entry. - **One notification per commodity type**: A product mixing commodity types needs a separate notification for each, such as a CHED-D for the HRFNAO and a CHED-P for the animal product, with each CHED reference added to the other's commercial documents. - **Documents go in before you submit**: Documents such as the health certificate must be uploaded to the import notification before it is submitted. A notification left in draft has not been submitted. - **The CDS reference has its own format**: On the customs declaration the CHED reference goes in data element 2/3 as GBCHDyyyy.nnnnnnn, with document code C678 for a CHED-D or N853 for a CHED-P. A missing reference can hold the goods. ## More in Logistics: forwarders, air cargo and customs - [Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager](https://fous.com/automate/extensiv-3pl-warehouse-manager.md) - [Air France KLM Martinair Cargo myCargo](https://fous.com/automate/air-france-klm-martinair-cargo-mycargo.md) - [e-SkyCargo](https://fous.com/automate/e-skycargo.md) - [Lufthansa Cargo eServices](https://fous.com/automate/lufthansa-cargo-eservices.md) - [ACE Secure Data Portal](https://fous.com/automate/ace-secure-data-portal.md) - [CARM Client Portal](https://fous.com/automate/carm-client-portal.md) - [Dubai Trade](https://fous.com/automate/dubai-trade.md) - [Customs Declaration Service](https://fous.com/automate/customs-declaration-service.md) - [douane.gouv.fr](https://fous.com/automate/douane-gouv-fr.md) - [ACE AESDirect](https://fous.com/automate/ace-aesdirect.md) - [myDHLi](https://fous.com/automate/mydhli.md) - [myDSV](https://fous.com/automate/mydsv.md) - [myKN](https://fous.com/automate/mykn.md) - [DGFT portal](https://fous.com/automate/dgft-portal.md) Other industries: [Nest employer account](/automate/nest-employer-account), [PortTruckPass](/automate/porttruckpass), [One Network](/automate/one-network), [Cummins Supplier Portal](/automate/cummins-supplier-portal), [LeShuttle Freight](/automate/leshuttle-freight), [Entrata](/automate/entrata). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does IPAFFS have an API? Not one that Defra's GOV.UK guidance describes for importers. The guidance covers the IPAFFS web service and, for plants and plant products, a CSV template that uploads commodity details into a notification. Everything else is done on the IPAFFS screens. ### How do I know the result of the checks at the border control post? It is recorded on your notification in IPAFFS, and the officials give you a completed and validated CHED. A method you build can read that result for one CHED reference. ### Which CHED reference goes on my customs declaration? The CHED reference of your IPAFFS notification, entered in data element 2/3 of the CDS declaration as GBCHDyyyy.nnnnnnn with the right document code, for example C678 for a CHED-D or N853 for a CHED-P. A missing reference can hold the goods. ### Can an import agent use its own account? Yes. An agent acting for an importer registers for IPAFFS with its own business details and should not select 'intermediaries' on the Manage account screen. Whoever raises the notification is responsible for the consignment until the checks are complete. ### Is Fous affiliated with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs? No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own IPAFFS account, and a method reads and does only what that account can. Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of IPAFFS (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.