The Department of Agriculture has issued a notice to importers and operators responsible for hay and straw imports, reminding them that they must be presented at border control posts in either Rosslare of Dublin for inspection.

“Hay from grass, clover, vetches and lucerne (alfalfa) covered under CN code 1214 90 90 and straw covered under CN code 1213 00 00 are listed in Regulation (EU) 2021/632 and must be presented for official controls at the border control post (BCP) either in Rosslare or Dublin ports at the time of arrival,” the Department said.

“As animal pathogens could potentially be transmitted via hay and straw, it is important to protect Ireland’s high health status by only permitting the import of these commodities from certain countries.”

Third countries

The list of approved third countries from which hay and straw can be imported is as follows:

Australia, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, Chile, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, Serbia, Ukraine, United States of America, United Kingdom (Britain), South Africa (excluding northern and eastern Transvaal, Ingwavuma and Botswana border areas).

Entry requirements

There are a number of entry requirements importers must take into account when bringing straw or hay into the country.

One of these includes the pre-notification of the border control post 24 hours prior to arrival of the product through submission of documents to the Department’s imports portal.

A commercial document should be completed by the exporter (or their agent) and should accompany the load to the border control post, either as a hard copy or an electronic copy of the signed original uploaded to the imports portal.

Further information, and a template commercial document, is available here.