TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) in imports

​What is TRACES?

TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) is the EU’s common digital platform to ensure the traceability and monitoring of consignments of live animals, plants and feed, for instance, as well as animal, organic, plant and timber products. TRACES is used both for trade on the internal market between EU countries – animals and animal products – and for import/export from non-EU countries.

The Swedish Food Agency currently uses TRACES for the control of import and export consignments of food, as well as imports of materials that come into contact with food (kitchenware and tableware from China and the Hong Kong region).

Other authorities participating in the system include the Swedish Board of Agriculture and Swedish Customs. The Swedish Board of Agriculture is the competent authority for animals, feed and animal products, as well as plant health control of fresh vegetables and fruit, for example.
Import and border controls of animals, animal products and feed – Swedish Board of Agriculture
E-service for notify imports of fresh fruit, vege­tables, and other plant products, and wood packa­ging material - Swedish Board of Agriculture

Swedish Customs may need access to certain documents in TRACES, but most of this is now handled via what is known as EU CSW-CERTEX (EU Customs Single Window Certificates Exchange System). This is the EU’s central system for linking EU countries’ customs systems to TRACES. The system provides for the exchange of information on certificates and permits required for import and export, which are issued by authorities other than the customs authorities.

EU CSW-CERTEX enables automatic control of non-customs-related requirements, such as the requirement for a CHED for food subject to border controls, as well as a digitalised exchange of information between economic operators and competent authorities.

​Glossary

User

Each person who needs access to TRACES must have a personal user account in the system. To obtain a user account, you need an EU Login, which is the login portal used to log in to the European Commission’s various services. Your TRACES user account must then be linked to the relevant operators for you to be granted access to the system.

Operator

An operator is an economic entity in the system, such as a company (importer, exporter, freight forwarder, customs representative or establishment). Each company must have an operator in the system, and this operator needs what are known as activities, which reflect the company’s operations and determine which certificates and documents the operator and its connected users are able to access.

Operators also have one or more competent authorities, which are added automatically on the basis of the operator’s address and activity. When an activity has to be approved, which is required in some cases but not in others, the authority approving the activity must actively select the company’s competent authority as the responsible authority. This cannot be done by users themselves, except when they apply for the activity “Responsible for the load (RFL)”, in which case a border control post must be added as the responsible authority.

Activity

Each operator and authority has activities associated with it that reflect their areas of activity and competence. In turn, the activities are linked to the documents available in TRACES. The activities assigned to an operator therefore reflect a user’s authorisation, depending on the operator or authority to which the user is linked.

“Responsible for the load (RFL)” is one example of an activity. This operator activity is always required for a user linked to the operator to be able to create a CHED.

Administrator

The first user linked to an operator becomes an administrator and can edit addresses and contact details and add activities, as well as approving new users to be linked to the operator.

Authorities

Competent authorities in the system include the Swedish Food Agency, the Swedish Board of Agriculture, Swedish Customs, county administrative boards, municipalities, and organic control bodies. The authorities have to administer their operators – the entities subject to their control, that is – and the documents in the system that come under their control responsibility.

​Certificates and documents in TRACES

There are many different certificates and documents in TRACES. The following are the ones that the Swedish Food Agency processes and handles in relation to import and export.

*Not all non-EU countries are connected to TRACES. Original paper certificates are still required for imports from such countries, and these are not available in TRACES. Some countries issue TRACES certificates but do not have valid digital signatures. These certificates are available in TRACES, but original paper certificates are still required at border controls. 

​Lists of EU-approved establishments

TRACES contains registers of registered and approved establishments and operators. The register is kept up to date by the competent authorities using TRACES.

Information on Swedish establishments and operators under the control responsibility of the Swedish Food Agency must correspond to the authority’s register of the same. Therefore, only the Swedish Food Agency is able to enter and administer the entities subject to their control in TRACES.
EU-approved establishments - TRACES

​​Do you need access to TRACES?

TRACES has a number of functions and includes various health certificates and declarations for many different types of consignments. You may need access to TRACES if you are:

• An importer or freight forwarder required to provide pre-notification of consignments coming from non-EU countries with a CHED.
• The first consignee of organic import consignments, required to confirm receipt of a consignment by signing a COI.
• An exporter or freight forwarder required to create an export certificate for exports to a non-EU country that uses TRACES certificates, such as the United Kingdom.

You should also have access to TRACES if you work at a municipal control authority and need to review the entities subject to your control by approving their operators and users or editing addresses, issuing export certificates or extracting statistics on consignments with CHEDs. 

​​Access TRACES

To access TRACES, you need to have an EU Login. Once you have an EU Login, you can log in to TRACES and apply to link your user account to an operator. You then have to request validation from either the competent authority (the control authority for the company/establishment, i.e. the Swedish Food Agency or the municipality) or the operator’s administrator.
Getting started - TRACES NT Documentation
If you need help, you can contact the Swedish Food Agency:
traces@slv.se.

​Importing with TRACES

Do you import food from outside the EU? If so, you may need access to TRACES.

Notification requirements

Consignments of food requiring border controls must be pre-notified with a CHED in TRACES. This is applicable to:

• Products of animal origin and composite products (CHED-P)
  Prior notification and booking of controls - import of food of animal origin
• Food of non-animal origin that are subject to border controls (CHED-D)
  Prior notification and booking of controls - import of products of non-animal origin
• Kitchenware and tableware from China and the Hong Kong region (CHED-D)
  Prior notification and booking of controls - import of products of non-animal origin

Consignments of organic food must have a Certificate of Inspection for organic products (COI) in TRACES in order to be imported and sold as organic on the EU market. COIs must be checked by the Swedish Food Agency’s border control prior to entry.
Import from countries outside the EU - organic food

Who is responsible for notification?

Notification of a consignment via TRACES may be provided by a company, a freight forwarder or a customs representative. To create and submit a CHED in TRACES, your user account must be linked to an operator that has the activity Responsible for the Load (RFL).

TRACES manuals

Manuals for TRACES can be accessed in the system by selecting the Help and Documentation tab. These include manuals on how to apply for access, create a new operator and validate new users, and how to create CHEDs and export certificates.
TRACES NT Help Documents – TRACES NT Documentation
Validation process - TRACES NT Documentation
CHED - TRACES NT Documentation
COI - TRACES NT Documentation