Food consignment rejected at Spanish border control

The case, in five lines

What is brought

A request for a second expert opinion against the result (documentary review, second analysis or both) and submissions before the measure is ordered; an appeal against the order to destroy, re-dispatch or subject the consignment to special treatment and, once the administrative route is exhausted, judicial review (recurso contencioso-administrativo). In parallel, a request to extend the period for complying with the order and, where advisable, re-dispatch, special treatment or a partial measure to preserve the consignment's value.

Before which court

The decision is taken by the official control service at the border control post (BCP; puesto de control fronterizo, PCF, in Spanish): since 1 October 2024, the inspection staff functionally answerable to the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), known as the Servicios de Control Oficial en Frontera (SCOF, the official border control services), not Sanidad Exterior (the Ministry of Health's border health service). A recurso de alzada (an administrative appeal to a higher authority) goes to the superior body named in the statement of appeal rights (pie de recurso) or to the body that issued the act (art. 121 of Law 39/2015). Judicial review, if the act comes from the State's peripheral administration, goes to the sección de lo contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal de Instancia (the administrative-law section of the court of first instance), or to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia (the administrative chamber of the regional High Court of Justice) if the amount at stake exceeds €60,000 (art. 10.1.n of the LJCA, the Spanish Judicial Review Act).

Deadline

48 hours to request in writing a fresh examination by an expert of your own (perito de parte) if the rejection stems from an organoleptic or temperature check (art. 6 of Royal Decree 562/2025). 10 working days, from the day after notification of the unfavourable analytical result, to request the second expert opinion (art. 13.3), and a further 10 from access to the documents for the documentary review report (art. 14.3). 60 days at most from notification to comply with the order, or less if the authority so sets, extendable while the second opinion is pending (art. 69 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625). One month for the alzada (art. 122 of Law 39/2015) and two months for judicial review (art. 46.1 LJCA).

Who can bring it

The operator responsible for the consignment, that is, whoever took charge of it at the border control post and signed Part I of the Common Health Entry Document (CHED; DSCE in Spanish), as importer or on the importer's behalf; and the importer, as owner of the goods. The firm acts under your power of attorney and files with its own digital certificate, without asking for yours. We do not sign Part I of the CHED or take charge of the goods at the port, and the customs declaration is lodged by your company or by a registered customs representative.

Financial risk

If you do not request the second opinion in time, the first result stands; if you do, the second analysis prevails over the first, even when it goes against you (art. 15.4 of Royal Decree 562/2025). The measures and their costs fall on the operator (art. 66.7 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625), storage charges keep running and, once the period expires without the order being complied with, the authority orders destruction or another measure. The rejection also reaches the country of origin and may lead to stepped-up controls on later consignments (art. 65.4).

Who rejected your consignment and what kind of act you are facing

Since 1 October 2024, official controls at border control posts on animals, food of animal and non-animal origin, feed and plants have been coordinated and carried out by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) through the inspection staff functionally answerable to it, the Servicios de Control Oficial en Frontera (SCOF, the official border control services). Order PJC/756/2024 established this, and Sanidad Exterior (the Ministry of Health's border health service) retains only the goods listed in Annex II to that Order, which are products of human origin. Many official web pages have still not been updated: the author of the act you are going to challenge is MAPA's control service at the post.

Not everything you receive is the same, and each is challenged in a different way. If non-compliance is suspected, the consignment is placed under official detention pending the results (art. 65.3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625): there is no decision yet. If the controls confirm that it does not comply, the authority detains it, refuses its entry into the Union (art. 66.1) and orders you to destroy it, re-dispatch it outside the Union or subject it to special treatment (art. 66.3). And if the consignment poses a risk to human, animal or plant health, only destruction or special treatment remain: re-dispatch is off the table (art. 67).

What nobody tells you is that the decision does not stay at the port. It is notified through the Union's information system (IMSOC, SGICO in Spanish, which in practice means TRACES) to the Commission, the other Member States, customs, the authorities of the country of origin and you (art. 66.5). Customs will not release the consignment for free circulation without a finalised CHED confirming that it complies, nor let you place it under a customs procedure other than the one the post indicates (art. 57.2).

The first clock: 48 hours or 10 working days for the second expert opinion

Art. 35 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 gives every operator whose goods are sampled, analysed, tested or diagnosed the right to a second expert opinion, at its own expense. In Spain, Royal Decree 562/2025, in force since 3 July 2025, implements it with two routes and two clocks, depending on where the rejection comes from: a physical examination at the post itself or a laboratory analysis. Confusing them is the quickest way to lose the case.

If the rejection stems from a physical check of the organoleptic characteristics or the temperature of a product for human consumption arriving from outside the Union, art. 6 of Royal Decree 562/2025 applies: you have 48 hours at most to request in writing a fresh examination by an expert of your own (perito de parte), which is carried out within 24 hours. If it confirms the first, the goods are declared unfit for the intended destination; if not, the authority appoints another inspector, who repeats the physical check within 48 hours of receiving the expert's report, and that result is decisive and final. To be safe, count the 48 hours from the check itself.

If the rejection stems from a laboratory analysis, art. 13 applies: 10 working days from the day after notification of the unfavourable result. The second opinion may be a documentary review of the sampling and analysis by an expert you appoint who meets the requirements of the Annex, a second analysis in an official laboratory chosen and agreed with it in advance, or both. If you do not name a laboratory, you are deemed to waive the choice, and the analysis is repeated in the same laboratory or in another official one chosen by the authority.

The counter-sample is decided on the day of sampling, not the day of rejection

A second analysis is only possible if a sufficient quantity of sample was taken. Art. 9.3 of Royal Decree 562/2025 requires it to be collected at least when the operator asks, and art. 9.4 requires the operator to be told of that option at the time of sampling or before and, if no such quantity is taken, to be informed and the reason recorded in the sampling record. Without a counter-sample, only the documentary review remains. And for plants, when the check is for quarantine pests, EU law does not even guarantee that sufficient quantity (art. 35.2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625).

The documentary review is not a formality. The expert examines the sampling record, its legal basis and the sampling method, the storage and transport of the sample, the laboratory's accreditation for that determination and that matrix, the analytical method, the test report and the final assessment (art. 14.2). The expert has 10 working days from access to the information to submit a report, optional and non-binding, which the authority must take into account when deciding; if none is submitted, you are deemed to accept how the sample was taken and analysed (art. 14.3). And at the border, the sampling record cannot bear a signature date later than that of the CHED (art. 9.2).

The second analysis must cover at least the substances that gave the unfavourable result, with detection and quantification limits equal to or lower than those of the first where the legislation does not set them (art. 15.3), and its result prevails over the first (art. 15.4): it is won or lost in one go. The analysis your supplier sends you from the country of origin is no substitute for any of this. The Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central (TEAC, the Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal) holds, with the backing of the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court), in relation to the customs laboratories, that anyone who did not request the second analysis through the proper channel cannot later rebut the expert finding, and that a contradictory analysis in another laboratory outside that channel is not admissible. It is a different field, but the reasoning is the same.

Destroy, re-dispatch or treat: the prior hearing and the 60 days

Before ordering any of the three measures, the authority must hear you, unless immediate action is needed because of a risk to human, animal or plant health, animal welfare or the environment (art. 66.3). That hearing is the moment to ask for what saves value: that the measure exceptionally be limited to part of the consignment, if that is adequate, creates no risk and does not disrupt the controls (art. 66.4), that for plants it be applied by lots, or special treatment instead of destruction. And remember that the order may direct the consignment to uses other than those originally intended (art. 66.3.c): what is not fit for human consumption may be fit for another use.

Special treatment may be processing or decontamination, never dilution, so that the consignment complies with the rules or with the requirements of the country to which it is re-dispatched, or treatment that makes it fit for safe consumption or for purposes other than consumption, always documented and under the authority's control (art. 71). Re-dispatch requires the destination to be agreed, written confirmation to the authority that the authorities of the country of origin, or of the destination country if different, have been told the reasons for the rejection and, if the destination is not the country of origin, that its authorities accept the consignment and notify the Spanish authority (art. 72.1). For plants, those two communications are not required (art. 72.2).

The goods' clock is a different one and does not stop by itself: the order must be complied with without delay and at the latest within 60 days of notification, or sooner if the authority so sets (art. 69.1). If that period passes without compliance, the authority orders destruction or another measure and, where there was a risk, destruction in facilities as close as possible to the post (art. 69.2). It may extend the period for as long as needed to obtain the second opinion if there are no adverse effects (art. 69.3), and it is worth asking for this in writing. Everything is at the operator's expense (arts. 66.7, 67 and 69.4), including storage at the terminal. To be safe, count the 60 days as calendar days.

Submissions and appeals: what is argued and before whom

The order to destroy, re-dispatch or treat the consignment is a decision on the merits, and art. 112.1 of Law 39/2015 allows an alzada or a reposición (an appeal for reconsideration to the same authority) against it, depending on whether or not it exhausts the administrative route. The statement of appeal rights governs: if it does not exhaust it, the alzada is lodged within one month with the superior body or with the body that issued the act, which forwards it with its report and the file (arts. 121 and 122). There are three months to decide it; without an answer, it may be treated as dismissed. If the month passes with no appeal, the order becomes final.

The appeal does not repeat your disagreement: it points to what went wrong. Sampling without offering you the counter-sample or without giving reasons for not taking it, a record signed after the CHED, a laboratory not accredited for that substance and that matrix, a review report that was not assessed, or an order made without hearing you when there was no urgency. The facts in the record carry evidential weight, but art. 7.6 of Royal Decree 562/2025 preserves the evidence you put forward. And since a request for a second opinion does not prevent the authority from acting swiftly against the risk (art. 35.4 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625), ask in the appeal itself that destruction not be carried out while it is pending.

Once the administrative route is exhausted, judicial review is brought within two months of notification (art. 46.1 LJCA). If the act comes from the State's peripheral administration, the case generally goes to the sección de lo contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal de Instancia (the administrative-law section of the court of first instance), unless the amount at stake exceeds €60,000: in that case, to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia (the administrative chamber of the regional High Court of Justice), which hears everything not assigned to another court (art. 10.1.n). If the act is signed by a Minister or a Secretary of State, it goes to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo de la Audiencia Nacional (the administrative chamber of the National High Court; art. 11.1.a). There is no need to attempt negotiation first here: the pre-action requirement of Organic Law 1/2025 applies to civil litigation, not to administrative appeals or judicial review.

Saving the consignment, protecting your record and claiming against the supplier

Sometimes the most profitable move is not to win on the analysis but to move the goods. With perishable produce and storage charges running, a quick re-dispatch to your supplier or to another third country that accepts it stops the costs, and special treatment or a partial measure can save part of the value. Deciding the destination and challenging the result can run in parallel; what you must avoid is the period expiring without a decision. The customs declaration for the re-dispatch is lodged by your company or by a registered customs representative; we prepare the submission to the control authority and the destination documents for you.

The appeal makes sense even if the consignment no longer exists. The rejection stays in the Union's system, the authorities of the country of origin know about it, and it can lead to stepped-up controls on the consignments that follow (art. 65.4). In addition, the record may serve as the basis for penalty proceedings (art. 7.2.f of Royal Decree 562/2025), which is a separate procedure with its own submissions. Getting the rejection annulled, or at least putting on record that the sampling or the analysis failed, protects your next imports and your position against the supplier.

And then there is the supplier. If the consignment did not comply, the rejection may also be a lack of conformity as against your seller, and the costs of storage, re-dispatch or destruction a loss to be claimed from it. This is a civil front with its own deadline: international sales are generally governed by the 1980 Vienna Convention (CISG), which requires the lack of conformity to be notified to the seller within a reasonable time. The records, the test report and the second opinion are your best evidence, and here you do have to attempt negotiation before suing in Spain, as Organic Law 1/2025 requires.

How we run the case, step by step

1. 1

   Establish the dates of the notification and the check

   With the TRACES notification, the record and the CHED, we establish what kind of rejection it is (physical examination or analysis), when the 48 hours or the 10 working days and the 60 days run out, and whether a counter-sample was kept.

2. 2

   Request the records and the test report

   We request a copy of the control records, which the authority must give you where there is non-compliance or if you ask for it (art. 7.4 of Royal Decree 562/2025), and the authenticated copy of the original certificates held by the post (art. 50.2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625).

3. 3

   Second opinion and extension of the period

   Within the deadline, we file under your power of attorney the request for documentary review, a second analysis or both, with the appointment of the expert or the official laboratory the rules require, and ask for the period under the order to be extended until the result arrives (art. 69.3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625).

4. 4

   Submissions before the order

   At the hearing we propose a partial measure, special treatment or re-dispatch, and point out the defects in the sampling, the record and the analysis, with your evidence.

5. 5

   Decide where the consignment goes

   With you and your supplier we weigh up re-dispatch, treatment or destruction by cost and time. The customs declaration is lodged by your company or by a registered customs representative; we prepare for you the submission evidencing the communications with the authorities of origin or destination.

6. 6

   Appeal, judicial review and claim against the supplier

   Against the order, the appeal named in the statement of appeal rights, within the deadline; if it is dismissed, judicial review within two months. In parallel, notice of the lack of conformity and a claim for the costs against the seller.

The law that applies

• Art. 35 del Reglamento (UE) 2017/625. It gives operators whose goods are sampled, analysed, tested or diagnosed the right to a second expert opinion at their own expense, including a documentary review by another expert; where feasible and the operator asks, it requires a sufficient sample to be taken, except when checking plants for quarantine pests, and it makes clear that the request does not prevent the authority from acting swiftly against the risk. 02017R0625-20250105
• Arts. 65, 66 y 67 del Reglamento (UE) 2017/625. A suspect consignment is detained until the results arrive. If it does not comply, it is detained, refused entry and ordered to be destroyed, re-dispatched or treated, after hearing the operator save in urgent cases, with exceptional partial measures and notification through IMSOC to the Commission, the Member States, customs, the country of origin and the operator. Where there is a risk, only destruction or special treatment. All at the operator's expense. 02017R0625-20250105
• Arts. 69, 71 y 72 del Reglamento (UE) 2017/625. The order must be complied with within 60 days of notification at most, or less if so set, with a possible extension while the second opinion is pending; once the period expires, destruction or another measure is ordered. They govern special treatment, without dilution, documented and under official control, and the conditions for re-dispatch, which are lighter for plants. 02017R0625-20250105
• Arts. 6, 7 y 9 del RD 562/2025. After a physical check of third-country products for human consumption, a fresh examination by the operator's own expert, requested in writing within 48 hours, and, if it disagrees, a decisive third check. The records are evidence unless proved otherwise and the operator is entitled to a copy; the counter-sample is taken at least if the operator asks, and at the border the sampling record may not post-date the CHED. BOE-A-2025-13409
• Arts. 13, 14 y 15 del RD 562/2025. Second opinion within 10 working days from the day after notification of the unfavourable result: documentary review by an expert meeting the Annex requirements, with a report within 10 working days of access to the information, failing which the sampling and analysis are accepted, and a second analysis in an official laboratory chosen by the operator, whose result prevails over the first. BOE-A-2025-13409
• Arts. 112, 121 y 122 de la Ley 39/2015. An appeal lies against decisions and against intermediate procedural acts that decide the merits or leave the party defenceless or cause irreparable harm. The alzada is lodged with the hierarchical superior or with the body that issued the act, within one month if the act is express; after that, the decision is final. Without a decision in three months, it may be deemed dismissed. BOE-A-2015-10565
• Arts. 10, 11 y 46 LJCA. They assign to the Sala de lo Contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia (the administrative chamber of the regional High Court of Justice) whatever is not expressly assigned to another court, and to that of the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court) the acts of Ministers and Secretaries of State. Judicial review is brought within two months of notification of the act that ends the administrative route. BOE-A-1998-16718

Each article checked against the consolidated text published in the BOE (the Spanish official gazette).

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