These are the three levels of official control applied to consignments entering the Union under Regulation (EU) 2017/625. They are cumulative in effort and in cost.
**Documentary check.** An examination of the paperwork: the declaration, the certificates and the accompanying documents. It applies to consignments within scope and it does not open the trailer. This is where a file that disagrees with itself gets caught.
**Identity check.** A visual verification that the goods present match the documents: seals, marks, labels, counts. It requires access to the load but not sampling.
**Physical check.** An inspection of the goods themselves, which may include sampling and laboratory analysis. This is the one that costs a frozen consignment real money, because the doors open and the temperature record will show it.
Identity and physical checks are applied on a risk basis, and the frequency depends on the commodity, the origin, the current control frequencies set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 and the operator’s history.
The exporter cannot control whether a check is drawn. The exporter can control how long it takes once drawn, and that is a function of how quickly the file reconciles.