UKCertificate before supply
Registering a new food trailer in the United Kingdom
Great Britain has no pre-shipment approval and no border admissibility bar. The requirement falls at the point of supply: supplying a new category O trailer for road use without a certificate is a criminal offence.
Certificate before supply
Importing is unrestricted. Supplying the unit without the right certificate is a criminal offence, so the requirement falls at handover.
Requirements
What the authority requires
| Requirement | Evidence | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Under the Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020, Schedule 4 paragraph 1(1), a person commits an offence by supplying a recordable trailer for use on a road unless an EU Certificate of Conformity, a national small series certificate, or an IVA certificate has effect for that unit. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
| Penalty: unlimited fine in England and Wales, or up to three months' imprisonment for an individual, or both. A civil penalty route caps at GBP 50,000 per offence. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
| Regulation 25(3) obliges the final supplier to keep a record of each small trailer supplied for not less than ten years. Breach is its own offence. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
| For a large trailer, regulation 23 adds a pre-supply DVSA consent step: notify DVSA, supply pertinent information and obtain consent before supply. DVSA may inspect and test, and consent is withheld until import VAT and customs duty are paid. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
| Large trailer is defined in regulation 26 by unladen weight exceeding 1,020 kg, or any semi-trailer, for trailers constructed or adapted to carry goods. It is not defined by the 3,500 kg line. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
| Trailers of maximum authorised mass up to 3,500 kg are not DVLA-registered, so there is no registration or VIN requirement. | verified | 2026-09-04 |
Sources
- Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020
- Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020, Schedule 4 paragraph 1
- GOV.UK, apply for Individual Vehicle Approval, trailers
- DVSA individual vehicle approval inspection manual, trailers
Primary sources only. Where a summary here and the source differ, the source is right.
For your order
How we handle it
The consequence of getting it wrong is criminal rather than commercial. Every unit needs its certificate before it is handed over, and a record of each unit supplied is kept for ten years. Northern Ireland is a separate regime and is not covered here.
Confirmed for your configuration
- IVA presentation and any remediation before handover
- Whether your unit sits above or below the large-trailer line
- Certificate held before supply, as the regulations require