diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index ed2f6bf1..925e6c15 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -1051,20 +1051,11 @@
 	
 	<!--
 	    Aggregator based work is divided into channels, each of
-	    which lives in a directory under /mdx/.  Channels are
-	    mostly named country_source, but there are exceptions
-	    to this rule.  Some of the exceptions may be rationalised
-	    in the future.
+	    which lives in a directory under /mdx/.  Each channel
+	    can have a number of verbs which can be executed.
 	    
-	    Each channel can have a number of verbs which can be
-	    executed.  The convention is that the verb names a
-	    configuration file, and that the pipeline to execute
-	    is named as channel_pipeline.
-	    
-	    Note that these conventions, which derive from identifier
-	    names in the Spring Expression Language, in combination
-	    mean that pipelines may be named in the form
-	    country_source_pipeline.
+	    Conventions for this system are documented in
+	    /mdx/conventions.txt.
 	-->
 	
 	<!--
@@ -1077,8 +1068,17 @@
     	<attribute name="verb"/><!-- verb to perform -->
         <sequential>
             <echo>Running @{channel} @{verb} flow.</echo>
-            <MDA config="${mdx.dir}/@{channel}/@{verb}.xml"
-                pipeline="@{channel}_@{verb}"/>
+        	<if>
+        		<available file="${mdx.dir}/@{channel}/@{verb}.xml"/>
+            	<then>
+            	    <MDA config="${mdx.dir}/@{channel}/@{verb}.xml"
+            	        pipeline="@{verb}"/>
+            	</then>
+            	<else>
+                    <MDA config="${mdx.dir}/@{channel}/verbs.xml"
+                        pipeline="@{verb}"/>
+            	</else>
+        	</if>
             <echo>Completed @{channel} @{verb} flow.</echo>
         </sequential>
     </macrodef>
diff --git a/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml b/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
index 81f76ee2..c868a40f 100644
--- a/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the AAF export metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the AAF production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchAafExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchAafExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="au_aaf_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://manager.aaf.edu.au/metadata/metadata.aaf.signed.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     <!--
         AAF signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="aafSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="au_aaf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/au_aaf/aaf-metadata-cert.pem"/>
@@ -29,9 +30,32 @@
     <!--
         Check AAF signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkAafSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkAafSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="aafSigningCertificate"/>
+    <bean id="au_aaf_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="au_aaf_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="au_aaf_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="au_aaf_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="au_aaf_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/au_aaf/import.xml b/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
similarity index 57%
rename from mdx/au_aaf/import.xml
rename to mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
index d815e5b7..5cba8088 100644
--- a/mdx/au_aaf/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="au_aaf_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="au_aaf_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchAafExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkAafSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="au_aaf_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="au_aaf_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml b/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
index 6f354f5f..fe4245e0 100644
--- a/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the CAF export metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the CAF production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchCafExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchCafExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="ca_caf_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="https://caf-shibops.ca/CoreServices/cafshib_metadata_signed.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     <!--
         CAF signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="cafSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="ca_caf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ca_caf/cafshib_metadata_verify.pem"/>
@@ -29,9 +30,32 @@
     <!--
         Check CAF signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkCafSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkCafSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="cafSigningCertificate"/>
+    <bean id="ca_caf_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="ca_caf_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="ca_caf_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="ca_caf_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="ca_caf_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/ca_caf/import.xml b/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
similarity index 57%
rename from mdx/ca_caf/import.xml
rename to mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
index d5abd10f..ff5d115b 100644
--- a/mdx/ca_caf/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="ca_caf_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="caf_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="ca_caf_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchCafExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkCafSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="ca_caf_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="ca_caf_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml b/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
index c5724e23..d3715a04 100644
--- a/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the SWITCH metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the SWITCH production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchSwitchExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchSwitchExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://switch.ch/aai/federation/SWITCHaai/metadata.switchaai_signed.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     <!--
         SWITCH federation signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="switchSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ch_switchaai/metadata.crt"/>
@@ -26,9 +27,35 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="checkSwitchSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkSwitchSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="switchSigningCertificate"/>
+    <!--
+        Check against SWITCH signing signature.
+    -->
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="ch_switchaai_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="ch_switchaai_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/ch_switchaai/import.xml b/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
similarity index 56%
rename from mdx/ch_switchaai/import.xml
rename to mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
index 68c28bb3..31bdc96a 100644
--- a/mdx/ch_switchaai/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchSwitchExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkSwitchSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="ch_switchaai_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/conventions.txt b/mdx/conventions.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f3aec3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mdx/conventions.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+Conventions for the /mdx/ directory tree.
+=========================================
+
+Each directory under /mdx/ represents a source of metadata, referred to as a channel.  Each channel is named in the form "country_source", for example: us_incommon.  Exceptions are made for the UK federation, whose channel is just called "uk", and for channels not associated with particular countries, which are named as "int_source", for example "int_edugain".
+
+Each channel contains a number of Spring bean configuration files.  The beans.xml file is present in all channels, in addition a channel may provide a verbs.xml and/or <verb>.xml files implementing channel-specific verbs.
+
+beans.xml conventions
+=====================
+
+Most beans defined within a channel appear in a beans.xml configuration file within the channel directory.
+
+As well as being available to channel-local operations, these beans are available to operations involving more than one channel.  Therefore, all beans defined in beans.xml should be named with the channel name as a prefix in order to avoid clashes when beans from more than one channel are brought together at run time.  For example, a bean which would naturally be called "productionAggregate" would be named "us_incommon_productionAggregate" within the "us_incommon" channel, "se_swamid_productionAggregate" within the "se_swamid" channel and so on.
+
+All beans defined in beans.xml should be set as lazy-init="true".  All aggregator component beans should additionally declare init-method="initialize".
+
+common beans.xml channel beans
+==============================
+
+channel_productionAggregate is a stage that fetches the source's production aggregate
+
+channel_exportAggregate is a stage that fetches the source's export aggregate.  Omitted if the source doesn't have an export aggregate.
+
+channel_signingCertificate
+
+channel_checkSignature
+
+channel_exportedEntities is a composite stage which returns the source's exported entities as a collection.  If the source doesn't have an export aggregate, it may instead derive a pseudo export collection from the production aggregate.
+
+verbs.xml and <verb>.xml conventions
+====================================
+
+Verbs are operations that can be directly executed by the aggregator CLI.  They are implemented as aggregator pipeline objects named by the verb they implement, without qualification by the channel name.  A qualified name is not required in this case because verbs are never called from other channels, only from the CLI.
+
+Verbs are defined either in a file named after the verb (e.g., "collect.xml", "import.xml") or in a "verbs.xml" file.  The Ant build file looks for a specifically-named file first, then falls back to the verbs.xml file.
+
+For example, executing the "import" verb on the "us_incommon" channel involves looking for an "import.xml" file in the "us_incommon" directory.  If this is found, the "import" pipeline in /mdx/us_incommon/import.xml is invoked; otherwise, the CLI is invoked on the "import" pipeline in /mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml.
+
+Verb definition files should import the channel's beans.xml file as well as the common-beans.xml file from the parent /mdx/ directory through a relative path.
+
+Verb definition files should not import each other; any beans required to be shared between verb definition files should be moved into the channel's beans.xml file and given an appropriately channel-qualified name.
+
+All aggregator component beans declared within a verb definition file should declare init-method="initialize".  If more than one verb is defined in a verbs.xml file, all beans within the file should also be set as lazy-init="true".
+
diff --git a/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml b/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
index 45dbce57..8a8d1a26 100644
--- a/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
@@ -16,13 +16,11 @@
     -->
     
     <!--
-        Fetch the export metadata aggregate.
-        
-        For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_fetchExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+    <bean id="cz_eduid_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="https://metadata.eduid.cz/entities/eduid"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -56,7 +54,8 @@
         <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="cz_eduid_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="cz_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
                 <ref bean="cz_eduid_checkSignature"/>
                 
                 <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
diff --git a/mdx/cz_eduid/import.xml b/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
similarity index 73%
rename from mdx/cz_eduid/import.xml
rename to mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
index 6b94d699..80c6fdb5 100644
--- a/mdx/cz_eduid/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>                
                 <ref bean="cz_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                <ref bean="cz_eduid_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml b/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
index 97a83d3d..3c688a4e 100644
--- a/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the export metadata aggregate.
-        
-        For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_fetchExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="https://edugate.heanet.ie/edugate-metadata-signed.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -45,7 +43,8 @@
         <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_exportedEntities"/>
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="ie_edugate_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="ie_edugate_productionAggregate"/>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_checkSignature"/>
                 
                 <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
diff --git a/mdx/ie_edugate/import.xml b/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
similarity index 73%
rename from mdx/ie_edugate/import.xml
rename to mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
index c3c03aab..56016b69 100644
--- a/mdx/ie_edugate/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                <ref bean="ie_edugate_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml b/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
index 2af1dfa0..066f161c 100644
--- a/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
@@ -10,23 +10,21 @@
         http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
     
     <!--
-        fetchEduGainTestAggregate
-        
-        Fetches the eduGAIN test aggregate.
+        Fetch the eduGAIN test aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchEduGainTestAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchEduGainTestAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_testAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_testAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://mds-test.edugain.org"/>
     </bean>
 
     <!--
-        fetchEduGainAggregate
-        
         Fetches the eduGAIN production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchEduGainAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchEduGainAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://mds.edugain.org"/>
     </bean>
@@ -34,7 +32,8 @@
     <!--
         eduGAIN signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="edugainSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="int_edugain_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/int_edugain/edugain-signer.crt"/>
@@ -42,9 +41,55 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="checkEdugainSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkEdugainSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="edugainSigningCertificate"/>
+    <!--
+        Check a signature against the eduGAIN signing certificate.
+    -->
+    <bean id="int_edugain_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="int_edugain_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="int_edugain_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the test entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="int_edugain_testEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_testEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_testAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/int_edugain/testImport.xml b/mdx/int_edugain/testImport.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index e7257295..00000000
--- a/mdx/int_edugain/testImport.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<!--
-    Import pipeline for test metadata for this channel.
--->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
-    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
-    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="
-        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
-    
-    <!--
-        Import commonly used beans.
-    -->
-    <import resource="../common-beans.xml"/>
-    
-    <!--
-        Import channel-specific beans.
-    -->
-    <import resource="beans.xml"/>
-    
-    <bean id="int_edugain_serializeTestImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_serializeTestImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
-        <property name="outputFile">
-            <bean class="java.io.File">
-                <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/int_edugain/testImported.xml"/>
-            </bean>
-        </property>
-    </bean>
-    
-    <bean id="int_edugain_testImport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_testImport"/>
-        <property name="stages">
-            <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchEduGainTestAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkEdugainSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="int_edugain_serializeTestImported"/>
-            </list>
-        </property>
-    </bean>
-
-</beans>
diff --git a/mdx/int_edugain/import.xml b/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
similarity index 59%
rename from mdx/int_edugain/import.xml
rename to mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
index c56e6bdd..18d80c81 100644
--- a/mdx/int_edugain/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="int_edugain_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -30,26 +30,28 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="int_edugain_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchEduGainAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkEdugainSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="int_edugain_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
 
+    <bean id="testImport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="testImport"/>
+        <property name="stages">
+            <list>
+                <ref bean="int_edugain_testEntities"/>
+                <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
+    </bean>
+    
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml b/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
index d3a15621..256954f0 100644
--- a/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the SWAMID export metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the SWAMID production.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchSwamidExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchSwamidExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="se_swamid_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://md.swamid.se/md/swamid-1.0.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     <!--
         SWAMID federation signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="swamidSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="se_swamid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/se_swamid/md-signer.crt"/>
@@ -29,9 +30,32 @@
     <!--
         Check SWAMID signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkSwamidSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkSwamidSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="swamidSigningCertificate"/>
+    <bean id="se_swamid_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="se_swamid_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="se_swamid_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="se_swamid_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="se_swamid_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/se_swamid/import.xml b/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
similarity index 56%
rename from mdx/se_swamid/import.xml
rename to mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
index aae37729..de6140a3 100644
--- a/mdx/se_swamid/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="se_swamid_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="se_swamid_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchSwamidExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkSwamidSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="se_swamid_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="se_swamid_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml b/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
index dbb89328..608bdb86 100644
--- a/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the ARNES export metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the ARNES production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchArnesExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchArnesExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="si_arnes_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://ds.aai.arnes.si/metadata/aai.arnes.si.signed.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     <!--
         ARNES signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="arnesSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="si_arnes_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
+        lazy-init="true">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/si_arnes/aai.arnes.si.crt"/>
@@ -29,9 +30,32 @@
     <!--
         Check ARNES signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkArnesSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkArnesSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="arnesSigningCertificate"/>
+    <bean id="si_arnes_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="si_arnes_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="si_arnes_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="si_arnes_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="si_arnes_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/si_arnes/import.xml b/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
similarity index 56%
rename from mdx/si_arnes/import.xml
rename to mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
index 5f5cee7e..f2b7795b 100644
--- a/mdx/si_arnes/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for metadata from ARNES.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="si_arnes_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="si_arnes_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchArnesExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkArnesSignature"/>
-
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="si_arnes_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="si_arnes_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/collect.xml b/mdx/uk/collect.xml
index f0b409f9..23bd7e5a 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/collect.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/collect.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Pipeline to collect UK-registered entities.
+    Verb to collect UK-registered entities.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
 
-    <bean id="uk_serializeCollected" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeCollected" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_serializeCollected"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeCollected"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -30,16 +30,16 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="uk_collect" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="collect" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_collect"/>
+        <property name="id" value="collect"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="uk_assemble"/>
                 <ref bean="uk_addTrustRoots"/>
                 <ref bean="normaliseNamespaces"/>
-                <ref bean="uk_serializeCollected"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeCollected"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml b/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
index aed703aa..b6804f2a 100644
--- a/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the export metadata aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_fetchExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+    <bean id="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="https://auth.athensams.net/saml/metadata?name=ukfederation"/>
     </bean>
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
         <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities"/>
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="uk_eduserv_fetchExportAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate"/>
                 <ref bean="uk_eduserv_checkSignature"/>
                 
                 <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
diff --git a/mdx/uk_eduserv/import.xml b/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
similarity index 73%
rename from mdx/uk_eduserv/import.xml
rename to mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
index 0df96a59..c7a97c7b 100644
--- a/mdx/uk_eduserv/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="pipeline"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                <ref bean="uk_eduserv_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>
diff --git a/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml b/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
index ffc1a64a..08d457e1 100644
--- a/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
 
     <!--
-        Fetch the InCommon export metadata aggregate.  For the moment, use the production aggregate in lieu
-        of a designated export aggregate.
+        Fetch the InCommon production metadata aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fetchInCommonExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage">
-        <property name="id" value="fetchInCommonExportAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="us_incommon_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomHttpSourceStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_productionAggregate"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="sourceUrl" value="http://wayf.incommonfederation.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml"/>        
     </bean>
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     <!--
         InCommon signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="inCommonSigningCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
+    <bean id="us_incommon_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/us_incommon/incommon.pem"/>
@@ -29,9 +29,32 @@
     <!--
         Check InCommon signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkInCommonSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage">
-        <property name="id" value="checkInCommonSignature"/>
-        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="inCommonSigningCertificate"/>
+    <bean id="us_incommon_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_checkSignature"/>
+        <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="us_incommon_signingCertificate"/>
+    </bean>
+
+    <!--
+        Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
+    -->
+    <bean id="us_incommon_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
+        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_exportedEntities"/>
+        <property name="composedStages">
+            <list>
+                <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
+                <ref bean="us_incommon_productionAggregate"/>
+                <ref bean="us_incommon_checkSignature"/>
+                
+                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
+                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
+                
+                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
+            </list>
+        </property>
     </bean>
     
 </beans>
diff --git a/mdx/us_incommon/import.xml b/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
similarity index 56%
rename from mdx/us_incommon/import.xml
rename to mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
index c36e713e..ff95e503 100644
--- a/mdx/us_incommon/import.xml
+++ b/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
-    Import pipeline for this channel.
+    Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="us_incommon_serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+    <!--
+        Serialise into this channel's "imported" aggregate file.
+    -->
+    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_serializeImported"/>
+        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -26,24 +29,14 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="us_incommon_import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
+    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
         init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_import"/>
+        <property name="id" value="import"/>
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
-                <ref bean="fetchInCommonExportAggregate"/>
-                <ref bean="checkInCommonSignature"/>
-                
-                <!-- failure to validate signature is fatal -->
-                <ref bean="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="disassemble"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="standardImportActions"/>
-                
+                <ref bean="us_incommon_exportedEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="standardImportTail"/>
-                
-                <ref bean="us_incommon_serializeImported"/>
+                <ref bean="serializeImported"/>
             </list>
         </property>
     </bean>