Bringing plants and wood into Great Britain
Plants and plant-based products from the EU, Switzerland and Liechtenstein
If you’re bringing in plants or plant-based products from the EU, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, you might need a ‘phytosanitary’ (plant health) certificate.
Plants and plant-based products that need a phytosanitary certificate
You’ll need phytosanitary certificate for certain plants, seeds, bark and wood.
Plants and plant parts
You’ll need a phytosanitary certificate if you’re bringing in:
- plants for planting
- tubers of ware potatoes - Solanum tuberosum L.
- conifer cut trees and branches - Conifers (Pinales) over 3 metres
If you’re bringing in over 2kg of plants for planting, you must arrange for a plant health inspector to inspect your plants when they enter Great Britain. Contact the plant health authority in the country you’re bringing plants into.
Seeds
You’ll need a phytosanitary certificate if you’re bringing in:
- potato - Solanum tuberosum L.
- chestnut – Castanea
- chilli - Capsicum spp. L.
- tomato - Solanum lycopersicum L.
- sunflower - Helianthus annuus L.
- alfalfa - Medicago sativa L.
- onion - Allium cepa L.
- leek - Allium porrum L.
- runner bean - Phaseolus cocineus.
- French bean - Phaseolus vulgaris L.
- green pea - Pisum sativum L.
- broad bean - Vicia faba L.
- rapeseed - oil and fibre plants of Brassica napus L. Brassica rapa L.
- white mustard seed - oil and fibre plants of Sinapis alba L.
- soybean – oil and fibre plants of Glycine max (L.) Merrill
- flax or linseed – oil and fibre plants of Linum usitatissimum L.
Bark
You’ll need a phytosanitary certificate if you’re bringing in the isolated bark of the following trees:
- chestnut – Castanea
- conifer - Conifers (Pinales)
- walnut - Juglans L.
- wingnut - Pterocarya Kunth.
Wood
You’ll need a phytosanitary certificate if you’re bringing in natural (non-manufactured) wood from the following trees:
- plane - Platanus L.
- walnut - Juglans L.
- wingnuts - Pterocarya Kunth.
- chestnut - Castanea Mill., excluding wood which is bark-free
- conifer - Conifers (Pinales), excluding wood which is bark-free
- conifer from Portugal or Spain - Conifers (Pinales)
If you’re bringing in natural (non-manufactured) wood from France, Germany or Italy, you’ll also need a phytosanitary certificate for the following:
- maple - Acer L.
- horse chestnut - Aesculus L.
- alder - Alnus L.
- birch - Betula L.
- hornbeam - Carpinus L.
- katsura - Cercidiphyllum Siebold and Zucc.
- hazel - Corylus L.
- beech - Fagus L.
- ash - Fraxinus L.
- golden-rain - Koelreuteria Medikus.
- plane - Platanus L.
- poplar - Populus L.
- willow - Salix L.
- lime - Tilia L.
- elm - Ulmus L.
- Prunus L. such as plum, peach, nectarine, apricot from Germany or Italy
If your plant and plant-based products does not need a certificate
Your plant or plant-based product must still be:
- free from pests and diseases
- for your own use