Issue plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain

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Professional operators in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) no longer issue EU plant passports. UK plant passports are issued in place of EU plant passports.

A UK plant passport is an official document you need to move plants and certain regulated wood within Great Britain, to the Isle of Man or to the Channel Islands. This includes:

all plants for planting
some seeds
seed potatoes
wood and wood products
isolated bark

Read a detailed list of regulated plants, seeds and wood products that need a UK plant passport.

You can issue UK plant passports yourself, but you must be authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) or the Forestry Commission, depending on the goods.

This APHA guidance is for operators in England and Wales. Operators in Scotland should follow guidance from Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA).

You must follow Forestry Commission guidance if you’re a GB-trader in wood, wood products or isolated bark.

For Northern Ireland, check with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

When you need a UK plant passport

Check the following lists for more detail on the:

If you’re unsure whether your consignment needs UK plant passports, contact APHA at planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk or Forestry Commission at plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

You may be eligible to use the Northern Ireland plant health label (NIPHL) scheme if you’re moving:

plants or seeds for planting from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
seed potatoes from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

Read guidance on moving plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

Supplying retailers

There is no exemption when you directly supply retailers.

If you sell directly to retailers, you need to be authorised to issue plant passports for any plants which have plant passport requirements.

Supplying customers for personal use

If you’re selling plants through distance contracts (for example, online) directly to customers buying for personal use, a plant passport is still needed.

You do not need a plant passport for other retail sales - for example, if you sell plants to customers paying in person.

Trade seed potatoes

Seed potatoes must have a plant passport at every stage of the trade chain in Great Britain. If you grow seed potatoes you must be registered as a professional operator by APHA. If you grow seed potatoes read the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS) for more information on how the SPCS works.

Register as a professional operator and get authorised to issue UK plant passports

Every business that works with plants must be registered as a professional operator. You can register to become a plant health professional operator online or by email.

You also need to apply to become authorised to issue UK plant passports if you move regulated plant material in Great Britain including:

all plants for planting
some seeds
seed potatoes

Christmas trees

You must have a UK plant passport to move:

rooted Christmas trees of any size
cut Christmas trees more than 3 metres tall
branches or foliage taken from conifer trees more than 3 metres tall

This includes when you supply your customers over the internet or by phone.

If you move Christmas trees, you should be aware of regional restrictions due to pests and disease.

If you want to move rooted Christmas trees of any size, you must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from APHA if you are based in England or Wales, or SASA if you are based in Scotland.

If you are a business that transports plants for planting to other businesses that intend to move goods on, you must register with APHA or SASA — for example, if you are a garden centre, commercial nursery, or farm. You and your growers must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from APHA if you are based in England or Wales, or SASA if you are based in Scotland.

If you are a business, but you do not move plants for planting to other businesses, you must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from the Forestry Commission to move:

cut Christmas trees more than 3 metres tall that will be moved on
branches or foliage taken from conifer trees more than 3 metres tall

If you’re not sure if you need to register with APHA, SASA or the Forestry Commission, you can ask at:

planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk - for APHA
hort.marketing@gov.scot - for SASA
plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk - for Forestry Commission

After you’re registered as a professional operator with APHA

After you’ve registered to become a professional operator with APHA, you’ll get a unique registration number. You’ll be able to apply for authorisation to issue plant passports for:

all plants for planting
some seeds
seed potatoes

You can then issue as many passports and supplier documents as you need.

You only need a separate authorisation to issue supplier documents if you’re not already authorised to issue plant passports. For example, if you’re trading fruits and vegetables that are not covered by plant passport rules.

Inspections

APHA will do an inspection shortly after you’re authorised to make sure you’re compliant with the regulations. Inspectors will:

interview you or the person responsible for plant passports at your site
audit your records
inspect host plants and sample them to make sure they’re free from pests or diseases that could make trading a plant health risk
give you or the person responsible an update on the latest plant quarantine pest and disease risks

They’ll then discuss test results and any issues they find at your site.

If they’re satisfied your site does not pose a risk to plant health, your authorisation will remain approved.

Inspection fees

The fees are £61.58 for each 15 minutes (or part thereof) with a minimum fee of £123.16.

The fees are payable for each 15 minutes (or part thereof) spent in carrying out the inspection and any associated activities.

These associated activities are added to the standard hourly rate rather than directly charged for. They include the time it takes inspectors to travel to your site and any administration relevant to that inspection, subject to the minimum fees.

The fee for renewal inspections is the same as for first inspections.

An additional fee of £20.66 will be charged if you submit an application for a plant passport authorisation in paper form rather than online using eDomero.

You will not have to pay if APHA authorises you to issue supplier documents only.

Renewal authorisation and fees

You must renew your authorisation each year using eDomero.

The fees for renewal inspections are the same as for first inspection fees.

APHA is creating a list of businesses that have been authorised to sell plants by distance contract. Find out more about joining the list.

UK Plant passport content and format

The content and format of plant passports has changed to show the difference between UK plant passports and EU plant passports.

The EU plant passport is no longer recognised as an official label in Great Britain, unless they are attached to Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods (QNIGs).

In Northern Ireland, EU plant passports are used for internal Northern Ireland movements, and for movements to the EU or Great Britain.

UK plant passports have these changes:

include the words ‘UK Plant Passport’
include the letters ‘A, B, C, D, E’, known as ‘parts A to E’, with information following each letter
part B (registration number) must not have a ‘GB’ prefix because this was only necessary on EU plant passports to differentiate between member states
the words ‘UK Plant Passport’ must be printed in English at the top of the plant passport
no flag

The UK plant passport must be distinct and separate from information included on other labels.

Part A (botanical names)

You must include the botanical names of the plants or plant material. This should be a full genus and species name.

A genus name is only acceptable on its own if the species name is not known. Variety or cultivar names are optional.

Part B (registration number)

You must include the alphabetical, numerical or alphanumerical national registration number of the professional operator.

Part C (traceability codes)

You must include the traceability code of the plant or plant material. This can be an existing code used to trace or identify a consignment. For example, it could be an individual serial, week, batch or invoice number.

The code must provide traceability back to the unit where the plant passport was issued.

A traceability code is not needed if plants for planting have:

been prepared and are ready for sale to final users without needing any further preparation
no risk of spreading quarantine pests in Great Britain

The plant passport may include a unique barcode, QR-code, hologram, chip or other data carrier, as well as the traceability code.

This is optional and does not replace the need to include a traceability code.

Part D (country of origin)

The 2-letter code ‘GB’ applies to the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland.

You must include the country of origin of the consignment, using the 2 letter ISO code for the country or countries.

Country of origin is considered to have changed when plants have been ‘grown-on’.

Plants are ‘grown-on’ if they have been any of the following:

potted, re-potted, grafted or rooted
in active growth under protection for at least 2 weeks
in active growth outside for at least 4 weeks
subject to high risk of infestation by a quarantine organism, for example grown-on a premises subject to statutory notice (legal notice regarding non-compliance or pest outbreak)

Plant passports of some Xylella fastidiosa hosts and Ceratocystis platani hosts can only list ‘GB’ after the plants have been in the UK for one year after import.

The plants can be marketed in the first year after they’ve been imported but only on a plant passport which states the original country of origin.

The GB code applies to these hosts of Xylella fastidiosa plants other than:

fruit or seeds of Olea europaea (olive), Coffea spp. (coffee), Polygala myrtifolia, Prunus dulcis (almond)
seeds, intended for planting, of Lavandula spp. (lavender), Nerium oleander, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary)

The GB code applies to plants for planting of Platanus spp. (plane) intended for planting other than seeds.

Part E (movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain)

QNIGs can continue to move from Northern Ireland to Great Britain in the same way as before. QNIGs are goods either:

in free circulation in Northern Ireland - on the basis that they are not under customs supervision (except when that supervision comes from the goods being taken out of Northern Ireland or the EU)
which have undergone processing operations in Northern Ireland under the inward processing procedure, and only incorporate inputs which were in free circulation in the UK

If you are an operator based in Great Britain and receive a consignment of plants or plant material from Northern Ireland which are QNIGs and subject to plant passport requirements, they will arrive at your premises with an EU plant passport as before.

As these are QNIGs you do not need to routinely replace this EU plant passport with a UK plant passport, and the goods may be moved on under their EU plant passport unless you either:

split the consignment and the new ‘units’ (these may be trolleys, pallets, boxes, bags or similar) no longer have a PP attached to them
choose to replace the plant passport (for example, to include your supplier’s details for business purposes)

If any of the above points apply, a UK plant passport could be issued without a full examination of the plants taking place before onward movement.

If you replace a plant passport on a QNIG you must put the code ‘GB(NI)’ in Part E of that replacement UK plant passport, to help maintain their identity as QNIGs.

This is to aid monitoring of compliance with plant passporting requirements, including the specific provisions for QNIGs.

This will help make sure that it is easily visible whether a good has originated outside of Great Britain’s phytosanitary zone, yet may not have undergone full third country checks, which will be important for tracing purposes in the event of a pest or disease is found.

If the phytosanitary status of your consignment changes, then a full examination will need to be carried out on the plants. For example, if:

traceability has not been maintained
there is a pest or disease issue with the consignment
the plants have been ‘grown on’

Once confirmed they are fully aligned with Great Britain’s plant health standards, a standard UK plant passport with Part E left blank could be issued.

Read guidance on when plants have been grown under Part D (country of origin).

Issuing and fixing plant passports for regulated plant material from 1 January 2021

If you were authorised to issue EU plant passports, you do not need a new authorisation to issue UK plant passports.

You must renew your authorisations every year using eDomero for APHA. Your business will be audited to check you are compliant. Read guidance on how to apply for authorisation.

Contact Forestry Commission to review your authorisation if you issue plant passports for wood, wood products or isolated bark.

UK plant passports in the EU

If you’re authorised to issue UK plant passports, your supplier in an EU member state can attach plant passports for you. They can do this until 30 June 2025.

Your supplier must use the passports you give them.

Your UK plant passport attached in an EU member state has draft status. It has no legal status in Great Britain until the plants have passed your examination.

Your passports must be:

in the UK standard format
attached correctly by your supplier

Your plants must:

be intended for direct sale to final users — an APHA plant health inspector will determine this from the packaging or labelling
travel to Great Britain under a phytosanitary certificate and may be inspected at border control posts
be examined by you when they arrive at the first place of destination

If the plants pass your examination you can issue the passport. You do not need to mark the passport to show it has been issued.

If the plants fail your examination, you must remove the plant passport. You will have to correct any issues you have identified or destroy the plants.

If you find a quarantine pest, you must hold the plants and immediately notify a plant health inspector.

If you correct the issues, you must attach a new UK plant passport.

You must keep a record of all plant examinations you carry out.

As the operator responsible for issuing plant passports, you are responsible for complying with the rules.

EU plant passports in Great Britain

EU plant passports cannot be attached in England, Scotland or Wales (Great Britain). They can continue to be attached in Northern Ireland.

UK plant passports in Northern Ireland

You will need a phytosanitary certificate when moving regulated plants and plant material that need a plant passport to Northern Ireland.

Imports with EU plant passports

Imports from the EU to Northern Ireland can continue to use an EU plant passport.

Imports from the EU to Great Britain need a phytosanitary certificate.

The process for replacing a phytosanitary certificate with a UK plant passport will remain the same.

Plant passports should be issued at the first place of destination, that is the first premises the commodities reach for drop off, such as a depot or retail outlet.

If you import goods to the UK under a phytosanitary certificate, you only need to issue a UK plant passport for your goods if:

you’re moving them to another professional operator
you’re selling them to final users (those buying for personal use) by means of distance contract, for example online
you’re moving them to another of your own premises which is more than 10 miles from the premises where the consignment arrived
the phytosanitary status of the consignment changes, for example, if it has been grown on, or if it has been reconfigured, for example, 2 plants in separate pots have been planted in a new pot together

EU plant passports do not need to be invalidated when they enter Great Britain. As the format is different to the UK plant passport they can easily be differentiated. The EU plant passport is automatically invalid.

Plant passports and pest-free areas

Great Britain no longer uses the EU designation of protected zones (PZs), and instead uses the internationally recognised term of pest-free area (PFA).

Protected zone pests will either become GB quarantine pests (which are absent throughout Great Britain), or PFA pests (which are absent in only part of Great Britain).

Commodities which are hosts of GB quarantine pests need standard UK plant passports for movement within Great Britain.

Commodities which are hosts of PFA pests will require PFA UK plant passports for their movement within Great Britain.

A PFA plant passport should have the words ‘UK plant passport - PFA’ at the top of the label, and the EPPO code of the relevant PFA pest.

Check which commodities need PFA plant passports to find the code you need to include.

Contact APHA if you need more information on PFAs.

Plant passports and certification labels

Some seeds that need a plant passport also need certification. The plant passport can be merged with the certification label.

The label must have the words ‘UK Plant Passport’ with the remaining certification information below that.

To find out if you trade in seeds that need certification check the list of the agricultural and vegetable seeds.

When to issue a new UK plant passport

If you split a consignment or send the consignment to somewhere else where a passport is needed, you’ll need to issue new UK plant passports for the new consignments. If a UK plant passport is already attached to the new consignments, you do not have to issue new UK plant passports.

For example, if you had a trolley of plants covered by a single UK plant passport and then split that into different trays of plants to send to different operators, new UK plant passports will need to be attached to each of the trays. You do not need a new passport if:

you do not split a consignment
traceability for the plants or wood is maintained
the plants or wood are free of pests and disease
the characteristics of the plants or wood have not changed

If any of these points are not followed then a meticulous examination must take place for a new UK plant passport to be issued.

Attachment of the plant passport

The UK plant passport must be attached to the smallest package in which you transport your plants or plant material.

If you move the same commodity on pallets, boxes, trays, or in bags, the plant passport must be attached to each of those individual units.

Multiple plant species can be listed on a single plant passport as long as traceability is provided for all regulated plants or plant material listed on the plant passport.

If there’s a mix of plants on a trolley and it’s going directly to a retail outlet (for example, a garden centre), you can just attach the passport to the trolley. The passport must be attached to the trolley itself. It cannot be a delivery note with the driver.

Plants or plant material on the trolley can have a passport attached to that trolley at any stage of the supply chain if they are:

homogeneous in composition (of the same species and in the same format) and origin
going to the same destination

You can issue a plant passport for an individual plant or for a single unit, such as a box, tray, bag or bundle. The passport can be:

a label
a sticker
on a care label
on a pictorial packet
in a paper form but attached to the unit in question

For plant passports being sold to customers by a distance contract (for example, online sales), you can attach the plant passport:

to the plant or container, as a label, a sticker, on a care label, or in a paper form but attached to the unit
on the delivery note if that is travelling in the package or box with the plant
on the outside of the box or packet the plant or plant material is travelling in

Supplier document

You must complete a supplier document for certain plants.

This requirement is separate to a plant passport. Plant passports and supplier documents can not be substituted for each other.

If you did not need a supplier document before plant passport requirements changed on 14 December 2019, you do not need one now. You may still need a plant passport.

Check the following lists to find out if your consignment needs to travel with a supplier document:

fruit plants which must travel with a supplier document (PDF, 97.2 KB, 1 page)
vegetable plants which must travel with a supplier document (PDF, 157 KB, 1 page)

Your consignment must also travel with a supplier document if you’re moving ornamental plant propagating material, including seeds.

You must make a supplier document for certain plants.

Fruit and vegetable plants

Your supplier document for fruit and vegetable plants must include:

the phrase ‘EU Quality’
‘UK’ (to show that the plants were grown in, or imported into, the UK)
‘EW’ (the code for APHA)
your unique APHA registration number
your company name
your individual serial, week, batch or invoice number
the date you made the document
the botanical name of the plants or common name for vegetables
the variety name for rootstocks or a designation if there’s no variety name
the quantity in the consignment

Ornamental plants

Your supplier document for ornamental plants must include:

the phrase ‘EU Quality’
‘UK’ (to show that the plants were grown in, or imported into, the UK)
‘EW’ (the code for APHA)
your unique APHA registration number
your company name
your individual serial, week, batch or invoice number
the date you made the document
the botanical name of the plants
the variety name for rootstocks or a designation if there’s no variety name
the denomination of the group of plants
the quantity in the consignment
the country of production of the consignment, if the plants and plant material have been imported from a non-EU country

Keep records

Your records must allow APHA to investigate any pest or disease outbreaks.

If a supplier sends you a plant passport in the form of a label, you may store this physically or digitally. You do not have to keep supplier documents.

If you have issued a plant passport you must record (and keep for 3 years):

if you have been supplied with a plant passport, the professional operator who supplied the trade unit concerned
the professional operator to whom the trade unit concerned was supplied
the information within the plant passport (this does not have to be a physical copy of the plant passport or an exact digital copy of the plant passport)

If you are a professional operator that has received a plant passport you must:

insist that your supplier provides any passports that are missing - if they refuse to do this, contact APHA to report them
record who supplied you with any passport you receive

If you are a professional operator that has supplied a plant passport you must record who you supplied that plant passport to.

A professional operator is any person involved professionally in, and legally responsible for, one or more of the following activities concerning plants or wood:

planting
breeding
production, including growing, multiplying and maintaining
introduction into, and movement within and out of, the EU
making available on the market
storage, collection, dispatching and processing

Telling APHA about pests or diseases

You must contact APHA if you suspect you’ve found quarantine or non-indigenous pests or diseases.

Issue plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain

Applies to England and Wales

When you need a UK plant passport

Supplying retailers

Supplying customers for personal use

Trade seed potatoes

Register as a professional operator and get authorised to issue UK plant passports

Christmas trees

After you’re registered as a professional operator with APHA

Inspections

Inspection fees

Renewal authorisation and fees

UK Plant passport content and format

Part A (botanical names)

Part B (registration number)

Part C (traceability codes)

Part D (country of origin)

Part E (movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain)

Issuing and fixing plant passports for regulated plant material from 1 January 2021

UK plant passports in the EU

EU plant passports in Great Britain

UK plant passports in Northern Ireland

Imports with EU plant passports

Plant passports and pest-free areas

Plant passports and certification labels

When to issue a new UK plant passport

Attachment of the plant passport

Supplier document

Fruit and vegetable plants

Ornamental plants

Keep records

Telling APHA about pests or diseases

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Issue plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain

Applies to England and Wales

When you need a UK plant passport

Supplying retailers

Supplying customers for personal use

Trade seed potatoes

Register as a professional operator and get authorised to issue UK plant passports

Christmas trees

After you’re registered as a professional operator with APHA

Inspections

Inspection fees

Renewal authorisation and fees

UK Plant passport content and format

Part A (botanical names)

Part B (registration number)

Part C (traceability codes)

Part D (country of origin)

Part E (movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain)

Issuing and fixing plant passports for regulated plant material from 1 January 2021

UK plant passports in the EU

EU plant passports in Great Britain

UK plant passports in Northern Ireland

Imports with EU plant passports

Plant passports and pest-free areas

Plant passports and certification labels

When to issue a new UK plant passport

Attachment of the plant passport

Supplier document

Fruit and vegetable plants

Ornamental plants

Keep records

Telling APHA about pests or diseases

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