Guidance

Plant health controls

Plant health controls, imports and exports, certification schemes, plant passporting and listed quarantine plant pests.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Animal and Plant Health Agency
Published
7 September 2012
Last updated
11 October 2024 — See all updates

There are many pests and diseases that can seriously damage crops and plants in the UK. To protect plant health, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) sets policy and enforces controls and restrictions on the import, movement and keeping of certain plants, plant pests and other materials such as soil.

The Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) is part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and implements and enforces plant health policy in England, and in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government. If you want to grow, import, export or move certain plants or plant material, you will need to use the PHSI’s services.

Current plant health issues

Latest issues related to protecting plant health and the trade of plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material can be found on the pests and diseases page on the UK Plant Health Information Portal.

Legislation

Plant health legislation controls the import and movement of certain plants, seeds and organic matter - such as soil - and certain plant products, including fruit, potatoes, vegetables, cut flowers, foliage and grain.

Controls are different depending on the species - and whether or not they are classified as quarantine organisms - but could include the need for classification, a phytosanitary certificate, a plant passport and/or inspection requirements.

There are two main elements of plant health control relevant to growers and crop farmers:

  • protection against quarantine organisms - measures to prevent the introduction and spread of harmful plant pests and diseases which are not established in Great Britain
  • certification - ensures that high-quality planting material which is free from specific pests and diseases is available to growers

If you find or suspect a quarantine organism, you must contact your local PHSI office immediately.

You should also check the UK Plant Health Information Portal for current issues related to plant health and the trade of plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material.

Imports

Some plants or plant products which host or can carry plant pests are prohibited from entering Great Britain while others must meet certain requirements and be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.

Importers must check if a plant or plant product requires phytosanitary certification to be allowed entry into Great Britain.

Read guidance on how to import plants and plant products from non-EU countries.

The guidance on this page also applies to goods imported for commercial purposes (to be sold onwards) by post or courier. Contact your post or courier service to find out if they offer an import service for commercial imports and for more information about the process.

Import plants and plant products from the EU

Great Britain is no longer part of the EU Plant Passport Regime.

The majority of plants and plant products entering Great Britain from the EU are now subject to plant health controls, such as certification requirements.

Consignments of some controlled commodities being imported from the EU must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in the country of export instead of an EU plant passport.

Just as for imports from non-EU countries, importers must check if a plant or plant product requires phytosanitary certification to be allowed entry into Great Britain. You must also register with the relevant competent authority before importing any controlled plants or plant products.

Read the guidance on how to import plants and plant products from the EU.

Exports

The PHSI provides a range of chargeable services to help you export plants, plant products, fruit and vegetables, seeds, soil or agricultural machinery to countries outside Great Britain. All material must satisfy the plant health requirements of the importing country.

To get a phytosanitary certificate, your plants must be inspected. Read the guidance on exporting plants from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Requirements for forestry and wood are covered by Plant Health (Forestry) legislation. For more information about this, read Forestry Commission advice how to export wood and timber products.

Quarantine pests

Requirements on quarantine pests and diseases are one of the two key elements of plant health control, along with certification.

Quarantine measures help to keep foreign pests out of areas where they could damage crops, trees, wild plants and ecosystems. Under plant health legislation a number of plant pests and diseases are classified as quarantine organisms and are therefore subject to statutory control.

For further information about pests and diseases, see the Plant Health Portal.

What to do if you identify a quarantine pest or disease

Early identification is important to help combat quarantine pests and diseases. If you find a quarantine organism or suspect one may be present, you should contact your local PHSI immediately to alert them.

For information on tree-related notifiable pests and diseases, you can contact the Forestry Commission.

Potato brown rot

Potato brown rot is a serious bacterial disease of potato which is not present in the UK but is a threat to the potato industry.

APHA annually monitors potatoes and has a programme of sampling watercourses to check for the organism (Ralstonia solanacearum) which causes potato brown rot.

Restrictions are put in place if the organism is found. For watercourses this means that the irrigation and spraying of potato and tomato crops is only possible using an approved method, such as winter abstraction and storage, or water treatment.

Growers or companies interested in developing or using an approved technique must first contact APHA. See the following information about restrictions:

Plant passports

If you’re based in England and Wales and you’re moving plants or plant products within Great Britain that are regulated for plant health purposes, they will need plant passports.

Plant passports no longer apply to Northern Ireland movements from Great Britain.

Information on movements to Great Britain from Northern Ireland can be found on Issuing plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain.

If you’re based in Scotland, the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) website explains what you need to do.

For further information or to see if plant passporting applies to you, read the guidance on issuing plant passports to trade plants.

You can issue plant passports yourself, but you must be authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

If you previously issued EU plant passports, you do not need to reapply to issue UK passports.

If you need a supplier document for planting material, you can use a plant passport.

You might also need a supplier document for marketing purposes.

Scientific authorisations

Authorisations, previously known as licences, let you import, move and keep normally prohibited material in England and Wales. APHA issues authorisations subject to detailed quarantine conditions.

Read the guidance on moving prohibited plants, plant pests, pathogens and soil.

Application forms

Fees

Read about fees for non-EU imports of plants and plant products to Great Britain and the changes from 1 April 2021.

Read about fees for EU imports of plants and plant products to Great Britain from 1 June 2021.

The following legislation sets out the fees for plant health services delivered by APHA in England and Wales.

Import inspection, plant passporting, seed potato and fruit plants and fruit plant propagating material certification, licensing, sampling of potatoes originating in Egypt and the Lebanon:

Export certification services:

Contacts and further information

To contact APHA call the Plant Health Helpline.

Further information is also available on the following websites.

Rural Payments Agency

Forestry Commission website

Defra

Chemicals Regulation Division

PEACH helpdesk

Natural Resources Wales

Updates to this page

Published 7 September 2012
Last updated 11 October 2024 + show all updates

  1. This guidance applies to goods imported for commercial purposes (to be sold onwards) by post or courier. You can contact your post or courier service to find out if they offer an import service for commercial imports.

  2. Updated the potato brown rot documents.

  3. New section added on importing plants and plant products from the EU, registering as an importer on PEACH, removal of export application forms, advice on what to do if you identify a quarantine pest or disease, expanded section on plant passports, updated fees section.

  4. Updated the potato brown rot notices

  5. Added link to The Plant Health (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

  6. Update to importing wording

  7. Fees legislation updated.

  8. Title of guidance updated

  9. Link added to the new plant passporting updates page

  10. Updated fees section - new fees will apply from 6 April 2018

  11. Updated potato brown rot restriction documents

  12. Update to fees section on revised plant health charges for 2018

  13. Added link to The Plant Health (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2018

  14. Added sweet chestnut blight to demarcated zones section

  15. Updated demarcated zones potato brown rot section

  16. Updated link to the Plant Health Portal

  17. Updated links to new detailed guides.

  18. Fixing references to specialist guides

  19. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Contents

Related content