Insight for traders of plants/plant products between GB and the EU/NI

Update: Release of new guidance

On Thursday 10 December, Defra released new guidance and information on EU – GB imports of plant and plant products following the end of the Transition Period.

New information released included APHA’s anticipated Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Places of Destination (PoD) checks. The SLA provides assurances of four working hour inspection windows for PoD checks and confirmation that, should APHA be unable to meet this commitment, goods will be released, with some very limited exceptions. This follows NFU engagement with Defra, raising industry concerns over the impacts of long waiting times and delayed checks to businesses. Read the SLA in full here.

Other updates released include:

Guidance on PoD checks for multi-drop import consignments.
Updates on GB’s “Reduced Physical Check Regime” for EU imported plant and plant products that will be subject to physical checks post-transition.
Defra’s hierarchy of risk for EU plant and plant product imports.
and other updated information including risk categorisation and importing CITES plants.

In the run up to the end of the transition period, Defra has carried out a series of webinars on the changes to plant trade from 1 January 2021.

You can watch them again below and also download the presentations.

These will be of help those who import and export plants and plant products between Great Britain (GB), the European Union (EU) and Northern Ireland (NI).

The topics covered included:

what you need to do to import/export plants and plant products between GB and the EU and NI
what you need to do to move plants internally in GB
steps you need to take before 31 December 2020
guidance, documents, and links
support and advice opportunities available

The webinars do not cover IT systems. Defra has announced that videos and user guidance on IT systems is due to be released shortly.

Internal movement of plants and plant products within GB

This webinar was for traders who move plants and plant products internally within GB under the UK Plant Passporting scheme (previously the EU plant passporting scheme)

Download the presentation slides here.