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Update on plant health import controls of EU goods

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  2. Update on plant health import controls of EU goods

The Government has today announced that the remaining import controls on EU goods, including plants and plant products, will no longer be introduced this year. Instead, traders will continue to move their goods from the EU to GB as they do now.  

This will not affect the proposed changes to the frequency of checks and fees which apply to EU and Rest of World (RoW) goods. These will continue to be implemented from July 2022 in line with the respective public consultations. 

British businesses are rightly focussing on their recovery from the pandemic and dealing with ongoing supply chain disruption. This decision is intended to support those efforts and avoid introducing new administrative requirements which might risk disruption at port at this point. 

Controls introduced in January 2021 and 2022 on imports of plants and plant products from the EU, will continue to apply to safeguard the UK’s biosecurity.  

We want the process for importing plants and plant products to be safe, secure and efficient and we want to harness innovative new technologies to streamline processes and reduce frictions.  

Moving forward, our engagement with industry will be guided by these objectives and will build on existing work already taking place, including on the UK Single Trade Window – a new digital platform that will help traders to move goods globally more easily.   

What does the decision mean for your business? 

This decision does not affect existing controls that were introduced in January 2021 and January 2022. This means: 

  • If you import high-priority plants and plant products, you will still need to obtain a Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) and provide pre-notification before your goods arrive in GB. Import checks of these goods will continue to happen at Places of Destinations (PoDs). 

  • If you import ‘regulated and notifiable’ produce and cut flowers, you will still need to pre-notify your good before they arrive in GB. 

This decision also does not affect the proposed changes to the frequency of checks and fees which apply to EU and Rest of World (RoW) goods. These will continue to be implemented from July 2022.  

However, the rest of the controls which were planned for introduction from July 2022 are no longer going ahead. This means: 

  • Import checks of high-priority plants and plant products will no longer be moving to Border Control Posts (BCPs), and will continue to take place at PoDs 

  • ‘Regulated and notifiable’ produce and cut flowers will not be subject to import checks from July and will not need to be accompanied by a PC. 

  • Low-risk (Article 73) goods will no longer require pre-notification from July 

  • Marketing Standards and organic import requirements for imports from the EU, will no longer need to be applied from July 2022 

Find out further details on the official ministerial statement.  

 

A more detailed Q&A on the announcement can be found here.