Import plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain (2024)

‘Plant’ means a living plant or a living part of a plant at any stage of growth. This includes trees and shrubs.

‘Plant product’ means products of plant origin that are unprocessed or have had a simple preparation. This includes wood and bark.

This guidance also applies to importing plants and plant products to Great Britain from Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Read separate guidance if you’re:

• importing plants and plant products from the EU to Northern Ireland
• importing plants and plant products from non-EU countries to Great Britain
• bringing plants and plant products to Great Britain for personal use

If you’re importing fruit and vegetables from the EU to Great Britain, you also need to follow quality and labelling rules.

Plant health checks are carried out by:

• APHA (the Animal and Plant Health Agency) in England and Wales
• SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) in Scotland

Risk categorisation for imports

Plant and plant products imported from the EU to Great Britain are categorised into high, medium and low risk categories, unless they are unregulated.

Plant health controls apply to imports of high and medium risk plants and plant products.

Low risk and unregulated plants and plant products do not need to go through any plant health controls.

The assessment of plant health risk is ongoing and risk categorisations may change.

Check the risk category for your goods.

Plant health controls for high risk goods

High risk goods include:

• all plants for planting
• ware potatoes
• seed potatoes
• some seeds for sowing and other plant or forest reproductive material
• some wood and wood products
• used agricultural or forestry machinery

If you import high risk goods you need to:

1. Register to import if you’re importing for the first time.
2. Register as a place of destination or use a place of destination that’s already registered (this is where any physical and identity checks will take place).
3. Get a phytosanitary certificate from your EU exporter.
4. Meet ISPM 15 international standards for any wood packaging material you use.
5. Notify the relevant authorities about your import.
6. Comply with documentary, identity and physical checks if needed.
7. Pay fees for plant health checks.

Plant health controls for medium risk goods

Medium risk goods include:

• some seeds, in addition to those on the high risk list
• some cut flowers

If you import medium risk plants and plant products from the EU (except Ireland) to Great Britain, you need to pre-notify your goods for import. Unlike high risk plants and plant products, medium risk goods do not need identity checks, physical checks or a phytosanitary certificate.

Register to import

You must use one of Defra’s import IT systems to import high or medium risk plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain.

If you’re importing goods for the first time, register to use IPAFFS (the import of products, animals, food and feed system).

After you complete your registration, you’ll be officially registered as a professional operator to import plants and plant products.

If you already use the PEACH (procedure for electronic application for certificates) IT system, you can continue to do so until 8 April 2024. From this date, you must submit import pre-notifications using IPAFFS.

Read Forestry Commission guidance if you want to register as a professional operator to import timber, wood products or bark.

Get a phytosanitary certificate

To import high risk plants and plant products, you must get a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment from the plant health authority in the country where your supplier is.

A phytosanitary certificate is a statement from the plant health authority that the consignment:

• has been officially inspected
• complies with legal requirements for entry into Great Britain
• is free from quarantine pests and diseases

Phytosanitary certificates for import purposes must have been issued no more than 13 days before or after the date the consignment left the country of export. There is no requirement for a consignment to arrive in Great Britain within 13 days of it leaving the country of export.

If you need a phytosanitary certificate for your consignment, check that your EU exporter has provided one before the consignment arrives in Great Britain. Make sure you get a scanned copy from your exporter.

You’ll need to upload a copy of the phytosanitary certificate on the relevant import IT system when you notify APHA or SASA about your consignment.

Notify the relevant authorities about your import

If you’re importing high or medium risk plants and plant products, you must use your import IT system to:

• let APHA or SASA know in advance when your goods will arrive (this is known as ‘pre-notification’)
• upload any necessary documents - for example, a scanned copy of your phytosanitary certificate
• read any notifications about whether your goods will need documentary, identity or physical checks
• follow the progress of your consignments

You must give notice:

• at least 4 working hours before the goods land in Great Britain for air and ‘roll-on-roll-off’ freight
• at least 1 working day before the goods arrive in Great Britain for all other freight

If you do not give enough pre-notification notice, your consignment may be delayed.

After you’ve pre-notified, you’ll get a message on the your IT system to say if your goods need any checks.

If you need help with import notifications, you can call the APHA helpline on 03300 416 999 or email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk.

Physical inspections for high risk goods

Identity and physical checks for high risk goods will happen in person as part of a physical inspection at a ‘place of destination’, border control post (BCP) or control point (CP) in Great Britain.

You can either use a registered place of destination or register as a place of destination. A place of destination must be a commercial location.

Use an existing place of destination, border control post or control point

If you decide to use a place of destination that’s already registered, get in touch with them to arrange this. In some cases you might be able to arrange for your physical inspection to take place at a border control post or control point in Great Britain.

If you’re considering a border control post or control point, contact them first to make sure they have capacity and can handle the material of your consignment.

Register as a place of destination

There are safety, equipment and storage requirements you must meet to become a place of destination in Great Britain.

Find out how to register as a place of destination.

Fees for plant health checks

These fees apply for plant health checks in England and Wales:

• documentary checks - £5.25 per phytosanitary certificate
• identity checks - depends on the type of plant material you import
• physical checks - depends on the type of plant material you import

Read more about inspection fees for EU imports that apply in England and Wales.

Check the fees that apply in Scotland for plant health checks.

Attach a UK plant passport

After your consignment passes plant health controls, you can move it on. You will need a UK plant passport for movement of goods from the first place of destination if:

• they’re moved to another professional operator
• they’re sold to final users (those buying for personal use) under a distance contract - for example, online
• they’re moved to another one of your premises that’s more than 10 miles from the premises the consignment arrived at
• the phytosanitary status of the consignment changes - for example, if it’s reconfigured, such as 2 plants previously in separate pots planted in a new pot together

Read how to issue UK plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain.

The EU plant passport is no longer recognised as an official label in Great Britain.

What happens if your consignment fails plant health controls

If all or part of your consignment fails plant health checks, an inspector may be able to advise on what you need to do for the consignment to pass.

If the inspector decides that the failed goods cause a risk to plant health, they may:

• destroy your goods
• ask you to return them

If you need to return goods to the EU, they’ll be treated as an export. The plant health authority in the country you’re exporting to will explain how to do this.

Read more on how to export plants and plant products to the EU.

Submit documents after your consignment arrives

Within 3 days of a high risk plant or plant product consignment reaching Great Britain (or as soon as possible), you must post the original phytosanitary certificate to APHA (England and Wales) or SASA (Scotland).

For consignments landing at Heathrow or Gatwick, send the certificate to:

For consignments arriving anywhere else in England and Wales, send the certificate to:

For consignments arriving in Scotland, send the certificate to:

For wood, wood products and bark, you’ll need to provide the Forestry Commission with original phytosanitary certificates within 3 days (or as soon as possible) of the consignment arriving in Great Britain.

Your local forestry inspector will agree with you which address you need to send the phytosanitary certificate to. View contact details for inspectors at the main points of entry into Great Britain.

Read more on how to import timber, wood products or bark.

Importing from non-EU countries to Great Britain via the EU

If you import goods from a non-EU country to Great Britain via the EU, your goods may be treated as an EU import. While in the EU, they must have:

• entered into free circulation
• passed EU plant health checks
• been issued with a phytosanitary certificate from an EU member state, if applicable

They will be treated as a non-EU country import if they did not enter into free circulation and pass plant health checks in the EU.

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

Unregulated plants and plant products

These unregulated plants and plant products do not need to go through any plant health controls:

• pineapple (fruits of Ananas comosus)
• kiwi (fruits of Actinidia spp. Lindl)
• coconut (fruits of Cocos nucifera L.)
• citrus (fruit and leaves of Citrus spp. L.)
• kumquat (fruit of Fortunella spp. Swingle)
• bitter orange (fruit of Poncirus L. Raf.)
• persimmon (fruit of Diospyros spp. L.)
• durian (fruits of Durio zibethinus Murray)
• cotton (bolls) (fruits (bolls) of Gossypium spp.)
• curry leaves (leaves of Murraya spp.)
• banana and plantain (fruits of Musa spp.)
• mango (fruits of Mangifera spp. L.)
• dates (fruits of Phoenix dactylifera L.)
• passionfruit (fruits of Passiflora spp. L)
• guava (fruits of Psidium spp.)
• any fruit and vegetables that are processed and packaged (for example, soups, salads, sandwiches or frozen material)
• composite products (for example, nut or seed butters that contain processed fruit or vegetables)

Importing prohibited goods

Some goods are prohibited from entering Great Britain from EU and non-EU countries if they can’t meet the import requirements for scientifically justified reasons.

Check if your goods are prohibited.

It may be possible to import prohibited goods into Great Britain with a scientific licence if they meet the qualifying criteria. Read more about moving specified plants, plant pests, pathogens and soil.

Importing goods with wood packaging material

If you import any goods using wood packaging material (WPM), or supply WPM to businesses, you need to meet ISPM 15 international standards.

Importing endangered and artificially propagated plants

You must apply for a permit to import plants and plant products of species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This includes artificially propagated plants listed on CITES.

Use Species+ to find out if your plant or plant product comes from a species on theCITESlist.

You can email theAPHACITESteam at wildlife.licensing@apha.gov.uk if you need more information.

Importing plants and plant products from 31 January 2024

From 31 January 2024, the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) will be introduced in phases. Plants and plant products will continue to be categorised as high, medium or low risk under the BTOM.

If you’re importing high risk plants and plant products from the EU, these will continue to go through the plant health controls that apply to high risk goods.

If you’re importing medium risk plants and plant products from the EU (including Ireland), you’ll need to:

• get a phytosanitary certificate
• pre-notify your goods for import

Unregulated and low risk plants and plant products will continue to be exempt from plant health controls.

View a full list of risk categorisations under the BTOM.

Importing plants and plant products from 30 April 2024

From 30 April 2024:

• checks of high risk plants and plant products must take place at a border control post or control point - you will no longer be able to use a place of destination
• imports of medium risk plants and plant products will need to go through the same plant health controls as high risk goods - they will continue to need a phytosanitary certificate and will be subject to documentary, physical and identity checks at a border control post or control point

Complaints and appeals

You can complain or appeal if you’re unsatisfied with the service you receive from APHA.

For more information on plant imports in England and Wales, email planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk or phone 0300 1000 313.

For contact details and more information on plant imports in Scotland, visit the Scottish government’s plant health guidance.

Help with your customs declaration

If you need help with your customs declaration, contact HMRC.