Notice is hereby given that the UK Plant Health Authority has issued new official directives on the operating rules for future imports, which you can find by clicking on the link below.

The changes mainly concern the digitalization of controls, in order to strenghten the country’s biosafety standard. This approach takes greater account of the expected use of plants and bases the frequency of controls on imported units in proportion to the risk associated with their final destination or their role in the commercial and production propagation.

The most significant changes for the plant nursery industry concern the physical inspection of imported plants once they reach the border control point of entry into Great Britain, starting from January 2024.

For imported plants and plant products, physical, identity and documentary checks will be carried out, in proportion to the risk (low, medium and high) represented.

Inspections will be carried out on 100% of woody plants and those destined for commercial production. For non-woody plants and retail sales, however, checks will be made on a lower percentage.