Call for evidence outcome

Summary of responses and government response

Updated 7 April 2026

Civil sanctions for plant health were introduced into legislation in 2020 but have not yet been operationalised by Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The guidance, once published, will allow the use of civil sanctions within England and Wales, in relation to plant health offences that APHA have an enforcement role for.  

Civil sanctions provide a wider range of enforcement options that can be used in addition to existing tools. This will allow APHA to be more proportional in their enforcement of plant health regulations and allows them to better fit any sanction or enforcement action to the offence. 

The vast majority of operators are in compliance with the regulations and will not be affected by civil sanctions. APHA will continue to primarily use advice and guidance to encourage compliance where possible.  

The legislation relating to civil sanctions can be found in schedule 4A of the following: 

• The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019 (legislation.gov.uk) 
• The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (legislation.gov.uk) 

Proposal

Stakeholders were invited to review the draft guidance so that we could ensure this was clear before publication. We asked the following questions: 

1. Do you find the guidance clear and easy to understand? If not, which parts are not clear?  

2. Do you understand the different types of civil sanctions, and in which circumstances they may be imposed?  

3. Do you understand your rights to appeal, or to make representations and objections against a civil sanction?  

4. Any other comments? 

Responses were requested between 1 December 2025 and 6 February 2026.

Summary of responses

We received 2 responses representing 1 individual and 1 stakeholder organisation. We were also asked by one business for an extension to which we agreed a short extension, but we did not receive a further response.

Key concerns and government response

Individual

The response from an individual who works in the horticulture trade didn’t directly answer the questions asked but raised a question over the number of agencies involved in plant health. Whilst they agreed that civil sanctions were a good idea, they were concerned that the plant health system is complicated, and urged that sectors are encouraged to seek advice without fear.

Response

We have provided a further resources section at the end of the guidance that outlines the roles and the responsibilities of the various agencies involved in plant health, useful guidance, and the APHA email address for plant health questions.

Organisation

The organisational response was from the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) who praised the document for a clear structure, that set out the penalties clearly and concisely. They particularly appreciated the use of examples and scenarios. They provided a detailed response to each section of the guidance, so an overview of each section and a response is given below.

Scope

Points raised:

• clarity over the position in other UK nations
• request for definitions over some of the words used and clarification of registration requirements
• communication of the final guidance and when civil sanctions will be utilised

Response

We have highlighted that plant health is a devolved matter and referenced Scotland and Northern Ireland where civil sanctions are not provided for in legislation. We have also added reference to the plant biosecurity strategy for Great Britain which includes a useful plant health framework and sets out responsibilities in the differing nations.

We have included links in the new ‘further resources’ section for definitions in the legislation and for guidance over registration and on being a professional operator. We have added a line to set out how long civil sanction data is kept and by whom, and have explained the difference between civil and criminal sanctions.

Principles

Points raised:

• suggestion for ‘Further Resources section’ to signpost Forestry Commission (FC) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) information
• clarification of whom a civil sanction will be applied to
• clarification of phrase ‘level playing field’

Response

We have now included a ‘Further Resources’ section at the end of the guidance and added links to FC and NRW along with other resources.

We amended the text to clarify that a civil sanction will be applied to the professional operator who is responsible for the non-compliance.

We replaced the phrase ‘level playing field’.

Civil sanctions

Points raised:

• clarification requested of a reference to ‘people’
• request for examples of offences in introductory paragraph
• compliance notice: Helpful to indicate who is giving the advice and guidance
• stop notice: Who will issue compensation and how do you apply for this
• enforcement undertaking: is this missing that there is a finite time period applied
• non-compliance penalties: is there a cap as per variable monetary penalty

Response

We amended the reference to ‘people’ to ‘professional operators’ and signposted that there are examples further in the guidance. We also added links to the legislation which lists all offences in scope for civil sanctions.

We have added that for a compliance notice, advice and guidance will be from the appropriate authority. We have also clarified that for a stop notice, it will be APHA issuing compensation where warranted, who will advise how to apply if these circumstances arise.

We added to the Enforcement Undertaking a point about actions needing to be carried out in the specified time period as this is correct.

There is not a cap on non-compliance penalties in the legislation, so we have added this for clarity. The text references how these will be calculated based on the costs to fulfil the notice or undertaking that hasn’t been completed.

Representation

Points raised:

• how will a civil sanction be issued, and who is the recipient?
• an example of what cannot be appealed would be helpful

Response

We have clarified how and who a civil sanction will be issued to and have provided an example of what cannot be appealed.

Cost recovery

Point raised:

• it would be worth mentioning that cost recovery is in addition to any financial penalties if that is the case

Response

This is the case, and so we have added a line to make this clear.

Publication of data

Points raised:

• further information requested on how data will be published

Response

The data will be published on GOV.UK as anonymised summary data. We will do this annually.

Next steps

We will publish the updated guidance in early April with APHA not utilising civil sanctions until October 2026. This gives 6 months for trade to fully understand the implications of the guidance and address any outstanding non-compliance. We will include this information on the GOV.UK page hosting the guidance.

There may be minor updates to the guidance over time, but any significant changes will require further stakeholder engagement.

We would like to thank those responding for taking the time to give feedback on the draft guidance document. Your comments have been very valuable in helping to finalise the guidance for civil sanctions. We hope this demonstrates that we have considered every comment and provided further clarity in the final guidance.

If you have any outstanding questions about the guidance document, email planthealth@defra.gov.uk.