Import plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain
How to import plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, trees, seeds and used agricultural machinery to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from the EU, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
‘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 a product of plant origin that is unprocessed or has had a simple preparation. This includes wood and bark.
The guidance on this page also applies to goods imported for commercial purposes by post or courier. Contact your post or courier service to find out if they offer an import service for commercial imports and for more information about the process.
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 and medium 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
Medium risk goods include:
- some cut flowers
- some parts of plants
If you import high or medium risk goods you need to:
- Register to import if you’re importing for the first time.
- Get a phytosanitary certificate from your EU exporter.
- Meet the ISPM 15 international standard for any wood packaging material you use.
- Notify the relevant authorities about your import.
- Comply with documentary, identity and physical checks if needed.
- Pay fees for plant health checks.
Find out the frequency of checks for your goods.
Medium risk fruit and vegetables imported from the EU are temporarily being treated as low risk and do not need to go through plant health controls. This means:
- they do not need a phytosanitary certificate
- you will not need to inform authorities you’re importing these goods
- they will not be subject to documentary, identity and physical checks
Register to import
You must register to use IPAFFS (the import of products, animals, food and feed system) to import high or medium risk plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain.
After you complete your registration, you’ll be officially registered as a professional operator to import plants and plant products.
If you need help with registering to use IPAFFS, you can call the APHA helpline on 03300 416 999 or email aphaservicedesk@apha.gov.uk.
Get a phytosanitary certificate
For high or medium risk plants and plant products, your EU exporter must get a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment from the plant health authority in the country they’re exporting from.
A phytosanitary certificate is a statement from the plant health authority that the consignment:
- has been officially inspected or tested, or both
- 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 IPAFFS 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 IPAFFS 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 and accompanying documents
- 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
- 1 working day before the goods arrive in Great Britain for all other freight
If you do not give enough notice, your consignment may be delayed.
If you need help with import notifications, you can email planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk or call 0300 1000 313.
Find out if your consignment needs plant health checks
All high and medium risk plants and plant products imported from the EU to Great Britain must enter through an airport or a port with a border control post (BCP) that can handle plants or plant products, unless they are entering through a point of entry on the west coast of Great Britain.
If you’re importing the goods through an airport, the authorities will carry out any necessary checks before they release the consignment for collection by your transporter.
If you’re importing the goods through a port, the way to find out if your consignment needs plant health checks will depend on whether your transporter is using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) to clear customs.
If your transporter is using GVMS, they should use the check if you need to report for an inspection service to find out what they need to do.
If your transporter is not using GVMS, IPAFFS will provide an initial risk assessment telling you if your consignment needs plant health checks when you submit your import notification. If your consignment does need checks, you’ll also receive a text and email message 2 hours before your transporter’s estimated time of arrival in Great Britain. The message will confirm what you need to do.
If IPAFFS tells you your consignment has not been selected for plant health checks, you should still check for messages until your consignment has cleared the port, because the authorities may still call you for checks based on their final risk assessment.
If your consignment is called for plant health checks
If your consignment is called for plant health checks, APHA (England and Wales) or SASA (Scotland) will carry out documentary, identity and physical checks to make sure your consignment:
- includes all required documents
- contains the plants you have declared
- is free from pests and diseases
The checks can take place at either a:
- BCP - a border inspection facility where goods first arrive
- control point (CP) - an inland inspection facility
Check a list of BCPs and CPs for plant imports.
It’s possible to use your premises as a control point. To do this, your premises must be:
- designated as a control point by Defra
- authorised as a temporary storage facility where plant health inspections can be carried out
You can apply for authorisation as either an:
Fees for plant health checks
Fees for documentary, identity and physical checks depend on the type of plant material you import.
Find out the fees that apply in England and Wales for plant health checks.
Find out the fees that apply in Scotland for plant health checks.
UK plant passport
You will need a UK plant passport for onward movement of certain 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 where the consignment arrived
- 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 checks
If all or part of your consignment fails plant health checks, an inspector will advise you on what you need to do with the consignment.
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
If you’re importing high or medium risk plants or plant products and the original phytosanitary certificate is a paper copy, you must post it to APHA (England and Wales) or SASA (Scotland) within 3 days of the consignment reaching Great Britain.
For consignments landing at Heathrow or Gatwick, send the certificate to:
Animal and Plant Health Agency
1st Floor
Building 4
Heathrow Boulevard
284 Bath Road
West Drayton
Middlesex
UB7 0DQ
For consignments arriving anywhere else in England and Wales, send the certificate to:
Animal and Plant Health Agency
Foss House
1st Floor
Kings Pool
1 to 2 Peasholme Green
York
YO1 7PX
For consignments arriving in Scotland, send the certificate to:
SASA
Roddinglaw Road
Edinburgh
EH12 9FJ
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 through the EU
If you import goods from a non-EU country to Great Britain through 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
Importing prohibited goods
Some goods are prohibited from entering Great Britain from EU and non-EU countries if they cannot 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 authorisation 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, the WPM must meet the ISPM 15 international standard.
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 the CITES list.
You can email the APHA CITES team at wildlife.licensing@apha.gov.uk if you need more information.
Complaints and appeals
You can complain or appeal if you’re not satisfied with the service you receive from APHA.
Contact
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.
Last updated 30 April 2024 + show all updates
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Updated throughout to reflect changes to import controls under the Border Target Operating Model, including for medium risk goods. This includes removing information about using a place of destination for plant health checks, as these must take place at a border control post or control point. Also removed information about the PEACH import system, as this has now been replaced by IPAFFS.
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Clarified wording in 'Get a phytosanitary certificate', 'Attach a UK plant passport' and 'Importing prohibited goods' sections.
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Updated guidance on medium risk goods to reflect current rules under the Border Target Operating Model.
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A prompt has been added to prepare for new import controls which begin on 31 January 2024.
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First published.