Guidance and regulation

Annual confirmed sightings of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) in the UK.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Updated: 15 May 2024

• Asian hornet sightings recorded since 2016

  This page will be updated with details of confirmed sightings. Sightings…

How to contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency
• Updated: 13 October 2023

Common user charge rates and how the charge applies to imports entering Great Britain through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Updated: 25 April 2024

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.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Updated: 30 April 2024

How to import plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, trees, seeds and used agricultural machinery from non-EU countries to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 30 April 2024

Use this service to apply for certificates and inspections if you export plants from England and Wales.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 20 October 2022

The signs of bird flu and how to report it in poultry and other captive birds.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 13 December 2022

Apply to import a medicine for veterinary use into the UK.

• From: Veterinary Medicines Directorate
• Updated: 29 January 2024

This is the Hub for all the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's communications on current and future regulatory changes.

• From: Veterinary Medicines Directorate
• Updated: 14 May 2024

Licences and authorisations to import genetic material, research and diagnostic samples, trade samples and display items, and some live animals and animal products.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 30 April 2024

How to stop the spread and dispose of invasive non-native plants that can harm the environment in England.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and 2 others
• Updated: 2 February 2022

Check if you need a licence or phytosanitary certificate to export plants and plant products.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 4 April 2024

When to follow Balai rules to import animals and germinal products to Great Britain from EU and non-EU countries.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Updated: 30 April 2024

Find out when you must use a Defra-approved disinfectant, which product to use, and in what concentration.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 6 October 2021

How to stop harmful weeds spreading onto land used for grazing livestock or growing crops, how to dispose of them and how to report them if they’ve spread.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and 1 others
• Updated: 29 July 2019

Information to help businesses prepare for a new approach to importing goods to Great Britain under the Border Target Operating Model.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Updated: 15 February 2024

Information on practices and procedures covered under the Plant Varieties Act 1997, the Plant Breeders’ Rights Regulations 1998 and the Seeds Regulations 2001.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency
• Updated: 13 May 2024

Sets out legal text on the manufacture, authorisation, marketing, distribution and post-authorisation surveillance of veterinary medicines.

• From: Veterinary Medicines Directorate
• Updated: 31 January 2020

Find out how to import timber and wood material, including the documents, identity checks and plant health inspections required.

• From: Forestry Commission
• Updated: 30 April 2024

Plant health controls, imports and exports, certification schemes, plant passporting and listed quarantine plant pests.

• From: Animal and Plant Health Agency and 1 others
• Updated: 1 March 2021