What do domestic landscape contractors need to do?
1. Register as a professional operator
Any landscape business professionally involved in, and therefore legally responsible for one or more of the following activities concerning plants, plant products or other objects must register as a professional operator:
- Planting
- Breeding
- Production, including growing, multiplying and maintaining
- Introduction into, and movement within and out of, the Union territory
- Making available on the market
- Storage, collection dispatching and processing
Q: Who must I register with?
A: You must register with the appropriate competent authority:
England Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
Scotland Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)
Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
2. Record plant passports you receive from authorised operators* together with details of the authorised operator (name and address) who sold you the plants. You need to record this information (physically or digitally) for 3 years.
The minimum information which must be recorded from the plant passport(s) supplied is Part A (the botanical name(s) of the plant(s) species concerned) and Part B (the supplying operator's registration number). This FAQ document highlights where Part A and Part B may be found on a plant passport. The information contained with Part A and Part B is required for each trade unit (see glossary for definition of trade unit) of passported plants received.
Although not required, recording the dates each trade unit was received, together with the client they were supplied to, will ensure good accuracy in the event of any issues in the future.
* Authorised operators are businesses authorised to issue plant passports, and may include nurseries, wholesalers or other commercial landscape contractors. Note: Authorised operators are distinct from professional operators.
3. Nothing else.
Professional landscape contractors do not need to issue plant passports to domestic clients, which means if your business only deals with domestic clients you do not need to issue plant passports or be authorised to issue plant passports.