Are you prepared for the changes to plant health controls in 2022?
From 1 January 2022 new plant health controls on products imported from the EU, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are being introduced.
These changes will mean a greater proportion of regulated plants and plant products (such as seeds and parts of plants) will require pre-notification and/or a phytosanitary certificate. From 1st January 2021 plants and plant products will fall into two categories
- Regulated
- Regulated and notifiable
Products which fall into these categories are identified on the Plant Health Portal. Click on the link in the Further reading section at the bottom of this article.
The requirement for all high-priority plants and plant products to be pre-notified and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate will remain, with import checks taking place at Places of Destination until the transition to Border Control Posts and Control Points in July 2022. However, importers of
Defra has produced resources to help stakeholders understand the changes including:
- a webinar and accompanying slides
- questions and answers
- a webpage to understand which products require a phytosanitary certificate and which require pre-notification from either 1st January 2022 or 1st July 2022
Links to all resources are in the Further reading section of this article.
Book a session with a plant health expert
Defra are offering stakeholders the opportunity to meet online with a plant health expert, who can answer any import-focussed plant health questions on Tuesday 21st December 2021. The first slot is from 1:35pm and meetings can be booked via the link in the Further reading section, below.
Further reading: