Defra publish plant health statistics

Defra have published statistics which summarise information on the international trade in plants and plant products and on the controlled plants and plant products that are notified to plant health inspectorates
 
The statistics, collectively titled Plant Health: International trade and controlled consignments:  2017 to 2021, contain a variety of key findings of relevance to the industry:
The value of trade in plants and plant commodities increased from £14.2bn in 2017 to £15.8bn in 2021 whilst the net mass remained fairly stable at around 21.5 thousand tonnes.

 The value of trade with the EU increased from £8.1bn in 2017 to £8.9bn in 2021, an increase of 9.7% whilst the value of trade with countries outside of the EU increased by 12.6% from £6.1bn to £6.8bn over the time period.

The net mass of trade with the EU decreased from 13.9 thousand tonnes to 13 thousand tonnes (-5.9%) between 2017 and 2021 whilst the net mass of trade with countries outside of the EU increased by 10% from 7.7 thousand tonnes to 8.4 thousand tonnes.

In 2021, over 246,000 consignments of controlled material were notified to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI). This was an increase of over 100,000 consignments since 2020, driven by the introduction of plant health controls on high priority plants and plant products imported from the EU and was reflected in the sharp increase of consignments of plants and planting material being notified.

In 2021/22, over 4,500 consignments of controlled material were notified to the Forestry Commission. The number of consignments was higher (1,289) than in 2017/18 as was the associated volume of material (205,589m3).
The full dataset can be reviewed using the link in the ‘Further reading’ section of this article. 
 

Further reading:
 
Defra plant health statistics 

Written by

Owen Baker | Technical Officer - Policy and Research