Guidance published on new plant health sanctions

The UK Government has published guidance on how the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will use civil sanctions to enforce plant health regulations from October 2026.

Powers to issue civil sanctions in England and Wales were given to the APHA through new legislation in 2020 but they are only now being implemented.

Exactly which regulations are subject to the sanctions is unclear; the legislation provides a list but only some of these regulations are actually enforced by the AHPA.

The newly released guidance goes into more detail on the scope of the sanctions as well as principles of enforcement, types of sanction, and the appeals process.

The document says the sanctions apply to any person involved professionally in, and legally responsible for, one or more of the following activities:

• Planting
• Breeding
• Production, including growing, multiplying, and maintaining
• Introduction into and movement within and out of England and Wales
• Making available on the market (including online)
• Storage, collection, dispatching and processing

BALI members can contact our free-to-use professional advice service, Quest, on +44(0)116 243 7881 for legal advice as well as HR, H&S, and tax support.