Animal Plant Health Agency
Professional operators in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) no longer issue EU plant passports. UK plant passports are issued in place of EU plant passports.
A UK plant passport is an official document you need to move plants and certain regulated wood within Great Britain, to the Isle of Man or to the Channel Islands. This includes:
- all plants for planting
- some seeds
- seed potatoes
- wood
- wood products - this includes chips, particles, shavings, sawdust, wood waste or scrap and some other types of wood product where there could still be a phytosanitary risk, even after processing
- isolated bark
You can issue UK plant passports yourself, but you must be authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), or the Forestry Commission depending on the goods.
If youre a professional operator in England or Wales producing or moving plants and plant material within Great Britain, to the Isle of Man or to the Channel Islands, you must follow this APHA advice. This guidance also applies if youre moving these within the same country in Great Britain. For example, from Kent to Yorkshire.
For Scotland, check with Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture(SASA).
You must follow Forestry Commission guidance if youre a GB-trader in wood, wood products or isolated bark.
For Northern Ireland, check with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs)(DAERA.
When you need a UK plant passport
Check the following lists for more detail on the:
- plants and wood that need a plant passport for movement within Great Britain
- commodities that need Pest Free Area (PFA) plant passports
If youre unsure whether your consignment needs UK plant passports, contact APHA at planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk or Forestry Commission at plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk.
You may be eligible to use the Northern Ireland plant health label (NIPHL) scheme if youre moving:
- plants or seeds for planting from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
- seed potatoes from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
Read guidance onmoving plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
Supplying retailers
There is no exemption when you directly supply retailers.
If you sell directly to retailers, you need to be authorised to issue plant passports for any plants which have plant passport requirements.
Supplying customers for personal use
If youre selling plants through distance contracts (for example, online) directly to customers buying for personal use, a plant passport is still needed.
You do not need a plant passport for other retail sales - for example, if you sell plants to customers paying in person.
Trade seed potatoes
Seed potatoes must have a plant passport at every stage of the trade chain in Great Britain. If you grow seed potatoes you must be registered as a professional operator by APHA. If you grow seed potatoes read the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS) for more information on how the SPCS works.
Register as a professional operator and get authorised to issue UK plant passports
Every business that works with plants must be registered as a professional operator. You can register to become a plant health professional operator online or by email.
You also need to apply to become authorised to issue UK plant passports if you move regulated plant material in Great Britain including:
- all plants for planting
- some seeds
- seed potatoes
Christmas trees
You must have a UK plant passport to move:
- rooted Christmas trees of any size
- cut Christmas trees more than 3 metres tall
- branches or foliage taken from conifer trees more than 3 metres tall
This includes when you supply your customers over the internet or by phone.
If you want to move rooted Christmas trees of any size, you must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from APHA if you are based in England or Wales, or SASA if you are based in Scotland.
If you are a business that transports plants for planting to other businesses that intend to move goods on, you must register with APHA or SASA for example, if you are a garden centre, commercial nursery, or farm. You and your growers must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from APHA if you are based in England or Wales, or SASA if you are based in Scotland.
If you are a business, but you do not move plants for planting to other businesses, you must register and get authorisation to issue plant passports from the Forestry Commission to move:
- cut Christmas trees more than 3 metres tall that will be moved on
- branches or foliage taken from conifer trees more than 3 metres tall
If youre not sure if you need to register with APHA, SASA or the Forestry Commission, you can ask at:
- planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk - for APHA
- hort.marketing@gov.scot - for SASA
- plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk - for Forestry Commission
After youre registered as a professional operator with APHA
After youve registered to become a professional operator with APHA, youll get a unique registration number.Youll be able to apply for authorisation to issue plant passports for:
- all plants for planting
- some seeds
- seed potatoes
You can then issue as many passports and supplier documents as you need.
You only need a separate authorisation to issue supplier documents if youre not already authorised to issue plant passports. For example, if youre trading fruits and vegetables that are not covered by plant passport rules.
Inspections
APHA will do an inspection shortly after youre authorised to make sure youre compliant with the regulations.Inspectors will:
- interview you or the person responsible for plant passports at your site
- audit your records
- inspect host plants and sample them to make sure theyre free from pests or diseases that could make trading a plant h