Defra

Inspectors at work

To guard against the spread of harmful pests and diseases, the EC Plant Health Directive sets out controls on the import, movement and keeping of plants, plant pests and other plant material. This EC legislation is implemented by the Plant Health (England) Order 2005.

Some plants and plant produce are prohibited from entering this country. Others are restricted and must be accompanied by a phytosanitary ("plant health") certificate, which is issued by the Plant Health Authority in the exporting country. This certificate is essentially a statement that the plants, or plant produce, to which it relates have been officially inspected in the country of origin (or country of despatch), comply with statutory requirements for entry into the EC, are free from quarantine pests and diseases, and are substantially free from other organisms. Plant and plant material imported from non-EC countries under Phytosanitary Certificates are inspected by the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate on, or shortly after, arrival in this country, in order to confirm that they satisfy our plant health requirements. There have been a number of changes made to the way we carry out import inspections and these can be viewed at the: EC import regime section.