Border control points update

We have has confirmation from Defra that plant health import inspection frequencies at the border have been updated:

• ‘non-woody’ plants for planting, which includes tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, are subject to a 30% inspection rate

• This has reduced down from the 100% inspection originally communicated by Defra, which shows some good progress from the conversations the industry has been having with them on the issue.

• Please note that this doesn’t change the need for plants to either go through a Border Control Point or on site Control Point to enter the country

• For more information, please visit Defra’s Plant Health Portal.

As a reminder, changes to border control points following Brexit that came into force in April this year are causing major issues for many growers:

• delays to seed delivery due to additional testing requirements, which are causing significant downstream delays in cropping timelines

• delays to plants for planting, being held in uncontrolled conditions (at BCP’s) for unspecified periods of time, also causing delays to cropping and potentially compromising plant health

We are having ongoing conversations with Defra and key industry colleagues on this issue to continue to try and alleviate pressure and improve the situation.

As we are at the time of year where some of you are importing plants for planting, please continue to let us know if you experience problems due to the BCP changes, or if you have any questions or other issues to raise.

We need data as evidence to back up the conversations we are having with Defra and APHA. Any additional evidence you are able to provide will significantly improve our chances of making speedy and mutually satisfactory progress in discussions with Defra.