EU Plant Passport Scheme

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Bill
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EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Bill »

The New EU Plant Passport scheme came into force on the 14th of December. EU plant passport scheme has been around for some plants for a while, it scope has just been widen to include all plants, parts thereof and seeds for planting. It is all about tracibilty, same as why we have passports for all our cattle, to track and prevent the spread of pest and diseases.

The initial assumption as we are not professionals/businesses, do not trade and as we sold direct there was nothing to fear. However a few people have suggested that was may not be the case for distance selling and following conversations with the UK Animal and plant Health Agency (APHA) I find I have to agree with them, all distance selling that involves plants, or parts thereof or seeds are subject to plant paspporting requirements. A transition period exists till I believe March 2020.

Below you will find a summary of a Q&A (in direct relationship to our plants) with a member of APHA staff.

Q. Do amateurs and plant societies need plant passports when selling spare or surplus plants via distance selling methods such as ebay?

A. If you are planning to sell plants via the internet you will need to be registered for Plant passporting. You can find more information here:

https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/ ... -Guide.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... safer-food

https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/plant_h ... u_rules_en

To register and become an authorised plant passporter, you will need to complete two forms.
Both application forms can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... pplication

Once downloaded and completed, please email your completed forms to: PlantPassportRegistration@apha.gov.uk

Q. So there are no exemptions for small scale hobbyist sales or society distance sales?

A. Unfortunately there are no exemptions due to the scale of a business

Q. Is this pan EU including internal UK sales?

A. Yes it does include UK and EU sales.

Q. How does this affect sales of seeds?

A. It includes sales of seeds.

Q. What is the cost implication registration?

A. There is no cost for registering or being authorised as a plant passporter.

Q. Will we be subject to inspections and associated costs?

A. There will be an initial visit from your local inspector, however you won’t be charged. Any other costs can be discussed with your local inspector.
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ragamala
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by ragamala »

Bill wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:00 am The New EU Plant Passport scheme came into force on the 14th of December.
Bill, the problem I have is that the information, whilst very welcome and helpful if we were to stay within the EU, may well be totally out of date when we are now facing leaving the EU by 31st January.

The links provided are therefore already past their sell-by date. Who knows what the new government's intended relaxation or abolishing of EU regulation has in store for us. Too little information too late, I'm afraid.

May I respectfully suggest that more effort be made into requests for information about the situation after we leave the EU.
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Tony R »

ragamala wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:52 am
Bill wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:00 am The New EU Plant Passport scheme came into force on the 14th of December.
Bill, the problem I have is that the information, whilst very welcome and helpful if we were to stay within the EU, may well be totally out of date when we are now facing leaving the EU by 31st January.

The links provided are therefore already past their sell-by date. Who knows what the new government's intended relaxation or abolishing of EU regulation has in store for us. Too little information too late, I'm afraid.

May I respectfully suggest that more effort be made into requests for information about the situation after we leave the EU.
My understanding is: BREXIT may happen on 31st January but, for up to 11 months from 1st February up to 31st December, the UK will still follow all the EU's rules and regulations, and it will remain in the single market and the customs union, so the EU Plant Passport scheme has great relevance to us in 2020. Or have I got this wrong?
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Bill
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Bill »

ragamala wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:52 am
Bill wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:00 am The New EU Plant Passport scheme came into force on the 14th of December.
Bill, the problem I have is that the information, whilst very welcome and helpful if we were to stay within the EU, may well be totally out of date when we are now facing leaving the EU by 31st January.

The links provided are therefore already past their sell-by date. Who knows what the new government's intended relaxation or abolishing of EU regulation has in store for us. Too little information too late, I'm afraid.

May I respectfully suggest that more effort be made into requests for information about the situation after we leave the EU.
EU regulations remain in force until the transition period expires, so we have a minimum of 12 months operating under these rules, the only change after the 29th January is we will no longer have any representation or say at EU level. And as Boris has proven, he will change his tune if it suits, law or not there is no guarantee December 2020 is the end of all things EU.

Its also worth noting people like the RHS, conservation groups and APHA themselves were already pushing for tighter controls on plant movements, I fear this or a UK equivalent will be here for the long haul.
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Chris L »

Do you need one if you are giving plants away for free?
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by ralphrmartin »

As far as I can see, this does not just involve selling. It involves all plant movements according to the Plant Health Agency:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... oducts.pdf
I quote:

"List of plants, plant products and other objects for which a plant passport is
required for movement within the Union territory from December 14th 2019
1. All plants for planting
- plants that have been planted and the intention is for them to remain
planted
- whole plants or living parts of plants (cuttings etc.) that are not planted and
the intention is for them to be planted
- plants that have been lifted and the intention is to replant them"


So, what happens if you move house and want to take your cactus collection with you?

What happens if you want to give your friend a plant for Xmas?

Indeed, what happens if you buy a plant and take it home?

Reading that as worded, you will need a plant passport in each case.

This advice is either worded sloppily and incorrectly, or the regulations are much stricter than suggested, and will involve unintended consequences.
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by ralphrmartin »

The above page also gives a list of seeds which need passports - from which I infer that other seeds (including all cacti and succulents) do not need one.
Ralph Martin
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Members visiting the Llyn Peninsula are welcome to visit my collection.

Swaps and sales at https://www.rrm.me.uk/Cacti/forsale.php

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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Chris L »

Lets take the statement literally.
All plants for planting
- plants that have been planted and the intention is for them to remain planted
- whole plants or living parts of plants (cuttings etc.) that are not planted and the intention is for them to be planted
- plants that have been lifted and the intention is to replant them
According to the dictionary "planted"
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/planted
tr.v. plant·ed, plant·ing, plants
1.
a. To place or set (seeds, for example) in the ground to grow.
b. To place seeds or young plants in (land); sow: plant a field in corn.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... sh/planted
to put a plant into the ground or into a container of soil so that it will grow:
We planted trees and bushes in our new garden.
Hyacinth bulbs planted in pots now will flower early in the spring.

So, as we do not generally grow cacti or succulents outside in the ground and providing we do not grow them in soil based compost do we still need a passport for our plants?
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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by ralphrmartin »

I note that the government's own advice is self-contradictory:

This page
https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/ ... -Guide.pdf
says

Will PPs be needed down to individual consumers?
Only if you are selling through means of distance contracts, for example selling online, in magazines, or over the phone...

but it also says

It is only the final stage of the supply chain, where the regulated plant or plant product is sold to the final user who is acquiring them for personal use, where a PP is not required.


The former is in line with what Bill said earlier.

But the latter implies that if I produce plants and sell them directly to a customer for personal use, no passport is needed.
Ralph Martin
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Members visiting the Llyn Peninsula are welcome to visit my collection.

Swaps and sales at https://www.rrm.me.uk/Cacti/forsale.php

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Re: EU Plant Passport Scheme

Post by Chris L »

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... 32016R2031
(Article 2, definition 12)
‘final user’ means any person acting for purposes which are outside that person's trade, business or profession who acquires plants or plant products for personal use;
Suppose you buy seeds for your hobby of growing cacti. The seed supplier is supplying you the final user, so they will not need a PP because you are a consumer and not a business. The "supply chain" gets broken at that point.

The whole point of the PP is traceablity and who is going to keep PP documentation for 3 or 4 or 5 years while they wait for the cacti to grow big enough to sell. Would it even be possible to marry up the seed documentation to the plants.

I don't think we need worry about PP documentation.
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