The Animal Health, Plant Health, Seeds and Seed Potatoes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2021

The Plant Health (Fees) (Forestry) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015 regulations revoke and replace The Plant Health (Fees) (Forestry) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2697) (as amended) in relation to England and Wales.

The Regulations implement fees that will be charged for:

• Inspections relating to authorisations to issue plant passports under the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005. See Schedule 1.
• Applications and inspections relating to licences under that Order. See Schedule 2.
• Plant health checks (physical inspections) on certain wood, wood products and bark imported from third countries (“controlled consignments”). See Schedule 3 and Regulation 3(5).
• Documentary checks and identity checks on controlled consignments. See Schedule 4.
• Conducting or monitoring remedial work on controlled consignments. See Schedule 5.

Schedule 3A in the 2006 Regulations (inserted by the 2008 amendment) set out reduced frequency of inspection fees for plant health checks of Canadian maple wood. This reduced frequency of inspections no longer applies and such consignments are no longer eligible for reduced rate fees. All other fees remain the same as they were in the now revoked The Plant Health (Fees) (Forestry) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2697) as amended. 

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The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019 allow competent authorities in England to enforce EU Regulations in relation to plant health and genetically modified organisms. They are supplementary to the following European Union (EU) Regulations which are directly applicable in England, from 14th December 2019:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against pests of plants (“EU Plant Health Regulation”); and
• Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products (“EU Official Controls Regulation”).

The EU Plant Health Regulation and the EU Official Controls Regulation establish controls and restrictions which apply to the import into the EU, and the movement between EU Member States, of certain plants, plant pests and other material (such as soil) to help reduce biosecurity risk, strengthen the current plant health regime and protect the environment from the spread of harmful pests and diseases.

Despite the EU Regulations being directly applicable, these domestic Regulations are needed so that competent authorities in England are able to carry out duties around plant health and the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (‘GMOs’) for the purposes of food and feed production. This includes enforcing both EU Regulations.

The competent authorities are:

• The Forestry Commissioners in relation to tree pests, trees or forestry material and forestry professional operators*.
• The Secretary of State in relation to plant pests, plants or non-forestry material and professional operators, other than forestry professional operators*. This is carried out by the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) as part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

*The definition of forestry professional operators is extensive and is fully defined in Regulation 6.

The following legislation is revoked by these Regulations:

• The Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005; and
• The Plant Health (England) Order 2015.

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The GB Retained: Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against pests of plants implements controls on the movement of certain plants, plant pests and other material into, from and within Great Britain to help protect the environment from the spread of harmful pests and diseases.

Application in Great Britain

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 incorporated all directly acting EU Regulations into UK law. Those Regulations have been subsequently amended to revise various definitions, terminology, authorities, etc. to UK rather than EU references, and to provide for regulation and enforcement by GB rather than EU bodies. This entry describes the retained version of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against pests of plants, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales (GB) from IP completion day, the end of the implementation period of the UK leaving the EU.

Application in Northern Ireland

Although Northern Ireland has left the EU, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol the EU version of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 continues to apply in Northern Ireland.

Along with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, this Regulation replaces Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction of organisms harmful to plants or plant products into the EU and against their spread within the EU. This 2000 Directive set out the official controls to be carried out by the competent authorities for protective measures against the introduction and spread of organisms harmful to plants or plant products in the European Union (EU).

The Regulation continues to implement controls and restrictions which apply to the import from third countries (country / territory outside the British Isles), and the internal movement within and between Great Britain of certain plants, plant pests and other material (such as soil) to help reduce biosecurity risk, strengthen the current plant health regime, and protect the environment from the spread of harmful pests and diseases.

Despite this Regulation being directly acting, it is enforced by the following:

• In England: The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019
• In Wales: The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (Wales) Regulations 2020
• In Scotland: The Plant Health (Official Controls and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2019

The domestic Regulations above have been brought into force to ensure that the competent authorities in the UK are able to carry out their obligations under the EU Regulation.

Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 (‘Phytosanitary Conditions Regulation’) is supplementary to this Regulation as it establishes a number of annexes that list relevant plant pests and measures needed to reduce the risk of those pests.