IMPORT CONTROLS – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

6 May 2022

Following the government decision, remaining import controls on EU goods, including plants and plant products, will no longer be introduced this year. Instead, traders will continue to move their goods from the EU to GB as they do now.

What does the decision mean for your business?

This decision does not affect existing controls that were introduced in January 2021 and January 2022. This means:

• If you import high-priority plants and plant products, you will still need to obtain a Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) and provide pre-notification before your goods arrive in GB. Import checks of these goods will continue to happen at Places of Destinations (PoDs).
• If you import ‘regulated and notifiable’ produce and cut flowers, you will still need to pre-notify your good before they arrive in GB.

This decision also does not affect the proposed changes to the frequency of checks and fees which apply to EU and Rest of World (RoW) goods. These will continue to be implemented from July 2022.

Please find a link to the fees here - The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)

However, the rest of the controls which were planned for introduction from July 2022 are no longer going ahead. This means:

• Import checks of high-priority plants and plant products will no longer be moving to Border Control Posts (BCPs), and will continue to take place at PoDs
• ‘Regulated and notifiable’ produce and cut flowers will not be subject to import checks from July and will not need to be accompanied by a PC.
• Low-risk (Article 73) goods will no longer require pre-notification from July
• Marketing Standards and organic import requirements for imports from the EU, will no longer need to be applied from July 2022