Collection: Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund

Updated: Minor change to update the number of projects and money allocated.

The UK government is committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade. The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund provides financial support to practical projects around the world which are:

  • developing sustainable livelihoods and economic development, to benefit people directly affected by IWT
  • strengthening law enforcement
  • ensuring effective legal frameworks
  • reducing demand for IWT products

The illegal wildlife trade is a criminal industry worth more than £17 billion each year threatening both wildlife and people.

Through the Challenge Fund around £18.5 million has been allocated to 61 projects.

Documents from previous application rounds are available for reference.



Research and analysis: Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report

Updated: Report and summary graphic added: Environmental performance of the water and sewerage companies in 2017.

There are 9 water and sewerage companies that operate wholly or mainly in England, providing clean (drinking) water and waste water (sewerage) services.

The Environment Agency works with these water companies to minimise the impact that their assets and activities have on the environment.

We monitor their environmental performance throughout the year against important objectives including reducing pollution incidents, complying with permits and delivering environmental improvement schemes. We publish an annual assessment of their performance.



Detailed guide: Issuing plant passports to trade plants in the EU

Updated: Link to EU protected zones document updated

If you’re based in England and Wales and you’re moving plants or plant products in the EU that can host quarantine pests and diseases, they may need plant passports.

You must also follow this guidance to move plants or plant products within England and Wales.

You can issue plant passports yourself, but you must be authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

Find out:

When you need a plant passport

Check the following lists to find out if a consignment you’re trading in the EU (including within the UK) needs plant passports:

If you’re not sure whether your consignment needs plant passports, contact APHA.

Trading with Switzerland

Check the following lists to find out if a consignment you’re trading with Switzerland needs plant passports:

If you’re not sure whether your consignment needs plant passports, contact APHA.

When you need a supplier document

Check the following lists to find out if your consignment needs to travel with a supplier document:

Your consignment must also travel with a supplier document if you’re moving ornamental plant propagating material, including seeds.

Apply to be authorised

To apply for authorisation to issue plant passports and supplier documents, complete an application form and send it to APHA.

Check if you need a plant passport

Check if your plant is:

If it’s on either list you’ll need to make a plant passport. You need permission before you can do this – either:

Inspections

After you apply for authorisation, APHA will inspect your site.

They’ll do this between 2 and 4 times per year, depending on your business’s risk to plant health.

In certain situations, you may be eligible to receive one chargeable visit from an inspector per year. This is referred to as ‘single visit status’.

You’ll have to meet set criteria; which includes short term cropping, re-passporting only, or if you are a very small trader.

The inspector will apply for this status on your behalf to the ‘Technical Manager for Plant Passporting’ and will advise you of the outcome.

Inspectors will:

  • interview you or the person responsible for plant passports at your site
  • audit your records
  • inspect host plants and sample them to make sure they’re free from pests or diseases that could make trading in the EU a plant health risk
  • give you or the person responsible an update on the latest plant quarantine pest and disease risks

They’ll then discuss test results and any issues they find at your site.

If they’re satisfied your site doesn’t pose a risk to plant health, they’ll approve your authorisation.

Inspection fees

The fees for inspections are changing on 6 April 2018. In order to allow businesses time to prepare for this change, the fees are being introduced in 3 phases.

  • From 6 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 the fee is £59.98, with a minimum fee of £119.96
  • From 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 the fee is £66.91, with a minimum fee of £133.82
  • From 1 April 2019 the fee is £73.85, with a minimum fee of £147.70

The fees are charged for every quarter of an hour or part of that time that an inspection and associated activities takes, including the time it takes inspectors to travel to your site.

The fee for renewal inspections are the same as for first inspections.

An additional fee of £18.78 is charged when submitting an application for a plant passport authorisation in paper form (and not online).

You won’t have to pay if APHA authorises you to issue supplier documents only.

After you’re authorised

If you’re authorised to issue plant passports, you’ll get a unique registration number – you can then issue as many passports and supplier documents as you need.

You’ll only need a separate authorisation to issue supplier documents if you’re not already authorised to issue plant passports. For example, if you’re trading fruits and vegetables that aren’t covered by the plant passport regime.

Making a plant passport

You must include the following details on plant passports:

  • the phrase ‘EU Plant Passport’
  • ‘UK’ to show that the plants were grown in the UK or imported into the UK
  • ‘EW’ (this is the code for APHA)
  • your unique APHA registration number and an individual serial, week, batch or invoice number
  • the botanical name of the plant or plants
  • the quantity in the consignment

  • the letters ‘ZP’ and a protected zone code if you’re moving consignments in
    protected zones, and plants which must have passports in protected zones
    (PDF, 231KB, 5 pages)

  • the letters ‘RP’ if it’s a replacement plant passport
  • the country of origin of the consignment, if it’s originally come from a non-EU country

If you’re transporting a mix of items that need a plant passport and items that need a supplier document, you can use a plant passport to cover all of them, once you include the following information:

  • the phrase ‘EU quality’
  • the variety name for rootstocks or a designation if there’s no variety name

If your plant passport is for fruit, you must confirm that the fruit either:

  • meets conformitas agraria communitatis (CAC) standards – for the purposes of this guidance, this means stating the fruit is free of pests and diseases
  • has a Fruit Propagation Certification Scheme (FPCS) grade – state the grade on the passport

Plant passports and protected zones

Some plants and plant products must have a passport to enter parts of EU countries called ‘protected zones’.

If you’re making a plant passport to move restricted plants into a protected zone, you must include the code ‘ZP’ on the passport followed by the code for that protected zone.

Check a list of
protected zones, and plants which must have passports in protected zones
(PDF, 231KB, 5 pages)

to find the code you need to include.

Contact APHA if you need more information on protected zones.

Replacement plant passports

You must issue a replacement passport if you split a consignment of passported plants and you’re sending them to someone else.

The replacement passport must include the following, along with the standard plant passport details:

  • the letters ‘RP’ – for replacement passport
  • the registration number of the original supplier
  • your registration number and your serial, week, batch or invoice number

For example, if your batch number is WK1, your registration number is 34567 and the original producer’s is 12345, you must label the plant passport UK/EW 34567 WK1/RP 12345.

If you don’t want your customer to be able to identify your supplier, you can use your own code instead of their registration number – keep a log of your codes that allows APHA to identify suppliers.

You can’t add protected zone codes to a replacement plant passport if they weren’t on the original, or omit them from a replacement passport if they were on the original.

Choose a plant passport format

You can issue a plant passport for an individual plant or for a consignment – the passport can be a label, a sticker, a paper form or another document.

You can include all the information on a delivery note or on another document travelling with the consignment.

Alternatively, you can include all the information on labels attached to the plants or plant products and their packaging. In this case you must use at least one label for each plant of the same variety, grown in the same place by the same producer, and destined for the same customer

If you’re moving passported plants with plants that don’t have passports, you can use one delivery note or document to give details of all the plants.

Supplier document

You must make a supplier document for certain plants.

Fruit and vegetable plants

Your supplier document for fruit and vegetable plants must include:

  • the phrase ‘EU Quality’
  • ‘UK’ (to show that the plants were grown in, or imported into, the UK)
  • ‘EW’ (the code for APHA)
  • your unique APHA registration number
  • your company name
  • your individual serial, week, batch or invoice number
  • the date on which you made the document
  • the botanical name of the plants or common name for vegetables
  • the variety name for rootstocks or a designation if there’s no variety name
  • the quantity in the consignment

Ornamental plants

Your supplier document for ornamental plants must include:

  • the phrase ‘EU Quality’
  • ‘UK’ (to show that the plants were grown in, or imported into, the UK)
  • ‘EW’ (the code for APHA)
  • your unique APHA registration number
  • your company name
  • your individual serial, week, batch or invoice number
  • the date on which you made the document
  • the botanical name of the plants
  • the variety name for rootstocks or a designation if there’s no variety name
  • the denomination of the group of plants
  • the quantity in the consignment
  • the country of production of the consignment, if the plants and plant products have been imported from a non-EU country

Trade seed potatoes

Seed potatoes must have a plant passport at every stage of the trade chain in the EU, whether you’re sending them to another UK site or to another EU member state.

If you grow seed potatoes you must be authorised by APHA to make plant passports.

Find out how to get authorised as part of the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS).

Potato cyst nematode (PCN)

If you’re producing plants for planting or bulbs that are grown in soil or growing material that contains soil you may need to get them tested for potato cyst nematode before you can trade them.

These species must be tested for PCN:

  • leeks
  • strawberry
  • sugar beet
  • young brassica plants for planting
  • young asparagus plants for planting
  • pepper
  • tomato
  • aubergines
  • bulbs, tubers and rhizomes

You must contact APHA to arrange a PCN test unless:

  • you’re planting the plants at the same place where they were raised
  • you’ll put the plants through a PCN disinfestations process before you move them
  • you’ll have the plants brushed or washed until free of soil
  • the field where you’ll grow the plants has been free of PCN for 12 years, and you have test results to prove this
  • you can confirm no potatoes, peppers, aubergines or tomatoes were grown in the field where you’ll grow the plants, in the last 12 years

Renew authorisation

You must contact APHA to renew your authorisation each year.

Fees

The fee for renewal inspections are the same as for first inspections. See the fee details in the apply to be authorised section.

Keep records

You must keep the following for 1 year:

  • all plant passports that you issue or receive
  • a record of any plant propagating material you buy or sell
  • a record of any mixing you did during packaging, storage, transport or delivery

Your records must allow APHA to investigate any pest or disease outbreaks.

If a supplier sends you a plant passport in the form of a label, you must keep the label. If this is impossible, eg because the label is glued to a tray, write the details into a manual or save them in a file on your computer.

You don’t have to keep supplier documents, unless part of them forms the plant passport.

Pay APHA to issue plant passports

If you’re not authorised or you don’t want to get authorised, you can contact APHA and pay them to issue plant passports for you.

To do this, you must get your site inspected by APHA – you need to give the inspectors 7 days’ notice.

See the fee details in the apply to be authorised section.

If you’re not authorised

If you’re not authorised to issue plant passports, you must still issue supplier documents for some fruit and vegetable plants which require them, unless either:

  • they’re for retail sale
  • you’re a small producer selling to the local market

Check the list of:

When you’re considered a small producer

You’re considered a small producer if you meet any of the following conditions:

  • you don’t trade in plants that are covered by the plant passport scheme
  • you raise less than 1,000 metres squared of plants overall and less than 100 metres squared is under protection
  • the charge for 2 nursery inspections would be more than 10% of your turnover

When you’re considered to be selling to the local market

You’re considered to be selling to the local market if you only sell produce within a 50 kilometre radius of your site to people who are not professional growers, and you don’t sell at auctions.

You must mark produce as ‘for direct sale to the public only’.

Keeping records

You must also:

Telling APHA about pests or diseases

You must contact APHA if you suspect you’ve found quarantine or non-indigenous pests or diseases.

Temporary agreements

In some situations you may have to use other official documents instead of plant passports. For example, if the law is changing and there’s a temporary agreement between EU member states. APHA will tell you when this is the case.



Detailed guide: Moving prohibited plants, plant pests, pathogens and soil

Updated: Updated licence application fees

You must get a licence from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to import, move or keep prohibited:

  • plants, including parts of plants and seeds
  • invertebrate plant pests (arthropods, molluscs and nematodes)
  • plant pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, virus-like agents and phytoplasmas)
  • soil and other organic material
  • potatoes

Your licence will include the specific conditions under which you must import, move or keep the material.

You must follow these along with the conditions set out in this guidance.

If you’re in Scotland, contact Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture.

If you’re in Northern Ireland, contact the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Who can get a licence

You can only get a licence if you’re using the prohibited items for:

  • scientific research or trials
  • testing new varieties of plants (varietal selection)

Licences for invertebrate plant pests and plant pathogens

You must have a licence to import, move or keep invertebrate plant pests or plant pathogens which meet any one of the following conditions:

  • they’re listed in the annexes of EC directive 2000/29/EC
  • they’re under statutory control in England, Scotland and Wales or subject to an eradication campaign – contact APHA to check this
  • Defra considers that they’re not present in England, Scotland and Wales and are likely to be harmful to plants
  • Defra considers them to be non-indigenous races, strains, populations or clones of indigenous species which could exhibit an increased risk to plant health (eg increased pathogenicity or resistance to commonly used control strategies)

Contact APHA to check if an invertebrate plant pest or pathogen is prohibited.

Licences for prohibited plants, parts of plants and seeds

You must have a licence to import, move or keep any plants, parts of plants or seeds listed in Annex III of EU Directive 2000/29/EC.

Using a licence instead of a plant passport or phytosanitary certificate

You may be able to use a licence to bring in plants, parts of plants and seeds which would normally need a phytosanitary certificate or plant passport.

You can only do this if you can’t get the phytosanitary certificate or plant passport for scientifically justified reasons, eg the plants were collected from the wild – contact the APHA if you want to do this.

Licences for prohibited soil and other organic material

You must have a licence to import, move, or keep soil from some countries. This also applies to any organic material which is capable of sustaining plant life and which contains solid organic matter, eg humus, peat other than pure and unused peat, moss and bark.

These countries include:

  • any country that’s not part of continental Europe, except Egypt, Libya, Israel, Morocco or Tunisia
  • Belarus
  • Moldova
  • Russia
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

You don’t need a licence for:

  • marine sediments
  • pure and unused peat
  • pure sand, clay, talc, rocks, volcanic pumice and chalk
  • water that isn’t contaminated by soil or organic matter

You must have a licence for artificial growing medium that contains any organic matter, unless it’s made up entirely of unused peat.

Apply for a licence

You should apply for a licence at least one month before you need it, using Defra’s eDomero online application system.

If you haven’t used eDomero before, you need to register as a new user

Application fees

New licences for prohibited plants, plant pests and pathogens cost £902. This fee covers a licence for 5 types of material – you must pay a further £52.45 for each extra type of material.

New licences for prohibited soil or other organic material cost £664.50. This fee covers a licence for 5 types of material – you must pay a further £52.45 for each extra type of material.

APHA will send you an invoice after you apply for a licence using the eDomero system.

What to include in your application

Your application must explain:

  • site security
  • record-keeping and labelling
  • the lay-out of your facilities
  • the procedures you’ll follow during experiments

Site security

You must confirm:

  • all areas containing quarantine material are kept locked
  • the names of anyone who has access to quarantine areas or a set of keys
  • how you label quarantine areas
  • that all authorised personnel will read and sign a standard operating procedure before starting work with licensed material

Record-keeping and labelling

You must describe:

  • how you’ll keep dated records when new material arrives and how you’ll move or dispose of existing licensed material
  • how you’ll label or distinguish licensed material at all stages of your experiments

Your facilities

You must:

  • describe the type of containment facility you’ll use, eg glasshouses, polytunnels, laboratories
  • describe the location of containment facilities on your premises – give room numbers or a geographic location relative to a named or numbered area and make a plan of your facility if possible
  • give details of how often authorised staff enter the containment facilities
  • describe how much material you’ll keep in containment facilities at a given time
  • describe how you’ll keep licensed material within 3 layers of secure containment to stop plant pests escaping
  • state the other material that will arrive with the licensed material (eg soil) and how you’ll handle it or dispose of it
  • state whether you’ll keep licensed and non-licensed material in the same containment facilities
  • describe the type of work you’ll carry out in each area of your site
  • describe the containers you’ll grow plants in, if the licensed material includes plants for planting
  • describe the traps you’ll use to detect the escape of licensed organisms
  • provide a detailed contingency plan you’ll use if organisms escape or if you suspect they’ve escaped

Your experimental procedures

You must also state:

  • how you’ll carry out your experiments – give a step by step description of every experiment you intend to do
  • whether workers will wear dedicated protective clothing that’s only used when working on licensed material and how you’ll clean it after use
  • the precautions you’ll take when transporting material between containment facilities during experiments
  • the disinfectants you’ll use to clean containment facilities, their concentration and how you’ll use them
  • how you’ll destroy the licensed material after you’ve finished working with it, and before you dispose of it
  • a list of the scientific and technical qualifications of all personnel who’ll do work under the licence you’re applying for

Moving consignments within England and Wales

Sending material to other sites

You can send licensed prohibited material to other people or organisations in England and Wales, provided the destination site or person has a licence to receive them.

Complete form PHI10 and send it to the APHA – if they approve your plan, they’ll send you a written agreement.

This written agreement is valid for 12 months, provided the recipient’s licence isn’t amended or cancelled in this time.

If the recipient changes the terms of their licence you’ll have to contact APHA for a new approval.

Receiving material from other sites

You must have a licence to receive prohibited material from other people or organisations in England and Wales.

You must also make sure your supplier has a licence and a written agreement from the APHA.

Receiving material from outbreak sites

You can only receive material from an outbreak site that’s under an APHA notice if the notice allows this.

Contact the APHA if you’re unsure which are under notice.

You must have a licence to hold and work with any material you receive.

Bringing material in from other countries

Letter of authority

If you get a licence to bring prohibited material in from overseas, it’ll have a ‘letter of authority’ attached – you must keep this letter

From countries within the EU

Follow these steps to bring material into England and Wales from other EU countries, including Scotland and Northern Ireland:

  1. Send your supplier a copy of your letter of authority.
  2. Ask your supplier to get your letter of authority endorsed by the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) in their member state.
  3. Ask them to attach copies of the endorsed letter to the outside of the packages containing the licensed material and to include a copy inside each package.

Importing from non-EU countries

Follow these steps to import prohibited material into England and Wales from non-EU countries under a licence:

  1. Send a copy of your letter of authority to the supplier.
  2. Ask your supplier to attach the letter to the outside of the package and include a copy inside each package.

For imports from outside the EU, you don’t need to have your letter of authority endorsed by the NPPO in the supplier’s country.

If you’re importing material in luggage, you must present it at the red customs channel, along with the appropriate letter of authority, when you arrive in England or Wales.

Sending material to other countries

To EU countries

Follow these steps to send prohibited material to other EU countries, or Scotland and Northern Ireland:

  1. Ask the recipient for a copy of their letter of authority.
  2. Send the copy of their letter of authority to the APHA to be endorsed.
  3. Attach the endorsed letter of authority to the outside of all packages before you send them. You should also include copies of the letter of authority inside the packaging.

If the recipient tells you that you don’t need a letter of authority, ask them to show you official confirmation of this from their NPPO.

You shouldn’t send your material until you’ve got this confirmation.

Exporting to non-EU countries

To export material to non-EU countries, you must comply with the import regulations in the destination country.

The APHA may be able to give you advice about import regulations in the destination country.

How to pack materials

You must make sure any prohibited material you’re moving under a licence is stored in 3 layers of packaging.

At least 1 of the layers must be escape and shatter-proof.

Transport, handling and storage

You must make sure you have licensed material transported to your authorised containment facility directly from the place of landing or the licensed establishment in England and Wales.

You must only open, handle and keep licensed material in the approved quarantine containment facility listed on your licence.

Inspections

You must make all licensed material available for inspection by your local APHA inspector.

You must allow the inspector to check how you’re keeping the material – they may take samples of material or any associated organisms, eg invertebrates.

You must contact APHA on the first working day after the consignment arrives to inform them of any plants you’ve received under licence.

Keep the plants in isolation until the APHA has inspected them.

Inspection fees

Your application fee covers the cost of your first inspection.

Some licences must then be inspected every year, especially new licences. In other cases inspectors will reinspect every 2 or 3 years.

The first inspector who visits your site will tell you how often you need to be reinspected.

If you fail an inspection you must pay for any further inspections, at a cost of £42.75 per hour or part of an hour.

Change an existing licence

You can apply to change your licence using eDomero – eg to add new facilities or material.

APHA may re-inspect your facilities as part of this application process.

Licence amendment fees

Licence amendments that require a Defra scientific or technical assessment cost £265.21.

Amendments that don’t need an assessment cost £31.86.

APHA will send you an invoice after you apply to change a licence through the eDomero system.

Destroying plants, parts of plants and seeds

You must usually destroy plant material after you’ve completed the research your facility was licensed to do.

In some circumstances, you may be allowed to test the plant material and get it released from the terms of its licence.

Contact the APHA if you want to get plant material released from its licence instead of destroying it.

You’ll have to get the plant material tested and pay any costs associated with this.



Detailed guide: Importing plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material to the UK

Updated: Address to submit documents after your consignment has arrived has been updated.

Categories of material

Plants, fruit, vegetables and plant material (like soil) from outside the EU fall into 3 categories:

  • ‘unrestricted’ material you can bring to the UK without any conditions
  • ‘controlled’ material that you can only bring into the UK with a ‘phytosanitary certificate’ to show it meets the requirements for entry to the EU
  • ‘prohibited’ material you can’t bring into the UK unless you get a scientific research licence or an exception (‘derogation’) to the rules – contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) if you want to apply for a derogation

The rest of this guide explains how to import controlled material that requires a phytosanitary certificate.

Find out how to send or receive plants within the EU and how to export plants to non-EU countries.

Material that’s controlled

Controlled plants, fruit, vegetables and plant material include:

  • all plants for planting
  • common fruits (except for bananas and grapes) other than fruit preserved by deep freezing
  • cut flowers
  • some seeds and leafy vegetables other than vegetables preserved by deep freezing
  • potatoes from some countries

If you’re not sure whether the item you want to bring to the UK is controlled, check the list of plant species by import category or contact APHA.

Personal allowance

You can import a total of 5 controlled plants without a phytosanitary certificate, if you’re returning from an EU country or Switzerland, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey and the plants are:

  • in your personal baggage
  • for your personal use
  • not diseased or infected with pests

Otherwise you must follow the procedures in this guide.

Register as an importer

You must follow the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates from the Horticultural marketing inspectorate (PEACH).

Register for PEACH before you start importing plants.

Once you’re registered you can follow the progress of your consignments through inspections and other checks on the PEACH website.

Phytosanitary certificates

You must get a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment of controlled plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material that you import, from the plant health authority in the country where your supplier is.

The certificate is a statement from the plant health authority that the consignment:

  • has been officially inspected
  • complies with legal requirements for entry into the EU
  • is free from serious pests and diseases

The inspection referred to in the certificate must take place no more than 14 days before the consignment is dispatched from the inspecting country. The certificate must be signed by someone in the inspecting plant health authority within the same 14 day period.

If your consignment includes plants from more than one country, you’ll need to get a separate phytosanitary certificate from the plant health authority in each country.

Quantity

Phytosanitary certificates include a ‘quantity declared’ section. Tell the plant health authority that’s completing the form to fill in quantities as follows.

For cut flowers quantity must be stated as the number of stems.

Quantities must be stated in kilograms (kg) for fruit, vegetables, soil and branches with foliage, potatoes, grain and the following plants for planting:

  • bulbs
  • corms and rhizomes
  • plants in tissue culture
  • seeds

For any other plants for planting, the quantity must be recorded as the number of items in the consignment.

It’s up to you to make sure quantities are stated in this way. The plant health authority may use quantity measures for consignments bound for other countries, so you will need to tell them about the measures required for UK-bound consignments.

Pre-arrival notification

You must use the PEACH website to give advance notice each time you bring a consignment to the UK.

You must give:

  • in the case of any relevant material brought by air, at least 4 working hours before the relevant material is landed
  • in any other case, at least 3 working days before the relevant material is landed

You must also scan the following documents and upload them to the PEACH website before your consignment arrives:

Inspections

When it arrives in the UK, your consignment must be presented for inspection to check it:

  • includes all required documents
  • contains the plants you have said it does
  • is free from pests and diseases

If your consignment doesn’t pass an inspection it may be destroyed, treated, or sent back to where you sent it from at your expense.

Inspection fees

For each consignment imported you have to pay the following fees:

  • A fee of £9.71 for each consignment to cover the cost of checking the consignment’s paperwork and identity.
  • A physical inspection fee – the amount you will have to pay will depend on the type of plant material you’re importing.

See Schedule 1 of the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018.

Reduced inspection fees

Some plant material, imported from particular countries, is eligible for a reduced level of physical inspection. This many mean a lower inspection fee.

Check schedule 2 of the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018 to find out if your consignment qualifies for a lower inspection fee.

Points of entry

You can use these designated points of entry to bring your consignment into the UK.

You’ll be able to select the point of entry you want to use from a drop down list on the PEACH website.

Heathrow

Consignments can be inspected at Heathrow from 6am until midnight everyday.

APHA will inspect your consignment within 4 hours of it arriving as long as:

  • you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
  • it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application

Manchester, Gatwick or Stansted

Consignments can be inspected at Manchester, Gatwick or Stansted airports between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).

APHA will inspect your consignment within 4 hours of it becoming available for inspection (ie after you bring it to the office), as long as:

  • you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
  • it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application

Other airports

Consignments can be inspected at other airports between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).

APHA will inspect your consignment within one working day of it becoming available for inspection (ie after you bring it to the office), as long as:

  • you’ve given the required 4 working hours notice
  • it arrives and is presented for inspection at the time you indicated on your PEACH application

Seaports and approved inland inspection points

Consignments can be inspected at seaports and approved inland inspection points between 8:30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday (except UK bank holidays).

APHA will inspect your consignment within 1 working day of it becoming available (ie once the port has moved it to the approved inspection facility), as long as you’ve given the required 3 working days notice.

Alternative inspection posts

Inspections can also be carried out at:

Apply to:

How to present certificates

If you’re travelling with your consignment, you can provide phytosanitary and reforwarding certificates for inspection yourself when you arrive in the UK.

If you’re shipping the consignment by post, put the certificates in an envelope marked ‘For the attention of Border Force’ and attach it to the outside of your package.

If you have more than one package, attach certified copies of the certificates to each package. A certified copy is a copy signed by the plant health authority that drew up the certificate.

Submit documents after your consignment arrives

Within 3 days of your consignment reaching the UK, you must post the original phytosanitary certificate to APHA.

For consignments landing at Heathrow or Gatwick send the certificate to:

Animal and Plant Health Agency

1st floor

Building 4

Heathrow Boulevard

284 Bath Road

West Drayton

Middlesex

UB7 0DQ

For consignments landing anywhere else send the certificate to:

Animal and Plant Health Agency

Room 11GA02

Sand Hutton

York

YO41 1LZ

Consignments travelling through another EU state

If your consignment travelled through another EU member state, the plant health authority in the other member state will have taken the phytosanitary certificate and replaced it with a ‘plant health movement document’.

In this case, send the plant health movement document to APHA instead.

Complaints and appeals

You can complain or appeal if you’re unsatisfied with the service you receive from APHA.