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How to import plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, trees and agricultural machinery from non-EU third countries to GB and NI.

‘Plant’ means a living plant (including trees) or a living part of a plant (including a living part of a shrub), at any stage of growth.

‘Plant product’ means products of plant origin, unprocessed or having undergone simple preparation, in so far as these are not plants, including wood and bark.

Read how to import plants and plant products from the EU, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to GB and Northern Ireland.

There are no changes to the way plants are imported from non-EU third countries to Northern Ireland. Imports can continue in the same way as before.

You must have a phytosanitary (health) certificate (PC) for almost all plants and living parts of plants, including all seeds for planting, entering Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from non-EU third countries.

You may also need to register as an importer and pre-notify the plant health authority to import certain regulated plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and other objects.

Regulated materials that require pre-notification are:

If you’re not sure whether the item you want to bring to GB is regulated and requires pre-notification, check the list of plant species by import category or contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

If you’re importing organic produce, there are extra tasks you need to complete. Find out how to import organic products into the UK.

You must register as an importer on PEACH before you start importing plants.

After registering you can follow the progress of your consignments through the required checks on the PEACH website.

The PEACH system will be changing to a new IT system in early 2021. You will be contacted to register for the new system when this happens. Until then, you should continue to use PEACH for pre-notification.

To import regulated plants and plant products, you must get a PC for each consignment from the plant health authority in the country where your supplier is.

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

The inspection referred to in the PC must take place no more than 14 days before the consignment is dispatched from the country where your supplier is.

The certificate must be signed by someone in the inspecting plant health authority within the same 14-day period.

You do not need a PC to import these plants to GB:

This list shows the other plants and plant products that won’t need a PC for import to GB.

Any plants or plant products not included on this PC exemption list will be subject to import regulations and will need a PC.

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

For cut flowers the 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:

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.

You must register on the PEACH website before you start importing plants.

To access PEACH, you’ll be prompted to register with Government Gateway. You can register with Government Gateway on the PEACH website.

After registering with both Government Gateway and PEACH you will be able to use the PEACH to make a pre-notification and follow the progress of your consignments.

You must give advance notice to the responsible authority each time you bring a regulated consignment to the UK.

You must give notice for material:

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

You’ll be able to select the points of entry you want to use from a drop down list on the PEACH website. You can use these Border Control Posts to bring your consignment into the UK.

The following shows the level of service APHA will provide at various points of entry. This level of service will not apply, however, if your consignment:

Your consignment may be held overnight to allow further inspection or checks on the documentation.

Consignments can be inspected at:

APHA will inspect or release your consignment within 4 working hours of it arriving at the inspection area if you have given 4 working hours’ notice.

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

APHA will inspect or release your consignment within 4 working hours of it arriving at the inspection area if you have given 4 working hours’ notice.

Consignments can be inspected at seaports 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 if you have given one working day’s notice.

Inspections can also be carried out at control points, customs authorised as:

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

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.

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

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 PCs and reforwarding certificates to each package.

A certified copy is a copy signed by the plant health authority that drew up the certificate.

You’ll have to pay fees for each consignment imported from a non-EU third country. Inspection fees for documentary and identity checks are split.

How much you have to pay for imports to England and Wales will depend on the type of plant material and its risk level.

Plants and plant products from non-EU third countries imported to GB, after passing plant health checks in the EU, will be treated by GB as if they were an EU import as long as they entered into free circulation in the EU. The phased import approach will apply to these goods.

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 Foss House 1st Floor Kings Pool 1-2 Peasholme Green York YO1 7PX

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

For more information on plant imports, email planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk or phone 0300 1000 313.

If you need help with import notifications, you can call the APHA helpline on 03300 416 999 or email APHAServiceDesk@apha.gov.uk.

You can call the HMRC helpline 0300 322 9434. Monday to Friday 8am to 10pm, and Saturday to Sunday 8am to 4pm.

Updated the section 'If you need help with your customs declaration'.

Added a 'If you need help with your customs declaration' section.

Updated with new dates for fees.

Updated with guidance on how to comply with rules from 1 January

Updated the choose a point of entry section

Updated the address from Sand Hutton to York In the 'submit documents after your consignment arrives' section

Updated inspection fees section due to 2019 regulations.

Inspection hours updated for Manchester airport

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

Points of entry section - removed information on arrivals outside working hours due to new fees regulation that into force on 6 April 2018.

Updated inspection fees section due to 2018 regulations.

Change of address for consignments landing at Heathrow or Gatwick

Removed Birmingham airport from the points of entry section.

Inspection fee section updated due to changes in regulations.

Changed room number on address for Sand Hutton - submitting documents after your consignment arrives

Note added about the EU ban of some plant products originating in Ghana

Follow these steps to get your goods for import through UK customs if you’re managing the process yourself.

Getting customs clearance is complicated. You can hire a transporter or customs agent to make the import declaration and get your goods through UK customs.

Your business must be ready to import the goods before you can get customs clearance.

You need an EORI number that starts with GB to import goods into England, Wales or Scotland. You'll need a new one if you have an EORI that does not start with GB.

If you move goods to or from Northern Ireland you may need one that starts with XI.

Depending on where you're moving goods, you need to be registered on the right systems and have compatible software to make declarations.

There are processes that can make clearing customs quicker and easier to manage if you have to make import declarations regularly.

If you're importing goods from the EU to England, Scotland or Wales (Great Britain) you might be able to delay making a declaration for up to 6 months.

If you regularly import goods using Common Transit, you can apply to start movements of goods at your own premises.

You need to register as an importer if you import things like plant or animal products, high-risk food or feed, medicines, textiles, chemicals or firearms.

There are special rules and you may need to get licences or certificates if you are importing any of the following:

If you import things like plant or animal products, you need to choose a place where the goods can be inspected. This needs to happen before they’re allowed through the UK border.

You need to let the inspection point know when the goods are arriving. You might have to pay a fee for the inspection.

If you're importing goods from the EU to England, Scotland or Wales (Great Britain) you might be able to delay making a declaration for up to 6 months.

HMRC will tell you how much to pay after you submit the declaration.

The goods may be held at the border if, for example:

If this happens you will be told why.

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

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