Our exit from the EU means it has been necessary for the UK to develop its own Plant Health legislation to protect our native and plantation woodlands from the threat of pests and diseases. Some of this legislation replicates the previous measures applicable to non-EU movements of wood and some create new plant health requirements for the import, export, and movement of wood, wood products, and bark from the EU.
The Government developed a 3 staged phased import regime for plant products from the EU to give importers time to adjust to the new requirements. However, all wood and wood products subject to plant health requirements are defined as high priority and so fall into Phase 1 which requires:
- From 1 January 2021, all ‘high priority’ material must have a phytosanitary certificate and require pre-notification. These will be subject to physical and identity checks that will occur at place of destination (POD) when these are designated by importers.