Correspondence received by The Chartered Institute of Horticulture from Defra 29th January 2020
Dear colleague
We hope you have found these newsletters for Importers and Exporters useful over the past few months to receive updates from Defra on EU Exit. As you will know the Government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill has been agreed by Parliament and received Royal Assent, therefore the UK will leave the European Union on 31st January 2020 and enter a transition period until 31st December 2020.
Below we have a number of updates for you regarding the transition period and various sectors, which we encourage you to read carefully and pass on to anyone else you feel should see this information.
Plants import / export
“The Government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill has now been agreed by Parliament and received Royal Assent, so we will now enter a transition period until 31st December 2020. During the transition period, you should continue to use the current process to trade in plants and plant products with other EU countries as you do now up until the end of 2020 – there are no immediate changes to the process.
“This also means that the rules on importing and exporting plants and plant products will not change during the transition period.
“Further details on the requirements for importing and exporting plants and plant products after the transition period will be made available in the coming months. For any queries, please visit GOV.UK, speak to your local Plant Health inspector, or contact APHA at: Apha_srsfmailbox@apha.gov.uk.”
Plant verity and seeds
“The Government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill has now been agreed by Parliament and received Royal Assent, so we will now enter a transition period until 31st December 2020. During the transition period, you should continue to use the current process to trade in seeds with other EU countries as you do now up until the end of 2020 – there are no immediate changes to the process.
“However, please note that UK DUS reports will not be accepted by the EU during the transition period. The UK will accept EU DUS reports during the transition period for the agricultural, amenity and vegetable species tested by NIAB, AFBI and SASA so long as that testing was initiated by 31st January 2020. For other species, the UK will continue to accept EU DUS reports provided it is of comparable quality to UK testing.
“After 31 December 2020, CPVO (Community Plant Variety Office) will require all applicants and holders of Community Plant Variety Rights have a contact address (a designated procedural representative) in the EU.
“The UK National List will remain part of the EU Common Catalogue during the transition period. It will be removed after 31st December 2020, unless the UK has an arrangement in place with the EU to maintain access to the common catalogue.
“We will continue to communicate with you throughout the year about any actions you need to take after the transition period.
“Further details on the requirements for seed marketing, plant variety rights and DUS testing after the transition period will be made available in the coming months. For any queries, please visit GOV.UK, speak to your local Plant Health Inspector, or contact APHA at: pvs.helpdesk@apha.gov.uk.”
We will be in touch with further updates in the coming months as they develop.
Kind regards,
The Defra Imports and Exports Communications Team