Guidance

Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) news: February 2021

Updated 1 March 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

• Publication for Northern Ireland

This newsletter updates the version previously circulated in December 2020.

1. Important information for forest reproductive material (FRM) suppliers regarding the end of the EU Exit Transition period

The UK is now applying normal international rules to allow FRM to be marketed between Great Britain (GB) and the European Union (EU). Under most situations, this means that FRM must be certified under Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rules. To ensure that exports of FRM to the EU can continue, the United Kingdom (UK) needs to gain third country equivalence with the EU. As part of UK EU exit planning, Defra has submitted applications to the European Commission, requesting third country equivalence for certification of FRM and other propagating material. The EU is considering the case that the UK has made.

The EU Commission has proposed that FRM originating in Great Britain from the Source Identified, Selected and Qualified categories may be treated as equivalent for marketing for forestry purposes in the EU. The process of agreeing this as a EU Decision will take time and it may be a number of months before a decision is in place. Defra has written to the EU to enquire about the timeline to finalise the Decision and to seek clarity on the omission of forestry tested material from this proposal.

The UK has unilaterally, granted the EU equivalence for all categories of FRM and is now applying normal international rules to imports of seeds, plants and cuttings for 2 years pending a reciprocal equivalence agreement with the EU.

The UK cannot continue to recognise EU labels for FRM under the OECD’s scheme for forest seed and plants. This means that imports and exports of FRM must use OECD approved labels in the manner that is required under the rules for this scheme.

Another requirement under the OECD scheme is that the process for certification of FRM must comply with the rules of the scheme. As the UK already follows the same process as the OECD for certification the only change is that OECD certificates will now be issued by the Forestry Commission to accompany FRM from 1 January 2021. OECD certificates can also be issued retrospectively where these are required.

FRM will continue to move freely from Northern Ireland (NI) to GB under existing rules and labelling, but EU third country equivalence will be required to market seed from GB to NI.

2. Importing regulated FRM into England, Scotland and Wales from the EU

New processes that importers must follow will be introduced in 2021. A phased approach will be implemented for plant health controls as follows:

2.1 From 1 January 2021 until 31 March 2021

New requirements will apply to high priority FRM imported from the EU:

• high priority FRM includes all plants for planting for FRM species and seeds of Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut)

These requirements include:

• a phytosanitary (health) certificate (PC)
• a pre-notification submitted by the importer in England, Scotland or Wales
• documentary and identity checks
• a physical inspection

Inspection fees for EU imports will apply in England and Wales from 1 April 2021.

2.2 From 1 April 2021

You must use the relevant IT system to notify APHA that you are importing regulated FRM. Further details of the IT system will be available from APHA in the coming weeks.

All regulated FRM imported to England, Scotland or Wales from the EU must be accompanied by phytosanitary certificates (PCs). Find out how to get a phytosanitary certificate.

APHA will inspect the PCs in England and Wales, Scottish Government will inspect PCs in Scotland. Consult this list to identify regulated FRM (plants, seeds and cuttings).

2.3 Steps to take now

• familiarise yourself with phytosanitary import certificate requirements
• register with APHA (England and Wales), SASA (Scotland) or DAERA (Northern Ireland)

3. Become a Place of Destination

From 1 January 2021 until 1 July 2021, physical plant health inspection for EU-regulated high priority FRM can take place at a Place of Destination (PoD) as well as at a Border Control Post (BCP). If your premises are in England or Wales, you can apply to APHA for your them to become a PoD from 1 January 2021. You can find out more about how to register and what requirements you will need to meet on GOV.UK.

For details on registering as a place of destination in Scotland, you should email the Scottish Government’s Horticulture and Marketing Unit at [email protected].

4. Exporting regulated FRM from England, Scotland or Wales to the EU including Northern Ireland

(Northern Ireland forms part of the island of Ireland epidemiological unit)

4.1 From 1 January 2021:

• all regulated FRM exported from England, Scotland or Wales to the EU will be subject to EU import controls in line with goods exported from the rest of the world

The process for sending regulated FRM to the EU will be the same as the current process for sending it to third countries. When you export regulated FRM to third countries, you need to:

• check whether a PC is required by contacting the plant health authority in the destination country. A list of countries is available on the IPPC website
• apply for a PC from the relevant UK plant health authority before export

Regulated plant and plant products exports to the EU from the UK may be subject to documentary, identity and physical checks at the EU border.

5. UK joins the OECD Bureau

At the Annual Meeting of the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme in September, Amanda Campbell was appointed to the role of Vice-Chair of the OECD Forest Scheme.

This gives the UK the opportunity to fully engage with the OECD and signals that we are committed to maintaining the high standards of FRM regulation in the future.

6. Enquiries

All enquiries relating to this newsletter should be directed to the relevant FRM team member:

John Morgan [email protected] Telephone: 0300 067 5170

For enquiries relating to the FRM regulations, basic material (e.g. new applications for approval or changes to existing details), web pages, inspections and general guidance, please contact:

Amanda Campbell [email protected] Telephone: 0300 067 5041

For enquiries relating to the seed collection notifications, the issue of Master certificates, registration of new suppliers or for export notifications please contact:

Will Goodfellow [email protected] Telephone: 0300 067 4217

For Poplar or Aspen issues or for enquiries relating to the issuing of a licence to market material that does not meet the full requirements of the regulations, contact:

Stuart A’Hara [email protected] Telephone: 0300 067 5906