Export wood, wood products and bark from Great Britain
How to export certain types of regulated wood, wood products and bark from Great Britain to the world.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
If you export certain types of regulated wood, wood products and bark from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to other parts of the world, you’ll need to register as a professional operator and then apply for phytosanitary certificates from the Forestry Commission.
Phytosanitary certificates can confirm that the material:
- has been inspected
- is considered free from quarantine (and other) pests
- conforms to the plant health regulations of the importing country
Check DAERA guidance for wood exports from Northern Ireland.
Register as a professional operator
Before you can apply for an export phytosanitary certificate to export wood from Great Britain, you must first register as a professional operator with the Forestry Commission.
Check the plant health regulations in the destination country
After you have registered as a professional operator, check the plant health regulations of the country you plan to export to.
Select the country you plan to export to on the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) website and read the phytosanitary requirements, restrictions and prohibitions information.
If the wood, wood product or bark you plan to export is regulated in that country, you’ll need to apply for a phytosanitary certificate from the Forestry Commission.
The Forestry Commission issues phytosanitary certificates for:
- any wood, isolated bark or non-manufactured wood products
- wood packaging material not in use (CN Code 4415) – wood in the form of packaging cases, boxes, crates, drums or pallets
Most wood packaging material used to export goods must follow ISPM15 international standards.
The ISPM15 mark put on ISPM15-certified wood packaging material is a paperless form of phytosanitary certification. No additional paper certification form is needed.
Apply for a phytosanitary certificate
If you regularly export controlled material, use the online service Apply for timber and wood export certificates.
Users of the online service can:
- sign-up to use the secure service
- submit applications for phytosanitary certificates online
- submit supporting documentation alongside applications, so that everything for that application is in one place
- preview draft phytosanitary certificates before submitting applications
- copy previous applications to prevent re-keying repeat consignments and speed-up the application process
- review the status of applications
- access and maintain a record of all applications created within the system
- withdraw applications
To be able to sign-up to the online service:
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You will first need to be registered as a professional operator with the Forestry Commission or authorised by your organisation’s professional operator to use this system. Therefore, you will need to have your organisation’s professional operator reference number available to complete the sign-up process (first use only).
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You will need to have a Forestry Commission credit account and know the FC credit account number assigned for your organisation. This number must be quoted on all applications. If your company does not already have a Forestry Commission credit account, an application for a credit account can be made using the following link Apply for a credit account. If you have any queries relating to FC Credit Accounts, contact the Forestry England credit account department at [email protected]
Once your organisation’s registered professional operator identification number has been successfully validated you will be able to sign in and out of the system for future applications using your email address and password only.
If you are the registered professional operator signing-up to the ‘Apply for timber and wood export certificates’, and your six-digit professional operator number and email address matches those of your professional operator registration, you will be automatically validated to use the export certificate system on first use.
If you are not the registered professional operator signing up to use the ‘Apply for timber and wood export certificates’, the registered professional operator must verify your identity. When first signing up to the ‘Apply for timber and wood export certificates’ you will be asked to complete a user profile. If the unique professional operator number has been entered correctly into the profile, the professional operator will be sent a verification email with instructions on how to validate the identity of the applicant.
If you encounter any issues with signing-up to the online service, contact [email protected]
If you do not need phytosanitary certificates regularly, or if the online system is unavailable, you can use the paper export plant health phytosanitary certificate application form.
Giving notice and inspections
When you apply for a phytosanitary certificate, you’ll need to let the Forestry Commission know how you intend to move your goods.
Make sure you apply for your phytosanitary certificate:
- 5 working days before you export sea freight
- 2 working days before you export air freight
This is so the Forestry Commission can consider your application, arrange an inspection and prepare a certificate. If you do not apply with enough time, your export may be delayed.
Some consignments might need inspections before they can be exported. For example, unprocessed wood because it can be a higher risk of introducing pests and diseases.
Fees
You’ll be charged fees for phytosanitary certificates, and for inspections if you need one.
Fees in England, Scotland and Wales
You’ll be charged £21 for each phytosanitary certificate issued.
If your consignment needs an inspection, you’ll be charged based on how long the inspection takes. The minimum amount you’ll be charged for an inspection is £37.80.
After 1 hour of inspection time, you’ll be charged an additional £10.50 for each additional 15 minutes.
For example, if your inspection takes 1 hour and 15 minutes, you’ll be charged £48.30. If your inspection only takes 45 minutes, you’ll still be charged £37.80.
Fees for exporting to Northern Ireland: Movement Assistance Scheme
If your business is moving regulated wood and bark products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, you do not need to pay for inspecting and certifying goods. These fees are covered by the government’s Movement Assistance Scheme.
Fines and penalties
If you make a false statement on a phytosanitary certificate application, you could be charged a fine of an unlimited amount.
What to do with the phytosanitary certificate
After you’ve been issued with an export phytosanitary certificate for your consignment, you must then send it to the importer or their agent receiving your consignment.
It is the importer’s responsibility to send it to the equivalent National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) in the importing country.
Exporting smaller parts of consignments
If you split up a consignment into smaller parts for export, you’ll need to apply for new phytosanitary certificates to accompany each consignment.
For example, if you import regulated wood from the United States to Great Britain, you’ll get a phytosanitary certificate from the exporter in the United States. If you then split the consignment up into smaller consignments to export from Great Britain to the Republic of Ireland, you’ll need to apply for new GB phytosanitary certificates for each of the smaller consignments.
Re-forwarding phytosanitary certificates
If the material was imported to Great Britain with a phytosanitary certificate and you plan to export it again, the Forestry Commission may suggest that you get a re-forwarding phytosanitary certificate.
The Forestry Commission will let you know if a re-forwarding phytosanitary certificate is more appropriate when you apply for a phytosanitary certificate.
Re-forwarding phytosanitary certificates only apply if the consignment has not been:
- stored
- split up
- combined with other consignments
- repackaged
How to apply for a phytosanitary certificate: application guidance
To apply for export phytosanitary certificates for timber and wood products, use the service Apply for timber and wood export certificates.
The online service will guide you through how to create and submit applications for phytosanitary certificates. For information on how to sign-up to the service see the section Apply for a phytosanitary certificate above.
This section contains additional notes to assist you when preparing to apply for phytosanitary certificates.
Within your application, you must declare the:
- country of destination (as well as any country of transit)
- means of transport and port of entry
You must also state:
- the species of timber or bark (except for wood packaging material) for export
- any treatment applied to your consignment (for example kiln-drying, heat treatment or fumigation)
- the quantity and full description of your material (for example, number of packs of sawn wood, volume of logs, number of pallets or crates and any identification marks)
Phytosanitary Certificates (PC) and PCs for re-export only include information about phytosanitary matters. They should not include:
- statements that requirements have been met
- references to animal or human health
- notes on pesticide residues or radioactivity
- commercial documents, such as letters of credit, bills of lading, CITES certificates
To help you cross-reference between phytosanitary certificates and other documents, further information may be included within the PC. This associates the certificate with the identification code, symbol or numbers of other relevant documents when necessary. These notes are not an official part of the PC.
Name and address of exporter:
Enter details of the individual or company that will be shown as the consignor (sender) on the printed and authorised PC. This information identifies the source of the consignment to help ‘trace back’ and audit by the Forestry Commission. The name and address should be located in the exporting country. Use the name and address of a local exporter’s agent or shipper.
The contact must be able to answer detailed questions about the consignment.
Name and address of Importer:
Enter details of the individual or company that will be shown as the consignee of the goods on the printed and authorised PC. This is the recipient of the goods in the importing country. You must provide enough detail to enable the authorities in the importing country to confirm the identity of the consignee. The importing country may need the address to be a location in the importing country.
Port of destination (import):
This should be the first point of arrival in the country of final destination. The point of entry of the first country of importation should be listed where more than one country is listed in the ‘TO’ section. The point of entry for the country of final destination should be listed in cases where the consignment only transits through another country. If the country of transit is also listed in the ‘TO’ section, the points of entry into the transit country, as well as the final destination country, may be listed (for example, point A via point B).
Description of timber or wood products:
You will need to include a description of the wood or wood products which are subject to phytosanitary control. Reference to the numbers of wooden pallets, crates, boxes, packing cases, cable drums etc associated with a range of commodities should be made here, as should reference to any distinguishing marks stamped, branded, stencilled, or labelled on them to aid identification of the consignment. If the wood packaging material has been marked with a UK Wood Packaging Material Marking Programme ISPM15 mark – containing the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) logo and a 2-digit ISO Country code, unique registration number and treatment code – add this. You can also add a brief description of the commodity being shipped in the wood packaging material (whether subject to phytosanitary control or not) here to help identity the consignment.
You will be asked to list the names of tree species (ideally botanical, if known). In practice you can state softwood (coniferous) or hardwood (non coniferous). For more detail, see a few botanical names of common tree species used for wood products below:
Softwoods/conifers
| Common name | Botanical name |
|---|---|
| Norway spruce | Picea abies |
| Sitka spruce | Picea sitchensis |
| Scots pine | Pinus sylvestris |
| Weymouth pine | Pinus strobus |
| Corsican pine | Pinus nigra |
| European larch | Larix decidua |
| Japanese larch | Larix leptolepis |
| Douglas fir | Pseudotsuga menziesii |
| Silver fir | Abies alba |
| Western Red Cedar | Thuja plicata |
Hardwoods/non conifer
| Common name | Botanical name |
|---|---|
| Poplar /Aspen | Populus |
| Alder | Alnus |
| Birch | Betula |
| Willow | Salix |
| Maple/Sycamore | Acer |
| Plane | Platanus |
| Beech | Fagus |
| Oak | Quercus |
| Chestnut | Castanea |
| Elm | Ulmus |
For wood packaging, you may list the unique UK Wood Packaging Material Marking ISPM15 Registration number (for example, GB-FCXXXX) and treatment codes (for example, HT, SF, MB or DH) as appropriate. Alternatively you can enter other marks relating to other countries’ national wood marking programmes here.
Get help
If you need help, you can contact [email protected].
Updates to this page
Published 27 July 2021Last updated 17 January 2023 + show all updates
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Service down time notification for Friday 20 January 2023.
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Updates to the page, changing the link to a new Electronic Application for Phytosanitary Certificate (EAPC) service.
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Updated link to the Forestry Commission professional operator application form
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First published.