Summary
If the EU no longer carries out necessary phytosanitary checks on plants and plant products imported into the UK via EU27 member states, the UK will need to apply standard 3rd country phytosanitary controls to ACP plant products exported to the UK via a EU27 member state. The application of standard 3rd country phytosanitary controls along ACP triangular supply chains could prove disruptive given the UK government’s current planned system of controls. These controls are seen as commercially non-viable by operators involve in current triangular supply chain arrangements. There is therefore an urgent need for ACP governments whose exporters are involved in triangular supply chains involving the affected products to secure from the EU authorities a firm commitment that necessary plant health checks on products destined for the UK market will continue to be carried out in the EU27.
On the 20th March 2019 the UK government issued an updated notice on the importing and exporting of plant products into the UK under a no-deal Brexit scenario. The notice highlighted how while the majority of plants, flowers, fruit and vegetables from the EU will continue to be imported freely, ‘plants and plant products currently managed under the EU plant passport scheme will be subject to UK import controls and become ‘regulated commodities’. The new UK scheme is intended to maintain the same level of assurance, traceability, and biosecurity as current EU wide arrangements (1).
Under the UK system where plant passports are currently necessary this will require companies to:
- register as an importer using the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates from the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (PEACH) website for regulated plants and plant products (2);
- make sure a regulated consignment enters the UK with a phytosanitary certificate (PC) issued in the country of export (or re-export);
- provide pre-arrival notification using the PEACH website, including scanned copies of your PC and other relevant documents (for example bill of lading, cargo movement request, or delivery company invoice) to the PEACH website;
- supply the original copy of the PC by post within 3 days of your consignment arriving in the UK (1).
The UK government notice highlights how ‘regulated plants and plant products originating in the EU will not be stopped at the border’. Documentary and identity checks on products originating in the EU will be carried out remotely by virtual checks based on pre-submitted documents and pre-notifications. No physical interruption of trade will be required, although the costs of carrying out these checks will be charged to the importer. However there will be ‘follow up surveillance and inspections inland in line with current policies’. The costs of these follow up activities however will not be charged.
However in regard to plants imported from 3rd countries via the EU, the UK notification highlights how ‘the EU would no longer be obliged to carry out plant health checks on regulated third- country goods going to the UK’. Where no such EU checks are undertaken, re-exports to the UK will then be treated the same as direct imports from 3rd countries (1). This would represent a significant change from current trade practices along ACP triangular supply chains.
The UK notification notes how ‘many plants and plant products entering the UK via the EU arrive at fast-moving roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ports where checks at the border would create significant disruptions to traffic’. As a consequence of the wider problems this would give rise to ‘all third-country plant health regulated material arriving in the UK via RoRo ports requiring checks will have to go to a plant health approved facility for inspection’ (1).
These approved plant health inspection facilities will not be at the port of arrival. According to the UK government’s notification these approved health inspection facilities include:
- Place of First Arrival (PoFA) – trade premises that have been authorised to host plant health controls on third country material entering the UK via the EU at RoRo ports
- other facilities that have been authorised for Plant Health control (‘alternative inspection posts’) (1).
The UK notification advises 3rd country exporters of plants and plant products subject to phytosanitary certificate requirements to ensure plant health checks are carried out by doing one of the following:
- registering a place of first arrival (PoFA);
- using a non-RoRo point of entry where checks can take place at the border;
- using an ‘alternative inspection post’ (1).
Any UK importer can register as a place of first arrival for inspection purposes (3). This requires the provision of details of the nature of their trade and a site plan of their facilities. Approvals are not automatic and require formal approval (3). It is unclear how lengthy the approval process for designation as a place of first arrival is once applications have been submitted. Equally it is unclear how many current UK traders importing plants from the EU27 have registered as a place of first arrival for inspection purposes.
If approval as a place of first arrival is granted, authorized consignments will need to be held at the designated place of first arrival ‘until the plant health authority has carried out its checks and released the goods’ (1). It is unclear what length of notification time is required for official inspections to be undertaken at a place of first arrival.
This leaves using an ‘alternative inspection post’. The UK government has posted a list of ‘External Temporary Storage Facility (ETSF) Approved to receive restricted plant health imports’, which fall under the definition of an ‘alternative inspection post’ (5). This currently consists of 12 facilities spread across Middlesex (which includes greater London 8 facilities) London (3 facilities), and Berkshire (1 facility). It is unclear what the handling times will be for clearance of 3rd country plant products through these alternative inspection posts
Despite the concerns expressed by traders in plant and plant products requiring a phytosanitary certificate over the impracticality of applying standard seaport clearance procedures to RORO freight, the UK government’s 20th March 2019 notification still stipulated that for consignments from 3rd countries entering the UK by routes other than by air a notice of 3 working days must be given foo inspections to be carried out (compared to 4 hours for air-freighted cargo) (1).
If this time frame was to apply to inspections carried out at an approved place of first arrival or an ‘alternative inspection post’ then this would make non-viable the operation of triangular supply chains for the delivery of ACP products to UK retailers using current trading practices. This needs to be seen in the light of current practices along triangular supply routes whereby plant and plant products are delivered by initial importers in Holland the following morning providing the UK importer has placed their order before 14.00 hours of the preceding day.
All inspections carried out on 3rd country products entering the UK via the EU will be charged the standard fees by the UK inspection authorities (7). This will generate additional costs along the supply chains, alongside the stripping of value from consignments resulting from delivery delays to the final retailers.
| Comment and Analysis
If the EU no longer carries out plant health checks on regulated third-country goods going onwards to the UK then this could cause delays along triangular supply chains. These delays could seriously undermine the value of consignments delivered to retailers. To avoid stripping value out of triangular supply chains serving the UK market via an EU27 member state it will be essential for the concerned ACP governments to secure a firm commitment from the EU and the concerned EU27 authorities that necessary plant health checks on products destined for the UK market will continue to be carried out in the EU27. This will no doubt require specific arrangements to be set in place to reimburse the concerned EU27 authorities for the costs involved. This will probably be based on fees charged the importer or the exporter. These costs may be passed on to consumers in the UK or back down to exporters in ACP countries. The alternative of re-exports to the UK being treated the same as direct imports from 3rd countries would appear non-viable. This currently requires 3 days advanced notice for inspections to be scheduled, in a context where products are commonly delivered along triangular supply chains with little more than 18 hours between the import request and delivery of the product to UK customers. For cut flowers it is estimated even a 1 day delay in getting cut flowers to the final retailer can cost the exporter 30% of their profits (see companion epamonitoring.net article ‘No-Deal Brexit Challenges in Cut Flower Sector Highlight Problems for ACP Triangular Supply Chains’, 1 March 2019). These commercial considerations give added importance to the concerned ACP governments securing a firm commitment from the EU that necessary plant health checks on products destined for the UK market will continue to be carried out in the EU27. The functioning of these triangular supply chains however could become more complicated if UK SPS controls for plant products were to diverge from those of the EU (e.g. for citrus black spot, a citrus specific fungal infection which poses no danger to human health and where the UK has no domestic production to protect). In a context of a divergence in UK and EU27 SPS control requirements, direct exports to the UK would be likely to be the most profitable route to market if un-necessary SPS inspection costs needed to be avoided. However this will need to be assessed on a product by product basis given the variation in inspection charges levied in EU27 member states and UK. An additional issue which will need to be addressed is whether the transposition of current EU phytosanitary certificate requirements will extend to products currently being added to the list of quarantine products under the EU’s new Plant Health Regulation (see companion epamonitoring.net, ‘New EU Plant Health Regulation on Non-European Fruit Fly Could Put Squeeze on Smaller ACP Mango Exporters’, 1 April 2019). This EU regulation is only scheduled to come fully into effect in December 2019, after the UK has left the EU. It is also unclear whether the automatic transposition of EU regulatory requirements will extend to the necessity of undertaking risk assessments for products subject to infestation by quarantine pests, which are only now in the process of being introduced. The question arises does the UK intend to adopt and apply these EU risk assessment requirements which will only enter into force after the UK has departed the EU? This raises the related question of whether the UK authorities would then carry out their own risk assessments specific to agro-climatic conditions in the UK or simply accept risk assessments conducted by the EU based on the widely differing agro-climatic conditions across the EU27. This is an important issue since it will critically influence the pace at which any divergence of UK and EU phytosanitary controls occurs. At the level of current business arrangements for the export of ACP plant and plant products requiring phytosanitary certificates, it needs to be recognised that exporters in the Netherlands and other EU27 member states involved in the onward trade to the UK will not necessarily be the same companies as those involved in importing plant and plant products into the EU. In this context many companies involved solely in the intra-EU trade in plant and plant products may be entirely unfamiliar with the procedures for applications for certificates from the UK Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (PEACH) website. For companies involved solely in intra-EU trade no such documentation requirements will have been necessary. This could cause delays in entry to the UK market for ACP plant and product products requiring a phytosanitary certificate. This is particularly the case given the practice of wholesalers in Holland of making up consignments for onward shipment to the UK retailers consisting of multiple products from different countries of origin. Under a no-deal Brexit scenario, each consignment from each destination will require its own phytosanitary and other trade documentation (e.g. BTI and BOI decisions), which will need to be checked and verified. This will multiply the costs of trade administration along supply chains which are currently not subject to any such controls. This could prove highly disruptive in the short term, until all parties become familiar with the systems being applied and supply chains are restructured to accommodate the changed commercial realities. ACP exporters will need to obtain a clear understanding of how their onward trade to customers in the UK takes place. They will need to ascertain just how well prepared their current partners are to deal with the phytosanitary and other trade related paperwork which the UK’s departure from the EU under a no-deal scenario will generate. This will be essential if exporters using triangular supply chains are to avoid disruptions as a result of the application of new UK phytosanitary checks. |
Sources
(1) gov.uk, ‘Importing and exporting plants and plant products if the UK leaves the EU without a deal’, 20March 2019
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-and-exporting-plants-and-plant-products-if-theres-no-withdrawal-deal
(2) DEFRA, ‘PEACH’
http://ehmipeach.defra.gov.uk/
(3) DEFA, ‘Application for Approval of premises as Place of First Arrival for inspection of Plant Health controlled commodities imported into UK through RoRo terminals (Approval is subject to terms and conditions)’
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/approval-of-premises-as-place-of-first-arrival-application
(4) gov.uk, ‘Importing plants, fruit, vegetables or plant material to the UK’, 22 February 2019
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-plants-fruit-vegetables-or-plant-material-to-the-uk#points-of-entry
(5) gov.uk, ‘External Temporary Storage Facility (ETSF) Approved to receive restricted plant health imports’
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429936/plant-imports-approved-storage-facilities.pdf
(6) gov.uk, ‘Guidance Plant health controls – Fees’, 7 March 2019
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plant-health-controls