The new plant passporting arrangements came into effect on 14 December 2019.

Anyone responsible for the movement of roundwood timber or Christmas trees over 3m needs to become a Registered Authorised Professional Operators (RAPOs).

The following also require a Plant Passport:

  • Sweet Chestnut and Plane, together with bulk bark, brash and wood chipped on harvesting sites.
  • Christmas trees over 3 metres and decorative foliage from such trees

but

  • Sawdust, wood chips and slab-wood with bark are currently considered to be a lower risk and are not expected to require one.

If you are concerned that you may need some help with this, please first contact plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If you do need to follow this standard you will be asked to complete a short “e-learning” package – which can be accessed HERE.

For further information on plant passporting please see these downloadable PDFs below. The first is by Ian Murgatroyd, EU Exit Plant Health Regulations Lead, and Dr John Morgan, head of plant health, Forestry Commission England. The second is from the Forestry Commission in Sept 2018.

plant-passporting 2019

Plant Passporting Guidance Sept 2018