The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is developing a new ‘Plant Health Information service’ to enable users to search for up-to date information about plant imports, biosecurity risk and trade requirements. This new service will provide specific answers to questions such as:
- Is this plant prohibited from the country I am importing it from?
- If the plant can be imported, what import regulations must I comply with?
- If I do import this plant, what pests may I find that Defra are concerned about?
Defra is keen to hear from Institute members, especially those who may use the service once it it launched like plant and plant product importers or import agents, to explore opportunities for improvement. To support this, they have scheduled three rounds of research sessions that will allow you to interact with the test service. These will take 45-60 minutes and can be scheduled on the dates below.
Round One: 3, 6 & 7 May 2024
Round Two: 27 May – 10 June 2024
Round Three: 24 June – 8 July 2024
If you would like to take part in a session, please email plantpestsrisks@defra.gov.uk with the title “Plant Health Information Service User Research” and the date and time you would like to attend.
