Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.

My Lords, this instrument extends the current regime of charging for plant health import checks to apply to checks carried out on consignments from EU member states, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. This is in line with the standard approach that the full cost of service delivery be recovered from businesses using plant health services.

It is our responsibility to protect biosecurity across plant and animal health, and the wider ecosystem. To that end, plant health checks—documentary, identity and physical—are carried out on regulated consignments imported into England from non-EU countries which may carry pests or diseases that could pose a risk to our biosecurity. Currently, the highest-risk commodities are subject to 100% documentary, identity and physical checks. The level of identity and physical checks on other commodities is based on risk.

During our membership of the EU, plants and plant products were able to enter the UK from EU member states without the need for any import checks. However, inspections carried out as part of Defra surveillance programmes have identified instances where EU consignments have contained plant pests or diseases that could pose a threat to UK biosecurity.

To address that threat, and in line with retained law, from 1 January 2021 the existing regime of plant health checks is being extended to consignments of regulated plants, plant products and other objects imported from EU member states, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Under the agreed phased approach, which allows businesses time to adjust to the new arrangements, higher-risk goods, such as plants for planting, have been subject to documentary, identity and physical checks from January. This has already resulted in a number of interceptions of consignments with pests and diseases, allowing appropriate statutory action to be taken. Documentary checks on other, lower-risk regulated plants, plant products and other objects will commence on 1 January 2022, with identity and physical checks applied from March 2022.

It is UK government policy to charge for many publicly provided goods and services. The standard approach is to set fees to recover the full costs of service delivery. This relieves the general taxpayer of costs, so that they are properly borne by users who benefit from a service. This allows for a more equitable distribution of public resources and enables lower public expenditure and borrowing. Charging for plant health services is consistent with the principle that businesses using these services should bear the costs of any measures to prevent harm that they might otherwise cause by their actions or inactions, since most serious plant pests and diseases that arrive and spread in this country do so via commercial trade in plants and plant produce.

Fees are applied for checks under the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018. For lower-risk consignments eligible for reduced levels of physical checks, a proportionally reduced fee is applied to every imported consignment. This SI amends the 2018 regulations. It extends charging for plant health checks to also apply to checks carried out on consignments from EU member states, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In addition to ensuring equity with those importing from non-EU countries, it also reflects that exports into the EU are subject to chargeable import checks, so there is a degree of reciprocity.

My Lords, I speak in support of the draft plant health regulations, which, as my noble friend alluded to, come into force on 1 June 2021 in England, together with similar provisions to be introduced in Scotland and Wales. However, it is important to note that charges are to be phased in for businesses with plant health checks from 1 January 2021. Higher-risk goods will be subject to documentary, identity and physical checks from January 2021, but for other regulated plants and plant products they will be phased through 2021-22, supporting the importance of uninterrupted business trade flow.

As well as applying legislation equally across businesses, whether large or small, the risk is relevant to whatever size of business to clearly demonstrate the importance of biosecurity, which must not be put in jeopardy at any cost. We must note accordingly that assurances are being kept, with the same arrangements post Brexit, again stressing the absolute necessity of seeking at all times to maintain the same high levels of plant health biosecurity, which is vital to ensuring that public health and the environment are fully protected 24/7.

Where consignments are authorised for identity and physical checks there are assurances for all inspectors, who are allocated strong systems for safe working, handling and inspection, with adequate light sources, the ability to fumigate gas testing and, of course, access to toilets and handwashing facilities. This all aligns with safe working practices.

This instrument provides for reasonable action coupled with cost recovery, so it is fair in outcome and maintained in line with existing fees, characterised into the following three principles: maintaining current high levels of plant health, preserving the flow of trade, and minimising any future impacts on businesses, whether large or small. I support the regulations.

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Redfern. I thank the Minister for his explanation of the regulations. I have some questions for him regarding the operational nature of the regulations and the cost implications.

I fully concur with the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Redfern, that plant health and biosecurity are vital, irrespective of our constitutional position and Brexit. I note that the regulations will be phased in alongside other requirements, such as the requirement for importers to have a phytosanitary certificate. What is the timeframe for that phasing-in? Have assessments taken place regarding the operational nature of the regulations during this phasing-in period and, if so, what has been the result of such assessments?

I understand that only high priority plants and products from EU member states, Switzerland and Liechtenstein will be subject to these new requirements initially. I was going to ask the Minister what high priority plants are, but he has already told us that they are plants for planting. Are these all types or plants, or specific plants? How are they defined and will only these categories be subject to the new requirements?

With these regulations, the Government will be enabled to charge fees for plant health checks on imports from the aforementioned countries into England. Has charging already taken place in the intervening period, or will it happen only from 1 June 2021 in relation to the new factor of the post-transition period? What will be the actual cost to businesses and importers, and will there be any financial assistance from central government to mitigate the costs?

I, like other noble Lords, have been contacted by the Agricultural Industries Confederation, which stresses that the new non-tariff barriers and fees will have consequences. It asserts that the ongoing effects of both of these will continue to impact the seed industry, and could reduce choice for growers and increase the cost to consumers. As the implementation of the trade and co-operation agreement continues, the AIC urges the UK and EU to work together to balance the priorities of removing non-tariff barriers where possible, while minimising biosecurity and plant health risks. What reassurances can the Minister give in this regard? What will be the impact on importers? Has there been any assessment of how they will bear those costs, particularly during the pandemic period?

I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, who was such an effective and distinguished member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in the other place. I thank my noble friend the Minister for introducing the regulations before us today and being so clear about how they will apply. I assume that this is a direct consequence of our leaving the European Union, as we are now being treated as a third country.

I am also grateful to the Agricultural Industries Confederation for its briefing and I have a number of questions—harmless, friendly questions, I hope—for my noble friend in this regard. How does the department expect to work with EU counterparts, both through the European Union and directly with member states, to balance the priorities of removing non-tariff barriers going forward, wherever possible, while minimising biosecurity and plant health risks? I entirely endorse the basis that he set out as to why the regulations are required.

As this is a new regulation, and following the concerns raised in the 50th report of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, why did the department decide not to conduct an impact assessment in this case? I am led to believe by the Agricultural Industries Confederation, a trade association representing a UK agrisupply industry that has a farm-gate value of more than £8 billion, that most of the seeds, presumably for agricultural purposes, actually come from the European Union. So the fees to which my noble friend referred, some applying from June this year and some from March next year, will apply for the first time, as they have not been importing in any great measure from the rest of the world. As the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, asked, does my noble friend have a ballpark figure as to what the size of the fees, the scale and percentage of the fees on their costs, will be?

I notice that the Explanatory Memorandum clearly states that there was a consultation with the relevant trade bodies, including the National Farmers’ Union, the Horticultural Trades Association and the Fresh Produce Consortium. Was the Agricultural Industries Confederation consulted as part of the preparation for the regulations before us today?

My Lords, this SI has been prepared by Defra to amend existing regulations relating to fees for inspections of plant and plant produce imported into the UK from non-EU countries to reflect changes in inspection levels and corresponding fees according to risk profiles. EU law would continue to apply during any implementation period. Therefore, we are amending certain import inspection fees to give effect to changes at EU level.

My Lords, I would like a reassurance from the Minister that the challenges that plant growers in the EU and the UK have faced in importing and exporting with the new inspection regime are being addressed by this Government. The matter of the condition of plants is not new to me, as it must be some 40 or perhaps even nearer to 50 years ago that I imported camellias from Australia, my homeland. We had to have a phytosanitary certificate, all soil had to be washed from them and I had to go to the airport and pick them up instantly. As far as I know, they are still going, because I have taken a cutting from each one every time I have moved house. A man with a beautiful collection at a stately home here also took cuttings from those plants.

I understand that the RHS has reported that there are continuing problems with the movement of plants between Europe and the UK, with some even suspending trade with the UK due to the imposition of the new inspection regime. Amateur Gardening has even stopped attaching free seed packets on its magazines heading over the Irish Sea, as it would cost £1 million in the necessary health checks and certification. In addition, there is growing concern in the industry about the restriction in the choice of more specialist plants, due to the additional complexity and cost of the new certification and inspection regime. An unintended consequence of this is that some of these plants die before the order reaches these shores, despite the hefty inspection fee proposed by the regulations.

Can the Minister look at what can be done to make the process easier and quicker while also trying to keep down costs, which are ultimately passed on to the consumer in higher costs and may lead to much less choice now and in future?

My Lords, I thank the Minister and his officials for their time in providing a briefing yesterday morning, and for his introduction this afternoon. This is a fairly straightforward SI, which attempts to level up the playing field around importation of plant and plant products into the UK from across a wide spectrum of countries. It uses the same fee-charging basis to countries inside the EU, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as currently applies to the rest of the world. As I understand it the fees may change slightly, but the methodology of calculating the fees will remain the same across GB and be based on the full recovery cost.

The fees in the schedules are extensive, ranging from £205 down to £6.40 for some seeds, per consignment. Yesterday morning, after the briefing with the Minister, I attended the launch of the Woodland Trust’s report, State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2021. This provided some very stark detail about the state of our ancient woodlands and the wildlife that currently lives in them. Only 7% of our woodlands are in good condition, a devastating statistic given the role of woodlands in carbon stores and carbon sequestration. Many of our native trees have been lost through the importation of pests and diseases carried on imported plants and plant products.

Although woodland cover has increased, woodland biodiversity has decreased. Bird numbers are down by 29% since 1970, butterflies by 41% since 1990, and plants by 18% since 2015. Since 1990, 19 pests and diseases have been introduced into the country, threatening our biodiversity, compared with only four prior to 1990. The certification of trees, plants and plant products that come into the country is essential. Ash dieback arrived with us from the Netherlands. Xylella is also an extremely dangerous disease, which we must ensure we keep under control and prevent further importation, especially of oak saplings.

I thank the Minister for the very useful meeting that I and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, had with him yesterday, and for his introduction today. [Connection lost.]