Amendments to the plant health directive, due to come into force January 1, 2005, are unlikely to be implemented on schedule.
Defra officials told 120 industry members at seminars this week that “nothing dramatic” is expected to change in January, with the ministry’s preferred date for implementation now falling back to April.
The regulation will have a significant impact on management of imported products that require a plant health certificate. In broad terms this includes plants, potatoes, the majority of fruits other than bananas and grapes, cut flowers and some leafy vegetables.
Delegates were given an in-depth analysis of the situation as Defra’s plant health division sees it, in time for final written submissions to be made as part of the consultation period.
The close of that period had been set for October 5, but was moved back during Monday’s seminar to October 12, as the consultation process was attacked from the floor for being “dramatically flawed”. Several attendees, including representatives of two major supermarkets, claimed not to have been consulted by Defra, although the ministry’s Martin Ward said more than 1,300 letters have been sent out to the plant health division’s database of horticultural companies.
To date, only 15 responses have been received, and Defra urged the industry to make its feelings known before the new deadline passes. “A response that goes beyond ‘we don’t want to pay any more fees’ would be useful,” said Ward.
The overall impression was that despite years of warning, the UK industry is approaching what some have termed D-day for plant health with no co-ordinated direction. No decision has yet been reached on changes to inspection procedures, no clear definition of the term ‘consignment’ has been agreed upon and no definitive list of ‘trades’ or the proportional risk factors of specific products or countries has been drawn up. Indeed Defra admitted that it is heavily under-resourced to carry out the extra layer of inspections that the directive will require.
The Fresh Produce Consortium, which hosted the seminars, has offered to collate the views of its members and make a presentation on behalf of them to Defra before the consultation period closes.
Chief executive Nigel Jenney stressed the importance of individual companies also submitting their views. “The only way that the revised plant health directive can be meaningful to the UK, is if what is implemented in the UK is fair and consistent with what happens in other member states. The only way for us to influence this process is by making our thoughts known now,” he said.
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