Importers of Plant-Health controlled goods that clear customs via the National Clearance Hub (NCH) in Manchester will soon have to adhere to a new set of procedures, the Fresh Produce Consortium has announced.

According to the Defra Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, the introduction of the NCH will mean that in Manchester, HMRC clearance is obtained two hours after custom’s receipt of phytosanitary certificate and Route 1 paperwork - to be emailed or faxed - with an identical copy required by Defra.

Post-clearance, Defra needs to receive the original phytosanitary certificate, but customs will no longer need this, it said.

The changes will come into affect in mid-September following the migration of Tilbury EPU to the NCH.

However, the FPC now has funding for IT development, which includes the production of an advanced notification system - a development of PEACH - to be rolled out in June next year. With customs’ developing its CHIEF system, the FPC said that by July, clearance of HMI and Plant-Health controlled materials would be done electronically, with phytosanitary simply needing to be given to local inspectors rather than faxed to Plant Health offices.

According to the FPC, it is also likely that the PHSI will merge with an existing Defra agency by early 2008. It said: "There will be changes depending on which agency is chosen but as with the move of the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate to the Rural Payments Agency it is hoped that such changes will not affect the working relationship with our clients."

The FPC also said that members should by now have received a letter telling them of the refund of some charges for plant health import checks, outlining who is entitled to refunds.

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