§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many plants have been imported without passports in each year since passports were introduced. [149260]
§ Mr. BradshawThe plant passporting regime applies to certain plants and plant products known to host the most serious ("quarantine") pests and diseases. It applies only for movements within the European Community and there are no border checks carried out, although spot checks may take place anywhere in the trade chain. Producers of such material are required to be officially registered and be subject to official inspection at least annually in order to be authorised to issue plant passports.
There are no data available either on the number of consignments received in the UK for which a plant passport has been issued by a producer, or the number of consignments received for which a passport is not required. EU legislation does not require such information to be recorded, although those despatching and receiving passported material must maintain records to facilitate monitoring and enforcement.
In cases where official monitoring detects that a plant passport is missing on a plant or product covered by the passporting requirements, enforcement action is taken. This involves notification of the plant health authorities in the member state in which the material originated, as well as the return or destruction of the material.