Businesses buying and selling timber or timber products in the EU
Updated 21 December 2018
Currently, businesses buying and selling timber or timber products in the EU must ensure it is legal, complying with the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) and Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation.
Businesses placing timber on the EU and European Economic Area (EEA) market for the first time (operators) must carry out due diligence, both for imported and domestically produced timber, to ensure it comes from legal sources.
Businesses trading products in the EU and EEA market that are already on the market (traders) must keep a record of who they buy it from and sell it to. Monitoring organisations can provide operators with a due diligence system and carry out due diligence for them. They must be recognised by the European Commission.
Timber imported from countries with a FLEGT licensing system under voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) with the EU – currently only Indonesia – must be accompanied by a FLEGT licence.
This confirms products comply fully with the relevant laws of that country and means the timber is considered to comply with EU requirements so importers do not need to do any further due diligence. Timber covered by a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) permit is also considered to comply.
How processes will change
If the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 (may also apply to new exit date on 31 December 2020) without a deal, businesses importing and exporting timber will need to continue to demonstrate that the timber is legally sourced.
Importing timber from the EU and EEA to the UK
You would have to exercise due diligence to show you are importing legally harvested timber. This would involve:
- gathering information on timber, including its species, quantity, supplier, country of harvest and compliance with applicable legislation
- assessing the risk of timber being illegal, applying criteria set out in the regulation
- mitigating any identified risk by obtaining additional information or taking further steps to verify legality
This is what businesses currently have to do when they import timber from outside the EU, and what they have to do when placing timber produced within the UK on the UK market for the first time.
There would be no change for you if you are one of these businesses. As before, you would need to exercise due diligence to confirm the timber is legally harvested. FLEGT licences would continue to be recognised in the UK and to be verified by the Office for Product Safety and Standards.
Exporting timber from the UK to the EU and EEA
EU and EEA businesses would need to apply due diligence to imports from the UK. As a result, it is likely that, if you are a UK-based exporter, you would need to provide relevant documentation about the source and legality of your timber exports to EU and EEA-based importers to enable your customers to meet their due diligence obligations. These systems would vary business by business.
Trading timber within the UK
You would need to continue to keep a record of who you buy timber from and sell timber to.
Enforcement of the UK timber regulation
There would be no additional action for you to take at the border as a result of changes relating to the EUTR. The way it is enforced would stay the same as now and the Office for Product Safety and Standards would continue to check appropriate records are maintained by businesses.
Monitoring organisations
Those established in the UK would automatically continue to be recognised by the UK and remain able to carry out their function for the purposes of the UK timber regulation. Those established outside the UK would not automatically continue to be recognised by the UK. The EU has indicated it will no longer recognise monitoring organisations based in the UK in a ‘no deal’ scenario.
Actions you can take now
- Consider any changes you may need to make to adapt to new processes and systems.
- The passport rules for travel to most countries in Europe will change if the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 (may also apply to new exit date on 31 December 2020) without a deal. Read the government’s guidance on Travelling to the EU with a UK passport if there’s no Brexit deal and, if relevant, ensure your employees and customers are aware of the potential changes.
- Stay up-to-date with these changes by registering for email alerts. Follow the link, add your email address, select ‘Submit’, select ‘Add subscription’ and choose ‘EU Exit’ then select ‘Submit’.
Traders importing plants and plant products from the EU
Updated 21 December 2018
Currently, there are no border controls on most imports of plants and plant products between the UK and the EU.
Some plants and plant products that present a higher biosecurity risk are managed under the EU plant passport regime.
How the process will change
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the UK will become a third country, but as the majority of plants and plant products from the EU are low-risk, they will continue to enter the UK freely, as they do now.
There will be some exceptions.
The exceptions
Plants and plant products managed under the EU plant passport regime
Plants and plant products currently managed under the EU plant passport regime will be subject to UK import controls to replace the assurance and traceability offered by the EU plant passport regime, maintaining biosecurity while minimising the impact on businesses.
Consignments of these plants and plant products entering the UK will require a Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) issued in the country of export (or re-export), and you or your agent will need to inform the relevant plant health authority in the UK before the consignment arrived. Further details of how to inform the relevant plant health authority are available on GOV.UK.
You or your agent will also need to provide scanned copies of the PC and relevant documents in advance to the relevant UK plant health authority, and supply the original copy of the PC once the consignment has arrived.
Consignments of such plants and plant products from EU countries will not be stopped at the border. The relevant UK plant health authority will carry out documentary and identity checks remotely, and these checks will be charged for by the plant health authority.
As currently, plant health inspectors will continue to carry out follow-up inspections inland on a risk-targeted basis. The government does not charge for such inspections.
Plants and plant products moving within the UK
There will be a new UK plant passport regime. Plants and plant products currently covered by the EU plant passport regime when moved within the UK will be managed by the new UK regime. If you wish to move these plants and plant products within the UK you will need to be authorised by the relevant UK plant health authority to issue UK plant passports. You will need to issue plant passports when moving those plants and plant products within the UK.
Plants and plant products that come from non-EU countries, but travel to the UK via the EU without an EU country carrying out plant health checks
These commodities will be treated as non-EU imports and subject to third country controls on arrival in the UK.
Further details on current third country controls are available on GOV.UK.
Details on alternative arrangements for points of entry that do not have capacity to carry out third country controls at the border will be made available in due course.
Actions you can take now
- Read the government’s existing guidance for importing outside of the EU, to familiarise yourself with the key processes. On GOV.UK, search for ‘Starting to import’ and then select ‘Importing from non-EU countries’.
- Take account of the volume of your trade with the EU and any potential supply chain impacts.
- If necessary, put steps in place to renegotiate commercial terms to reflect any changes in customs and excise procedures, any additional requirements for checks and any new tariffs that may apply to UK-EU trade.
- Consider how you will submit customs declarations for EU trade, if required, including whether to engage a customs broker, freight forwarder or logistics provider or whether to get the right software and authorisations to do it yourself.
- Take account of the commodities you are trading with the EU. If you are importing goods currently managed under the EU Plant Passport regime, you will need to follow the process outlined above to import these goods from the EU on day one. Read a list of commodities managed under the EU Plant Passport regime.
- Consider the country of origin of commodities that you trade with the EU. If you currently bring in material from the EU that originates in third countries, it may require checks at the UK border in a ‘no deal’ scenario if plant health checks have not been carried out in the EU first. Read a list of commodities that are controlled from third countries and associated import requirements.
- Consider how you will notify the relevant UK plant health authority when you are importing controlled plant material from the EU. You will need to register on the PEACH IT system if you are bringing goods into the UK at a port in England or Wales. Read details of how to register.
- Take account of where your goods enter the UK. If you are bringing in controlled plant material from non-EU countries via a roll-on roll-off port, there may be alternative arrangements put in place to manage checks on this material. Further detail on any such requirements will be made available in due course, and you may wish to consider whether there are alternative routes that you could use. HMRC wants to ensure that traders have access to the right authorisations ahead of 29 March to ensure trade can keep flowing. We will be publishing further information in January 2019 specifically for importers, exporters, carriers, and port operators who trade with the EU through roll-on roll-off locations. This will include new and temporary easements to support continued trade fluidity at these locations.
- Take account of the commodities that you are moving within the UK. Where you currently move goods with a plant passport, you will need to replace references to ‘EU’ with ‘UK’ in plant passport documents. Some goods require plant passports for onward movements in the UK after import. Read more information on GOV.UK.
- The passport rules for travel to most countries in Europe will change if the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 (may also apply to new exit date on 31 December 2020) without a deal. Read the government’s guidance on Travelling to the EU with a UK passport if there’s no Brexit deal and, if relevant, ensure your employees and customers are aware of the potential changes.
- Stay up-to-date with these changes by registering for email alerts. Follow the link, add your email address, select ‘submit’, select ‘Add subscription’ and choose ‘EU Exit’ then select ‘Submit’.
