Brexit: Garden centres and nurseries to benefit from 'grace period'

New controls and processes for moving plants from GB to NI will not be introduced until April

Some garden centres and plant nurseries should benefit from a three month "grace period" from new Irish Sea border checks.

The exact list of retailers who will be covered is still to be confirmed.

At the end of the Brexit transition on 1 January Northern Ireland will stay in the EU single market for goods, while the rest of the UK leaves.

That will mean some new controls and processes for moving plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But the government says these will not be introduced until April.

The EU has controls on plants entering its single market to make sure they aren't carrying pests or disease.

That will mean plants crossing the Irish Sea will be subject to new inspections, new paperwork and new costs.

The biggest change is that plants will need to be accompanied by a health certificate which has to be issued by a qualified plant inspector, who will charge a fee.

The UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) says this will not apply between 31 December and 1 April.

"If you're moving plants or plant products from GB to NI, you will not require official certification, such as export health certificates, phytosanitary certificates or marketing standards certification," it states.

"The UK government and the NI Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs will engage in a rapid exercise to ensure that traders who can benefit from these arrangements are identified prior to 31 December.

"The government will not discriminate against smaller suppliers or between different companies in implementing these practical measures."

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However, some other horticultural issues have still not been resolved.

In recent months some GB seed companies have been emailing Northern Ireland customers telling them to get their last orders in now.

That is because the EU has not yet granted GB "third country listing" for the supply of seeds and other propagating material.

Third country listing is a recognition from the EU that a country meets the minimum standards to supply a product into the single market.

The UK government has submitted third country applications to the European Commission.

Those applications are ultimately expected to be granted but have not yet been formally approved.

The grace period does not cover customs declarations, these will be needed for commercial shipments of goods from GB-NI from 1 January.