The Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019

Made: 11th September 2019

Laid before Parliament: 12th September 2019

Coming into force: 1st October 2019

The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Treasury, makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by— in relation to regulation 1, the provisions mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c); in relation to regulation 2, sections 3(1) and 4A of the Plant Health Act 1967[^f00001] and now vested in the Secretary of State[^f00002]; in relation to regulation 3, section 56(1) and (2) of the Finance Act 1973[^f00003].

in relation to regulation 1, the provisions mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c);

in relation to regulation 2, sections 3(1) and 4A of the Plant Health Act 1967[^f00001] and now vested in the Secretary of State[^f00002];

in relation to regulation 3, section 56(1) and (2) of the Finance Act 1973[^f00003].

Citation and commencement

type=start slip=2019-11-01 time=15734884752081type=end slip=2019-11-01 time=1573488475208

These Regulations may be cited as the Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 and come into force on 1st October 2019.

Amendment of the Plant Health (Export Certification) (England) Order 2004

type=start slip=2019-11-01 time=15734884837722type=end slip=2019-11-01 time=1573488483772

• (1) The Plant Health (Export Certification) (England) Order 2004[^f00004] is amended as follows.

• (2) In article 4—

• (a) in paragraph (2)—

• (i) in sub-paragraph (a)—

• (aa) for “£250” substitute “£750”;

• (bb) for the words from “column 3” to the end substitute “column 2 of that table”;

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (b), for the words from “column 4” to the end substitute “column 3 of that table”;

• (b) in paragraph (3), for “columns 3 and 4” substitute “columns 2 and 3”;

• (c) in paragraph (4)—

• (i) in sub-paragraph (a)—

• (aa) for “£250” substitute “£750”;

• (bb) for “£7.43” substitute “£7.88”;

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (b), for “£14.86” substitute “£15.76”.

• (3) For Schedule 3 substitute—

SCHEDULE3

Amendment of the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018

type=start slip=2019-11-01 time=15734884979883type=end slip=2019-11-01 time=1573488497988

• (1) The Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018[^f00005] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 3—

• (a) in paragraph (1)—

• (i) for “which consists of” substitute “insofar as it includes”;

• (ii) at the end insert “or any machinery or vehicles which have been operated for agricultural or forestry purposes”;

• (b) in paragraph (2)—

• (i) in sub-paragraph (a), for “£9.71” substitute “£10.51”;

• (ii) for sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) substitute—

(b) in the case of— (i) a Schedule 2 cut flower consignment which includes— (aa) one lot of cut flowers, the fee specified in respect of those cut flowers in column 3 of the table in Schedule 2; (bb) two or more lots of cut flowers, a fee equal to the amount of the highest of the fees specified in respect of those lots in column 3 of that table; (ii) a Schedule 2 fruit or vegetable consignment which includes— (aa) one lot of fruit or vegetables, the fee specified in respect of those fruit or vegetables in column 3 of the table in Schedule 2; (bb) two or more lots of fruit or vegetables, a fee equal to the amount of the highest of the fees specified in respect of those lots in column 3 of that table; (c) in the case of a consignment which— (i) includes cut branches of Phoenix spp. originating in Costa Rica and no other cut branches to which this regulation applies, the fee specified in respect of those cut branches in column 3 of the table in Schedule 2; (ii) in the case of any other consignment to which this regulation applies— (aa) where the consignment includes any machinery or vehicles that have been operated for agricultural or forestry purposes, a fee of £5.98; (bb) where the consignment includes plants, plant products or other objects of a description specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 1, the fee or fees specified in respect of those plants, plant products or other objects in column 2 of that table;

• (iii) in sub-paragraph (d), for “£157.08” substitute “£147.35”;

• (c) in paragraph (3), after the definition for “controlled plant pest”, insert—

(aa) “Europe” has the meaning given in article 2(1) of the 2015 Order; (ab) “lot” means one or more units of a single commodity, identifiable by its homogeneity of composition and origin, which form part of a consignment; (ac) “Schedule 2 cut flower consignment” means a consignment which includes cut flowers of a description specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 originating in a country specified in column 2 of that table and does not include any other cut flowers to which this regulation applies; (ad) “Schedule 2 fruit or vegetable consignment” means a consignment which includes fruit or vegetables of a description specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 originating in a country specified in column 2 of that table and does not include any other fruit or vegetables to which this regulation applies;

• (3) In regulation 4—

• (a) in paragraph (2), for “fees specified in the table in Schedule 3 are” substitute “fee specified in paragraph (3) is”;

• (b) for paragraph (3) substitute—

(3) A fee of £61.58 is payable for each 15 minutes (or part thereof) spent in carrying out the inspection and any associated activities at the relevant premises, subject to a minimum fee of £123.16.

• (c) in paragraph (4), for “£18.78” substitute “£20.66”.

• (4) In regulation 6(1) for “£60.40” substitute “£70.83”.

• (5) In regulation 8—

• (a) in paragraph (4), for “£14.76” substitute “£15.76”;

• (b) after paragraph (4) insert—

(4A) Where a person submits an application for the provision of printed labels, the following additional fee is payable— (a) in the case of an application submitted online, £11.45; (b) in the case of an application submitted in paper form, £15.61.

• (6) For regulation 9(2) substitute—

(2) A fee of £26.00 per each 15 minutes (or part thereof) is payable in respect of time spent in carrying out an official examination and any associated activities at the relevant premises for the purposes of certifying the material, subject to a minimum fee of £52.00.

• (7) For Schedule 1 substitute—

SCHEDULE1

• (8) For Schedule 2 substitute—

SCHEDULE2

• (9) Omit Schedule 3.

• (10) For Schedule 4 substitute—

SCHEDULE4 In this Schedule— - “period 1” means the period ending on 31st March 2020; - “period 2” means the period beginning on 1st April 2020 and ending on 30th September 2020. Column 1 Type of application or inspection Column 2 Date of application Column 3 Fee(£) Application for a licence for scientific or trial purposes, other than— —a licence in respect of the analysis of soil or other growing medium —a licence for scientific or trial purposes covering 5 or more items 995.36Application for a licence for scientific or trial purposes covering 5 or more items995.36, plus 52.45 per item in excess of 5 itemsApplication for a licence in respect of the analysis of soil or other growing medium, other than a licence in respect of the analysis of soil or other growing medium covering 5 or more items745.41Application for a licence in respect of the analysis of soil or other growing medium covering 5 or more items745.41, plus 52.45 per item in excess of 5 itemsApplication for a variation of a licence with changes requiring scientific or technical assessment380.25Application for any other licence42.50Issue of an annual letter of authority42.50Monitoring compliance with licence terms and conditionsIn the case of monitoring undertaken during period 169.75 for each 15 minutes (or part thereof), subject to a minimum fee of 139.50In the case of monitoring undertaken during period 281.25 for each 15 minutes (or part thereof), subject to a minimum fee of 162.50In the case of monitoring undertaken on or after 1st October 202092.67 for each 15 minutes (or part thereof), subject to a minimum fee of 185.34

• (11) For Schedule 5 substitute—

SCHEDULE5

Signed

Gardiner of Kimble — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — 9th September 2019

We consent

David Rutley — Mike Freer — Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury — 11th September 2019

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Plant Health (Export Certification) (England) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/1404) (the “2004 Regulations”) and the Plant Health etc. (Fees) (England) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/289) (the “2018 Regulations”).

These Regulations amend the 2004 Regulations to provide for increases in the fees for services in respect of applications for phytosanitary certificates (including phytosanitary certificates for re-export) and related pre-export services, and to increase the maximum amount for services to which the concessionary rate for small exporters applies, from £250 to £750.

These Regulations amend the 2018 Regulations, which specify fees payable to the Secretary of State in relation to plant health services and the certification of seed potatoes and fruit plants and fruit plant propagating material, as follows.

Regulation 3(2) amends regulation 3 of the 2018 Regulations to provide the fees payable for phytosanitary certificates (including fees for mixed consignments) and for sample testing.

Regulation 3(3) amends regulation 4 of the 2018 Regulations to provide for a reduced fee for a plant passport authorisation.

Regulation 3(6) amends regulation 9(2) of the 2018 Regulations to provide for an increased fee for certification of fruit plants and its propagating material.

Regulation 3(7) substitutes Schedule 1 to the 2018 Regulations, which sets out import inspection fees payable by the importer of a third country consignment for plant health checks in respect of certain plants and plant products.

Regulation 3(8) substitutes Schedule 2 to the 2018 Regulations, which sets out reduced rate fees for certain plants and plant products which are subject to reduced levels of plant health checks agreed under the procedure provided for in Articles 13a(2) and 18(2) of Council Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community (OJ No 169, 10.7.2000, p1). This regulation gives effect to the latest notification published by the European Commission of the reduced plant health checks which are applicable to certain plants and plant products (published on 10 December 2018 and revised on 15 April 2019).

Regulation 3(10) substitutes Schedule 4 of the 2018 Regulations which sets out the fees for plant health licences and includes a change to the fee for monitoring compliance with licence terms and conditions which is being increased over three periods.

Regulation 3(11) substitutes Schedule 5 of the 2018 Regulations which sets out fees for soil sampling and testing and certification of seed potatoes including the provision of labels.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1967 c. 8; section 3(1) was amended by paragraph 8(2)(a) and (b) of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972 and S.I. 2011/1043. Section 4A was inserted by section 3 of the Agriculture Act 1986 (c. 49).

[^f00002]: The functions of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Plant Health Act 1967, in so far as they were not exercisable in relation to Wales, were transferred to the Secretary of State by article 2(2) of S.I. 2002/794.

[^f00003]: 1973 c. 51; section 56(1) was amended by S.I. 2011/1043, and prospectively amended by paragraph 17 of Schedule 8 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16).

[^f00004]: S.I. 2004/1404; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2015/382, 2018/286.

[^f00005]: S.I. 2018/289; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2018/510, 2019/180.

[^f00006]: S.I. 2015/1953.