Inspections at the Border Start... How does it affect Florists
Later this month physical inspection will start at UK borders. These checks will be carried out on ‘medium risk’ flowers and plants coming into the country.
These new border control changes come as a result of Brexit. We don’t want you to be at all concerned, however, we do want you to be aware of the situation – let us explain a bit more…
What's Changing and What Flowers are Affected?
Whilst Brexit might seem quite a while ago, there’s been a transition taking place and the next step is physical checks of ‘Medium Risk’ plants and flowers imported from the EU.
From 30th April 2024, UK Government will introduce import health controls: physical, documentary, and identity checks will be required for medium risk plants and flowers to enter UK borders from the EU. In the case of plants and flowers this will happen at a designated ‘Control Point’.
With all that said there are just 5 flowers classified as ‘medium risk’ on Tom (Border Target Operating Model) list.
These are:
- Orchidaceae – Orchids
- Dendranthema – Chrysanthemum
- Dianthus – Carnations, Sweet williams, Dianthus
- Gypsophila
- Solidago
There is no need for you to be at all concerned. We will take care of everything on your behalf, we’ll aim to have a good stock of all of these items in our London stock so you can shop normally. In fact, we import some of these flowers directly from their countries of origin without them being rerouted through the Netherlands, in this instance nothing will change.
How Will it Affect Florists?
Whilst the ‘medium risk flowers are limited, long lasting, and unlikely not to affect your ordering process or business, we do need to tell you more about plants.
Plants will be subject to checks and we need to allow an extra day to bring them over as a result. This may affect your ordering schedule if you order plants directly from Holland. However, all the information reflects this newer timeline so you don’t need to remember it, so whether you’re looking on our website or on the banner details within the webshop you’ll see clear information regarding these times. It maybe you won’t even notice any difference. This will certainly be the case when you buy from our London Plant stock, here you’ll see no difference at all.
What Steps Have Westflor Taken?
For a long time now, Westflor have been taking the necessary steps to overcome all the new changes, customs formalities, plant passports, and import related paperwork to ensure a seamless switch over that our fantastic florist customers require.
Earlier this year on the 31st January the Government took the first major step in adding new border control by requiring import health certificates and phytosanitary certificates, on all ‘medium risk’ plants and flowers, where previously they could enter the UK without them. Perhaps you heard about this, perhaps you didn’t – we certainly think when buying from Westflor you’d have been entirely unaware of this – and that’s just how it should be. We know you’re busy enough and need to focus on running your own businesses, without being concerned about import inspections, this is the last thing you should be thinking about.
We have applied to be a ‘Control Point’ to aid the inspection process. We are working closely with our colleagues in Holland and the specialist transport companies that bring our flowers over the border, so our usual efficient supply chain remains just that, wherever possible we’ll do all we can to prevent any inspection process delays.
Whilst we’re completely on top of the situation, we can’t deny there are a few unknowns, but this is the case for everyone – because it’s all new! There haven’t been inspections such as this before.
We’ll continue to constantly keep abreast of any changes there may be too. As Defra’s risk assessments are ongoing there maybe changes to the risk categories moving forward. We are also aware that there were reports on the 19th April that “Health and safety check for EU imports won’t be ‘turned on’ as planned. However Defra’s press office were keen to point out, this was not the case within this article on their website.
We hope we’ve explained the situation and have alleviated any concerns you may have. If you do have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch in the usual ways – as always we’re here for you, and will always make your buys as simple and rewarding as possible.
We at Westflor have all the information that is currently available and have worked hard to manage all the changes that have taken place to ensure you are affected as little as possible. We know you’re busy enough with running your own businesses and don’t need to be concerned about custom formalities, plant passports or border inspections. However, we want you to know how it will affect you.
