Title, application, commencement and interpretation

1.  (1)  These Regulations may be cited as the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2014, apply in England only and come into force on 6th April 2014.

(2) In these Regulations-

(a)"the Directive" means 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(2); and

(b)"the PHO" means the Plant Health (England) Order 2005(3).

(3) Terms used in these Regulations which are also used in the Directive have the meaning they have in the Directive.

Import inspection fees

2.  (1)  This regulation applies in relation to a consignment of, or such part of a consignment as consists of-

(a)plants, plant products and other objects of a description specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 that are listed in Part B of Annex V to the Directive, or

(b)seeds of Solanaceae whether or not listed in that Part,

that are introduced into England from a country or territory other than one within the European Union or are the subject of an agreement made under article 12(6) of the PHO.

(2) Upon import of a consignment to which this regulation applies, an importer must pay to the Secretary of State-

(a)the fee specified-

(i)in column 3 of Schedule 1 in respect of a consignment of, or such part of a consignment as consists of, a plant, plant product or other object listed in column 1 of that Schedule, other than a consignment of, or such part of a consignment as consists of, a plant or plant product to which paragraph (ii) of this sub-paragraph applies, and

(ii)in column 4 of Schedule 2 in respect of a consignment of, or such part of a consignment as consists of, a plant or plant product listed in column 1 of that Schedule and originating from a country listed in column 3 of that Schedule; and

(b)the fees specified in column 3 of Schedule 3 for a documentary check and an identity check.

(3) But where, at the request of an importer or any other person responsible for the consignment, a plant health check is carried out on a consignment outside daytime working hours, the fee payable under paragraph (2)(a) in respect of that consignment is-

(a)the fee specified in column 4 of Schedule 1 to the extent (if any) that the consignment is a consignment to which paragraph (2)(a)(i) applies; or

(b)the fee specified in column 5 of Schedule 2 to the extent (if any) that the consignment is a consignment to which paragraph (2)(a)(ii) applies.

(4) In this regulation "daytime working hours" means any time between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. on any day except a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(4).

Seed potatoes: fees

3.  (1)  The fees specified in Schedule 4 are payable in respect of the functions specified in column 1 of that Schedule, which relate to an application for-

(a)certification of seed potatoes in accordance with regulation 9 of the Seed Potatoes (England) Regulations 2006(5);

(b)an authorisation to market seed potatoes in accordance with regulation 8 of those Regulations.

(2) The fee payable in respect of a function is subject to any minimum fee specified in column 3 of Schedule 4 in relation to that function.

(3) The fee in respect of a function specified in Schedule 4 must be paid to the Secretary of State or to any person authorised by the Secretary of State to carry out that function under the Seed Potatoes (England) Regulations 2006 on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Plant health licence fees

4.  (1)  Fees payable under this regulation relate to a licence described in article 40 or 41 of the PHO.

(2) In respect of an application or inspection of a type described in column 2 of Schedule 5, a person must pay to the Secretary of State the fee specified in column 3 of that Schedule in relation to that type of application or inspection.

Plant passport authorisation fees

5.  (1)  The fee specified in paragraph (2) must be paid to the Secretary of State in respect of an inspection (which may include an inspection of business records) carried out in connection with-

(a)an application for an authority; or

(b)ensuring compliance with any requirements imposed on the holder of an authority.

(2) The fee is £46.10(6) for each quarter of an hour or part of quarter of an hour (including time spent on an inspection, on travelling and on associated administration), subject to a minimum fee of £92.19(7) per visit.

(3) In this regulation "authority" means an authority to issue plant passports conferred under article 8 of the Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (England) Order 2004(8) or article 29 of the PHO.

Potatoes originating in Egypt: fees

6.  (1)  Where an inspector takes a sample of potatoes originating in Egypt in order to ascertain whether, for the purposes of paragraph 5 of the Annex to the Decision, those potatoes are infected with Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al., the importer must pay to the Secretary of State £117.36 in respect of each lot sampled.

(2) In this regulation "the Decision" means Commission Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU authorising Member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. as regards Egypt(9).

Potatoes originating in Lebanon: fees

7.  (1)  Where an inspector takes a sample of potatoes originating in Lebanon in order to ascertain whether, for the purposes of Article 4 of the Decision, those potatoes are infected with Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies Sepedonicus (Spieckermann and Kotthoff) Davis et al., the importer must pay to the Secretary of State £117.36 in respect of each lot sampled.

(2) In this regulation "the Decision" means Commission Implementing Decision 2013/413/EU authorising Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in the regions of Akkar and Bekaa of Lebanon(10).

Unpaid fees

8.  (1)  Where any sum due by way of, or on account of, any fee or any part of a fee payable by a registered plant trader under these Regulations remains unpaid, the Secretary of State may-

(a)recover the sum as a civil debt;

(b)after giving one month's written warning, suspend the trader's registration until the sum has been paid.

(2) In this regulation, "registered", "plant trader" and "registration" have the meaning given by article 2(1) of the PHO.

Revocations

9.  The following instruments are revoked-

(a)the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2013(11), and

(b)the Plant Health (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013(12).

Regulation 2(1)(a), (2)(a)(i) and (3)(a)

SCHEDULE 1Import Inspection Fees

Regulation 2(2)(a)(ii) and (3)(b)

SCHEDULE 2Import Inspection Fees: Reduced Rates

Regulation 2(2)(b)

SCHEDULE 3Import Inspection Fees: Documentary and Identity Checks

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 4Seed Potatoes: Fees

Regulation 4(2)

SCHEDULE 5Plant Health Licence Fees

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply in England only, specify fees payable to the Secretary of State in the field of plant health. They revoke and replace the Plant Health Fees (England) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/494) ("the 2013 Regulations") (regulation 9).

The fees are payable in relation to specified inspections and other operations carried out pursuant to 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 L 169, 10.7.2000, p.1).

The fees for documentary, identity and plant health checks in relation to certain imports of plants, plant products and other objects from third countries (regulation 2 and Schedules 1, 2 and 3) are specified pursuant to the requirement in Article 13d of Council Directive 2000/29/EC.

The fee levels provided for in these Regulations form the final part of a phased move towards full cost recovery of fees over a period of three years. These Regulations provide for average decreases and increases in, and the continuation unchanged of, the fees specified in the 2013 Regulations as follows:

(1) import inspection fees (other than documentary and identity checks) decrease by 3.5% (regulation 2 and Schedules 1 and 2);

(2) fees for import inspection documentary and identity checks increase by 24.5% (regulation 2 and Schedule 3);

(3) fees relating to seed potato inspections remain unchanged (regulation 3 and Schedule 4);

(4) licensing fees increase by 2.2% (regulation 4 and Schedule 5);

(5) fees for plant passporting services increase by 21.2% (regulation 5); and

(6) fees for inspections of potatoes originating in Egypt remain unchanged (regulation 6).

New fees are introduced in relation to potatoes originating in Lebanon as follows: £31.86 for an application for a licence (Schedule 5, item 5) and £117.39 for an inspection (regulation 7).

Regulation 8 sets out the consequences of failure to pay any fee.

Full impact assessments of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, in relation to each of the five types of fees covered by this instrument, are available using the following links:

http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/DEFRA1352%20Final%20IA%20Plant%20Health%20Imports%20Inspection%20Fees.pdf

http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/DEFRA1356%20Final%20IA%20Seed%20Potato%20Certification.pdf

http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/DEFRA1353%20Final%20IA%20Plant%20Health%20Licences.pdf

http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/DEFRA1354%20Final%20IA%20Plant%20Passports.pdf

http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/DEFRA1355%20Final%20IA%20Egypt%20Potato%20Imports.pdf

The impact assessments are also published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk and available from the Plant Health Policy and Bee Policy Unit, Defra, 10GA07, Sand Hutton, York YO14 1LZ.