Notification form for import of trees from the EU

There is now a legal requirement for the importation of certain tree and woody plant species to be notified to DAERA Plant Health, if they are being imported directly from countries within the European Union.

These are any species within the genera of Castanea (Sweet Chestnut), Fraxinus (Ash), Olea (Olive), Pinus (Pine), Platanus (Plane), Prunus (e.g. Cherry, Plum, Laurel), Quercus (Oak) and Ulmus (Elm).

This requirement also applies to imports from Switzerland, but not to relevant plants grown in Great Britain.  Importation into Northern Ireland of plants originating in Great Britain must be notified in advance by creating and submitting a ‘Common Health Entry Declaration’ (CHED) via the online platform called ‘TRACES NT’ (or ‘IMSOC’).  Further information about this process and ‘TRACES NT’ use can be found at the following page:

Plants and Plant Products | Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (daera-ni.gov.uk)

Please note : From the above list, only importations of Olea, Pinus and Platanus are permitted from Great Britain into Northern Ireland at this time.  There are a number of other woody plants whose importation from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is currently prohibited.  The full list is given (in answer to “Question 8”) at the following page:

Brexit transition Q&As - Importing plants, plant products, wood bark, used agricultural and forestry machinery | Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (daera-ni.gov.uk)

Landings of plants for planting from the above-named eight genera from the EU or Switzerland must be notified to DAERA prior to, or up to 4 days after, their arrival in Northern Ireland, using the form linked below.  It can be downloaded and completed by hand, then scanned / photographed and attached to an email, addressed to: phhort@daera-ni.gov.uk.

If you prefer to complete the form electronically, open the downloaded copy in “Adobe Acrobat Reader” and select the “Fill & Sign” tool to type the information into the various boxes.  You may wish to rename the file and save a copy for your business records.

When emailing your completed form back to us at phhort@daera-ni.gov.uk, please enter “Import Notification Form” into the subject line of your message, which will assist rapid processing of the notification.  An inspector from DAERA PHIB may need to call out to inspect the plants on site.