Tag Archives: APHA

Proposed new fees for plant inspections

The Fresh Produce Consortium has reported that Animal and Plant Health Agency in England and Wales (APHA) has published its proposed changes to its charging structure and fees.

One of the aims of the proposals is that fees will be more closely aligned to the cost of delivering services so that all eligible costs are fully recovered. Among the services covered by the proposals are:

  • inspection of imported plants and plant material and sampling and testing of potatoes imported from Egypt and the Lebanon;
  • seed potato certification;
  • plant passporting;
  • export certification;
  • plant health licensing and
  • certification of fruit propagating material.

The consultation can be found here and runs until 31 October 2017.

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Chelsea garden highlights global pests

A novel garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show which highlighted how sentinel trees are being used to detect global plant pest and disease threats has won a gold medal.

The garden called ‘Beyond Our Borders’ was commissioned by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to show how the UK government is working with overseas botanic gardens to protect our environment against alien pest and diseases.

Each zone contained a British tree ‘sentinel’ standing among plants native to each area. Coiled springs and pulsing lights represented pests and diseases and their movement both within countries and across borders due to the increased trade in plants and plant material, global travel and natural spread.

Garden designer Sarah Eberle commented, “It’s fantastic to have achieved a gold medal with this fresh garden. The Chelsea Flower Show offers an innovative and creative way to inform the public about how, by working together, we can protect our environment.

“The inspiration for the garden came from a new international project, led by the UK, aimed at creating a network of tree sentinels in botanical parks and gardens around the world. I wanted to illustrate the danger of the transfer of plant pests and diseases across international borders and have done this by using springs to represent the plant pests and diseases, which are elusive and mobile.”

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