UK gardening - Plant Passports!!!

Author

Plant Passports!!!

David in Normandy

2008-04-01, 3:25 am

I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing
quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese
knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild
in their none native countries.

To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are
considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be
necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to
be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced
declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and
that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild!

People such as me who live in France will need to have
"Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
EU bureaucrats gone mad?
--
David in Normandy. DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

2008-04-01, 3:25 am

David in Normandy <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> writes
>I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
>invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing
>quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese
>knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild
>in their none native countries.
>
>To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are
>considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be
>necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to
>be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced
>declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and
>that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild!
>
>People such as me who live in France will need to have
>"Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
>I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
>EU bureaucrats gone mad?

With the Harlequin Ladybird threatening to wipe out some of our native
species, Himalayan Balsam taking over our stream edges and crowding out
native plants, Azolla clogging our ponds, you could argue that it's
already too late. But if you have any belief that we shouldn't allow
further damage, what alternative measures would you suggest?
--
Kay

Nick Maclaren

2008-04-01, 3:25 am

In article <6Gz0qUA4We8HFwgT@scarboro.demon.co.uk>,
K <k@scarboro.demon.co.uk> writes:
|> David in Normandy <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> writes
|> >
|> >People such as me who live in France will need to have
|> >"Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
|> >I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
|> >EU bureaucrats gone mad?

Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't
Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France
introducing the same rules?

|> With the Harlequin Ladybird threatening to wipe out some of our native
|> species, Himalayan Balsam taking over our stream edges and crowding out
|> native plants, Azolla clogging our ponds, you could argue that it's
|> already too late. But if you have any belief that we shouldn't allow
|> further damage, what alternative measures would you suggest?

I am afraid that you are being seriously misleading: despite the
fuss, the UK is perhaps the least vulnerable country in the world
to such things; in one case (Azolla), I would guess that fertiliser
abuse was at least as important; in at least two of those cases,
the cause is not their introduction but global warming; and the
evidence of harm from the third one (Himalyan balsam) seems to be
purely anecdotal.

While there are grounds for some restrictions, and there are a FEW
plants that are having undesirable consequences, there are no good
grounds for the current lunacies. For example, the hysteria over
giant hogweed is simply that. In fact, the only two plants that I
have seen good evidence of serious ecological harm in the UK are
Rhododendron ponticum and Japanese knotweed - there MAY be evidence
for the others, but most claims of their threat don't supply any.

This could well be another of the rules against meat products that
Whitehall introduced following Germany's banning of British beef
until we got our BSE act together. Private import was restricted
in ridiculous ways (e.g. 100 grams in sealed plastic was OK, but
the same meat in larger quantities or unsealed wasn't) - but there
were NO restrictions on the commercial import (because that would
have breached EU rules). And, at the time, the ONLY viable theory
that involved import involved commercial import. The foot and
mouth lunacies are even worse.

Whitehall doesn't close the stable door after the horse has bolted;
it typically responds by nailing up the cat flap and leaving the
stable door ajar.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

'Mike'

2008-04-01, 9:25 am

"David in Normandy" <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> wrote in message
news:MPG.225bfe5aa093ce5b98985c@news.wanadoo.fr...
>I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
> invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing
> quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese
> knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild
> in their none native countries.
>

Yes I read that too. It was in today's issue of April 1st News ;-))

Mike

--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.

Sacha

2008-04-01, 9:25 am

On 1/4/08 09:17, in article fssr32$rs2$1@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk, "Nick
Maclaren" <nmm1@cus.cam.ac.uk> wrote:

>
> In article <6Gz0qUA4We8HFwgT@scarboro.demon.co.uk>,
> K <k@scarboro.demon.co.uk> writes:
> |> David in Normandy <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> writes
> |> >
> |> >People such as me who live in France will need to have
> |> >"Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
> |> >I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
> |> >EU bureaucrats gone mad?
>
> Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't
> Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France
> introducing the same rules?
<snip>

http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pass.htm

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Nick Maclaren

2008-04-01, 9:25 am

In article <C417B897.69729%sacha@nowhere.myzen.co.uk>,
Sacha <sacha@nowhere.myzen.co.uk> writes:
|> On 1/4/08 09:17, in article fssr32$rs2$1@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk, "Nick
|> Maclaren" <nmm1@cus.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
|> > In article <6Gz0qUA4We8HFwgT@scarboro.demon.co.uk>,
|> > K <k@scarboro.demon.co.uk> writes:
|> > |> David in Normandy <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> writes
|> > |> >
|> > |> >People such as me who live in France will need to have
|> > |> >"Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
|> > |> >I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
|> > |> >EU bureaucrats gone mad?
|> >
|> > Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't
|> > Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France
|> > introducing the same rules?
|>
|> http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pass.htm

That doesn't say what effect there is on private importation, and
a quick look at the regulations indicates that there were THREE
amending orders in 2007 alone! It could take me a couple of days
to find out what the law is :-(

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Charlie Pridham

2008-04-01, 9:25 am

In article <MPG.225bfe5aa093ce5b98985c@news.wanadoo.fr>,
DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr says...
> I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
> invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing
> quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese
> knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild
> in their none native countries.
>
> To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are
> considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be
> necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to
> be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced
> declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and
> that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild!
>
> People such as me who live in France will need to have
> "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
> I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
> EU bureaucrats gone mad?
>
All nurseries over a certain size already comply with this and I think
you will find that individuals will be exempt as they could not cope!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

FarmI

2008-04-01, 8:25 pm

"David in Normandy" <DavidinNormandy@yahoo.fr> wrote in message

>I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
> invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing
> quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese
> knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild
> in their none native countries.
>
> To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are
> considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be
> necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to
> be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced
> declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and
> that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild!
>
> People such as me who live in France will need to have
> "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants
> I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the
> EU bureaucrats gone mad?

It doesn't sound too silly to me, but then I live in Aus and we are
protected from natural plant incursion by oceans. It's the idiot humans who
have introduced all the feral plants and animals. (And to bring any plant
material into the counry requires very stringent Customs checks).

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