Peach user guidance videos
Screen recording videos demonstrating how to do a peach application are available from these links. Plant Health EU import video (updated 07/02/22). HMI import video. How to complete a Plant Health CSV file for plants for planting video.

For technical assistance using PEACH or HMI issues contact the Peach Help Desk on 0345 6073224 (weekdays 07:00 to 22:00, Saturday 09:00 to 18:00, Sunday 09:00 to 14:00) and select option 1 for Government gateway issues and option 2 for all other queries. Send e-mail enquiries to PEACHEnquiries@apha.gov.uk.

For queries on Plant Health regulated goods please call The Imports Helpdesk on 0300 100 0313 (06:00 to 24:00 every day) or e-mail phsi-importers@apha.gov.uk

Additional Plant Health pre-notification questions
If you are importing plants for planting or seeds, there will soon be additional questions you have to answer during your pre-notification, this will help to ensure that your goods are inspected at the right frequency and charged the correct fee. Further information can be found on the Plant Health Portal

Register now for the Plant Health Export Service (PHES), PEACH to be restricted from 30th June for HMI export applications.

The Plant Health Export Service (PHES) is replacing PEACH and eDomero through a phased migration of commodities. The new service is faster, more efficient and provides a modern and user-friendly interface for traders to submit applications.

From Thursday 30th June 2022, you will no longer be able to submit HMI export applications through PEACH.

Register now for the Plant Health Export Service to continue to make applications.

Guidance material on how to register and create notifications is available on the Plant Health Portal.

Please contact the APHA service desk (planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk) for help to register or speak to your Horticultural Marketing Inspector if you have further questions.

Legislative update

The UK Government announced on 28 April that no further import controls will be introduced on goods from the EU and the rest of the world in 2022. This means the changes to GB fruit and vegetable Marketing Standards controls that were due to be introduced on 1 July will not be implemented this year. Therefore, from 1 July 2022 traders can continue to export fruit and vegetables from the EU to GB as they do currently in relation to marketing standards requirements.

Looking ahead, the UK Government intends to publish a Target Operating Model in Autumn 2022 that will set out how and when we will introduce a revised border controls regime.

The UK has proceeded with legislation to approve third country listing (Approved Inspection Service (AIS) status) for all EU Member States, with the current exception of Lithuania. This means once import controls are introduced in the future, official authorities and inspection bodies for Listed Member States will be able to issue a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) for exports of regulated fruit and vegetables to Great Britain.

Plant Health EU imports - Article 72 changes
An update was made on the 27 January 2022 that will now allow you to declare both High-Priority plants and Regulated and Notifiable plants and cut flowers on notifications made for EU trade. There will no longer be the requirement for this to be declared as two separate notifications - see new guidance video (updated 07/02/22).

DUCR Number required on Plant Health - EU Applications from 1st June 2021

From 1st June all PEACH applications for high-priority material from the EU will need to include a DUCR number. Each consignment must have a unique DUCR number. For separate consignments a duplicate DUCR numbers must not be used. However, if a single consignment has more than one PEACH entry, the same DUCR number can be used on each associated PEACH entry. This is important as importers of high-priority plant material from the EU will be charged from 1st June. By doing this PEACH entries relating to a single consignment will be linked and the charges raised correctly.

Posting of Phytosanitary Certificates to York
All original Phytosanitary certificates must be posted to York (APHA, Foss House, 1st Floor, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peaseholme Green, YO1 7PX) within 3 working days of the consignment landing in GB.

CHIEF workaround for plant produce requiring a phytosanitary certificate and or an HMI Certificate of Conformity
The CHIEF system is incorrectly flagging that some plant produce requires a phytosanitary certificate and or an HMI Certificate of Conformity, which is not currently the case. This issue is being remedied but in the meantime, if you are importing fresh produce from EU to GB that is flagged as requiring either an HMI Certificate of Conformity and / or a PHSI Phytosanitary Certificate you will need to submit the following information in your HMRC Customs Entry to enable clearance until further notice;

CHIEF is now accepting XW for both N002 (HMI Certificate of Conformity) and N851 (Phytosanitary Certificate) for Imports. GBCON EU Import will be required to be added to the coding for HMI purposes and for Plant Health purposes a country coding e.g FR (France) plus PHC EU Import will be required;

The CHIEF system will allow the following:
• N002 XW GBCON EU Import
• N851 XW FRPHC EU Import

CHIEF workaround for de-regulated plant produce from RoW to GB
The CHIEF system is incorrectly flagging that some plant produce requires a phytosanitary certificate which is not currently the case. This issue is being remedied but in the meantime, if you are importing fresh produce from RoW to GB that is flagged as requiring a PHSI Phytosanitary Certificate for de-regulated commodities, as of 01/01/2021, you will need to submit the following information in your HMRC Customs Entry to enable clearance until further notice.

CHIEF is now accepting XX for N851 (Phytosanitary Certificate) for Imports from RoW to GB. For Plant Health purposes a country coding e.g. PE (Peru) plus PHC de-regulated goods will be required.

The CHIEF system will allow the following:

• N851 XX PEPHC de-regulated goods

Please note you will have to submit a JointHCG6i PEACH application for Citrus until further notice due to technical complications in ALVS.

Plant Health Charges
The review of import charges has been completed. There will be no change to existing fees until October 2022 but fees for imports from the EU have been set and will be implemented as from 1st April 2021. Full details can be found on the Plant Health Portal.

Accessing Government Gateway Services
What you need to know if you access Government Gateway on Windows XP, Windows Vista or older browsers such as Internet Explorer 6 or 7 from 1 April 2020 The access requirements are changing, please follow this link for more information.

Updated Plant Health Imports Guide
The updated imports guide is available on gov.uk. by following this link.

Citrus and Kiwi Fruit
These two commodities will no longer be PHSI regulated from the 01/01/2021. The HMI continues to inspect these commodities, so Peach applications will still be required.

Our staff are here to help, and are committed to providing good customer service. We will treat you with respect, and expect you to do the same. We will not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour towards our staff, either verbally, physically or in writing, and will take whatever action is necessary (including legal action) against any person who is involved in threatening or abusive behaviour. Our staff carry devices that can monitor and record abusive behaviour. They can summon support services and the recordings may be used in court proceedings.

Find out about Defra's standards of service. Read Defra's accessibility and privacy policies. A contingency plan has been drawn up to explain our policy on the service provision you can expect from the PEACH system in the event of an IT malfunction and can be found by following this link.

Updated: 14 March 2023