Importers of secondhand agricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery need to be aware of regulations which say equipment needs to be free from soil and plant debris - that come into force from September 1st.

In an official post on the government's website, it states that from this date, machinery or vehicles that have been used for agricultural or forestry purposes will be subject to plant health regulations when imported from any third country.

The official statement says, "Importers must ensure that machinery or vehicles of this kind are accompanied by an official statement such as a phytosanitary certificate, detailing that they have been cleaned and are free from soil and plant debris."

The requirements do not apply to new machinery and vehicles.

All plant health import inspections of the machinery subject to control arriving in England and Wales will be performed by Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Inspectors, and recorded on the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates system (PEACH).

Importers of regulated machinery should notify the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) and register on the PEACH system. The government has issued guidance on notifying the PHSI and using the PEACH system which can be found here.

Machinery and vehicles landing in Scotland should be manually notified to the Forestry Commission’s Plant Health Service. The Forestry Commission will arrange an import inspection.

The Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes covered by the new legislation are:

• ex 8432 (Agricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery for soil preparation or cultivation; lawn or sports-ground rollers)
• ex 8433 53 (Root or tuber harvesting machines)
• ex 8436 80 10 (Forestry machinery excludes chainsaws 8467 81 00 00))
• ex 8701 20 90 (Used Tractors for semi-trailers (other than tractors of heading 8709):
• ex 8701 91 10 (Agricultural tractors and forestry tractors, wheeled, of an engine power not exceeding 18 kW)

Importers of the machinery subject to regulation, who need any further information or guidance, can contact the APHA PHSI (Plant Health and Seed Inspectorate) helpline on 01904 405138.