Brexit checks put plant and flower trade with EU at risk, say UK firms

Exporters of plants and flowers from mainland Europe are turning their backs on supplying Britain as "painful" new Brexit border checks are pushing some trading relationships to "breaking point", garden centres and nurseries have warned.

- Jack Simpson, Angela Giuffrida

The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which represents garden retailers and growers, said longheld links between British nurseries and EU suppliers were under strain because of the delays and costs associated with the new border processes.

The comments were included in a letter from the HTA to Sue Hayman, the borders, biosecurity and plant health minister, which said some specialist transporters were now withdrawing from the UK market completely.

On 30 April the UK introduced new checks on plant and animal products entering Britain from the EU. The checks were brought in at selected ports to prevent harmful plant and animal diseases entering the country.

The HTA letter said: "All parties involved in moving plants, trees, flowers, bulbs and seeds between the EU and the UK are now doing so under maximum pressure, facing unmanageable increases in costs, experiencing painful border processes yet with minimal information with which to do it.