The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Forestry Commission and Scottish and Welsh governments have today (Monday, January 9) published a new biosecurity strategy to protect plants from pests and diseases.

The Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain sets out a five-year vision for plant health, consisting of an action plan to secure national biosecurity, protect native species, and drive economic growth.

According to Defra, this plan follows recent figures that show plants provide an annual value of £15.7 billion to the UK.

The stragety is limited to the biosecurity of plants (including trees) and plant products (e.g. vegetables, fruits in the botanical sense, wood packaging material, cut flowers).

The governments said that while this strategy connects to broader work on plant health (i.e. soil health), animal biosecurity, and the prevention of invasive species incursions, these areas are not the focus of this strategy.

Biosecurity strategy

The four key outcomes of the strategy are as follows:

  • To create a world-class biosecurity regime;
  • To have a society that values healthy plants;
  • To support a biosecure plant supply chain; and
  • To build and make use of an enhanced scientific technical capability.

Some of the plan’s details include expanding the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Internet Trading Unit to step-up monitoring of online retailers and social media sites for the trade of high-risk products. The aim of this is to stop potentially devastating pests and disease from entering the country.

“Plant pests and diseases know no borders,” Nicola Spence, UK chief plant health officer, said.

“As the global trade in plants and plant products continues to grow, our precious ecosystems, native species and biosecurity are at risk. The resultant threats posed to our treescapes, food security and the global economy are all too real.

“Therefore, I am proud to officially launch the Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain, which will deliver a step change in our plant health protections, actions and behaviours.” 

The strategy also aims to deliver a programme of behavioural change through the Public Engagement in Plant Health Accord, with help from more than 30 signatories, include the National Farmers’ Union and the Royal Horticultural Society.

Furthermore, it will set out how enhancements to the UK Plant Health Risk Register, which currently lists 1,200 pests and diseases of potential threat to our biosecurity, will improve the understanding of complex and cumulative risks to plant health.

DEFRA FORESTRY COMMISSION SCOTLAND WALES