Plant Health Import Charges

Import Fees

These are mandatory charges for import inspections on certain plants and plant products arriving in Scotland. The inspections involve 3 types of checks: documentary, physical and identity. These checks are carried out by plant health inspectors from the Horticulture and Marketing Unit (HMU). Each consignment will receive a documentary, identity and physical inspection charge.

EU Plant Health Checks

Since leaving the EU, checks have been carried out on regulated plants, and plant products arriving in Scotland from the EU.  The associated fees for these checks have been updated to align them with the frequency of checks (see below). 

Reduced Frequency Checks - Risk-Based Targeted Inspection Regime   

The 'Great Britain (GB) risk-targeted inspection regime' was introduced in July 2022 and it allows the frequency of plant health checks to be determined according to the biosecurity risk a specific plant good or commodity poses to plant health in GB.  The regime established frequency of checks levels for each commodity dependent on the country of origin.  Plant goods or commodities that pose a biosecurity threat to GB can have their frequency of checks increased temporarily until the threat has been eradicated.  In 2024, risk based targeted inspection was extended to medium-risk documentary checks for specific commodities. 

The charges are set out in the Plant Health (Import Inspection Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2014. 

All importers of goods that qualify for reduced checks (both physical and identity checks) are charged at these rates even if no checks are carried out. 

For more details see: