The Plant Health and Phytosanitary Conditions (Oak Processionary Moth and Plant Pests) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

Restrictions on the movement of high-risk oak trees within the demarcated area

6.—(1) No person may move a high-risk oak tree within the demarcated area.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a professional operator who meets the conditions specified in paragraph (3).

(3) The conditions referred to in paragraph (2) are that the professional operator—

(a) holds an acceptable level of biosecurity competence demonstrable by compliance with the Plant Health Management Standard;

(b) records, and retains for at least 3 years, the following information for each consignment of high-risk oak trees—

(i) the name of the professional operator;

(ii) the date of movement from the premises of the professional operator and the address of those premises;

(iii) the identity, address, email address and phone number of any person who is to receive the high-risk oak tree at its destination and the destination of the consignment;

(iv) the species and girth of each high-risk oak tree within the consignment measured at a height of 1.2 metres from the root collar;

(v) details of any appropriate phytosanitary treatments applied to each high-risk oak tree within the consignment during the period the tree was on the premises of the professional operator;

(c) does not move any high-risk oak tree located in the infested zone into the buffer zone;

(d) does not move any high-risk oak tree located in the buffer zone to within 10 kilometres of the outer edge of the buffer zone;

(e) in relation to any high-risk oak tree to be moved within the buffer zone—

(i) applies appropriate phytosanitary treatments to the tree;

(ii) notifies any person who is to receive the tree at its destination, other than any other professional operator, that official planting inspections for the specified GB quarantine pest may be carried out by a plant health inspector;

(f) provides copies, and allows inspection, of documents specified at sub-paragraph (b) upon the request of the appropriate authority.

(4) The conditions in paragraph (3)(a), (b) and, where applicable, (e) must be complied with prior to movement of a consignment of high-risk oak trees from the premises of the professional operator.

(5) Where a professional operator (the “transferring operator”) takes possession of a high-risk oak tree from another professional operator with a view to moving that tree to the planting site, the conditions in paragraph (3) apply, but this is subject to paragraph (6).

(6) Where the transferring operator proposes to move the tree to the planting site within a period of less than 48 hours of taking possession, the conditions in paragraph (3)(a), (b)(v) and (e)(i) do not apply to that transferring operator.