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Plant Passports!!!
I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on
invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild in their none native countries. To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild! People such as me who live in France will need to have "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the EU bureaucrats gone mad? -- David in Normandy. To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted by a filter and not reach my inbox. |
Plant Passports!!!
David in Normandy writes
I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild in their none native countries. To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild! People such as me who live in France will need to have "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the EU bureaucrats gone mad? With the Harlequin Ladybird threatening to wipe out some of our native species, Himalayan Balsam taking over our stream edges and crowding out native plants, Azolla clogging our ponds, you could argue that it's already too late. But if you have any belief that we shouldn't allow further damage, what alternative measures would you suggest? -- Kay |
Plant Passports!!!
In article , K writes: | David in Normandy writes | | People such as me who live in France will need to have | "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants | I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the | EU bureaucrats gone mad? Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France introducing the same rules? | With the Harlequin Ladybird threatening to wipe out some of our native | species, Himalayan Balsam taking over our stream edges and crowding out | native plants, Azolla clogging our ponds, you could argue that it's | already too late. But if you have any belief that we shouldn't allow | further damage, what alternative measures would you suggest? I am afraid that you are being seriously misleading: despite the fuss, the UK is perhaps the least vulnerable country in the world to such things; in one case (Azolla), I would guess that fertiliser abuse was at least as important; in at least two of those cases, the cause is not their introduction but global warming; and the evidence of harm from the third one (Himalyan balsam) seems to be purely anecdotal. While there are grounds for some restrictions, and there are a FEW plants that are having undesirable consequences, there are no good grounds for the current lunacies. For example, the hysteria over giant hogweed is simply that. In fact, the only two plants that I have seen good evidence of serious ecological harm in the UK are Rhododendron ponticum and Japanese knotweed - there MAY be evidence for the others, but most claims of their threat don't supply any. This could well be another of the rules against meat products that Whitehall introduced following Germany's banning of British beef until we got our BSE act together. Private import was restricted in ridiculous ways (e.g. 100 grams in sealed plastic was OK, but the same meat in larger quantities or unsealed wasn't) - but there were NO restrictions on the commercial import (because that would have breached EU rules). And, at the time, the ONLY viable theory that involved import involved commercial import. The foot and mouth lunacies are even worse. Whitehall doesn't close the stable door after the horse has bolted; it typically responds by nailing up the cat flap and leaving the stable door ajar. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Plant Passports!!!
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild in their none native countries. Yes I read that too. It was in today's issue of April 1st News ;-)) Mike -- www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association. 'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates. |
Plant Passports!!!
On 1/4/08 09:17, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote: In article , K writes: | David in Normandy writes | | People such as me who live in France will need to have | "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants | I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the | EU bureaucrats gone mad? Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France introducing the same rules? snip http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pass.htm -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
Plant Passports!!!
In article , Sacha writes: | On 1/4/08 09:17, in article , "Nick | Maclaren" wrote: | In article , | K writes: | | David in Normandy writes | | | | People such as me who live in France will need to have | | "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants | | I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the | | EU bureaucrats gone mad? | | Are you sure that it is the EU that have gone mad, and that isn't | Whitehall again? Where did you read that article? And is France | introducing the same rules? | | http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pass.htm That doesn't say what effect there is on private importation, and a quick look at the regulations indicates that there were THREE amending orders in 2007 alone! It could take me a couple of days to find out what the law is :-( Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Plant Passports!!!
"David in Normandy" wrote in message
I read an article saying the EU are clamping down on invasive none native plants. Apparently some are causing quite a nuisance such as Rhododendrons, the Japanese knotweed and various others when they escape into the wild in their none native countries. To limit the spread of more none-native plants the EU are considering introducing "Plant Passports". It will be necessary for all plant movements into and across the EU to be subject to inspection and a certificate must be produced declaring all plants are free of pests and diseases and that they will not be allowed to escape into the wild! People such as me who live in France will need to have "Plant Passports" certified by DEFRA saying that any plants I bring over to the UK are approved for transfer. Have the EU bureaucrats gone mad? It doesn't sound too silly to me, but then I live in Aus and we are protected from natural plant incursion by oceans. It's the idiot humans who have introduced all the feral plants and animals. (And to bring any plant material into the counry requires very stringent Customs checks). |
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