Plant passport or phytosanitary certificate? Which one you need
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A plant passport is the label for moving plants within the EU. A phytosanitary certificate is the document for bringing plants into the EU, or for sending them to a country outside it that asks for one. An authorised grower or trader issues the passport; a public plant protection service issues the certificate. This guide sets the two side by side, then covers imported plants and the United Kingdom.
It puts Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 in plain words and is not legal advice: for a specific consignment, ask your plant protection service. Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, consolidated text of 6 July 2026, on EUR-Lex
What is a plant passport for?
- For moving plants within the EU. A plant passport is an official label for moving plants, plant products and other objects within the Union and, where applicable, into and within protected zones (Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, Art. 78).
- It is needed for all plants for planting other than seeds, and for the other plants, plant products and objects listed in Annex XIII of Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072 (Art. 79(1)).
- Authorised operators issue it, under the supervision of the competent authorities, and only for the plants they are responsible for (Art. 84(1)). In practice, that is the grower or trader its plant protection service has authorised. The competent authority may also issue one itself (Art. 84(2)).
- Plants supplied directly to a final user, such as a home gardener, need no passport, unless they are sold at a distance, such as online, or need a passport for a protected zone (Art. 81).
Which plants need one, and when none is needed: Do I need a plant passport? When the EU requires one
What the label shows, part by part: Reading the label, part by part
Plants going into a protected zone: Protected zones and the PZ plant passport
What is a phytosanitary certificate for?
For plants crossing the EU's external border, in either direction. It is a document rather than a label, and a public authority always issues it, never the business sending the plants.
Coming into the EU:
- The certificate is issued by the plant protection organisation of the non-EU country the plants come from. It states that they are free from Union quarantine pests and meet the EU's other import requirements (Art. 71(1) and 76(3)).
- It must be in at least one official EU language, addressed to the plant protection organisation of a Member State, and issued no more than 14 days before the plants left that country (Art. 76(2)).
- From non-EU countries other than Switzerland, almost every plant needs one. Part C of Annex XI of Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072 lists the plants that need none from any country: fresh or dried pineapples, coconuts, bananas and dates, and durians (Art. 11(2)).
Which plants need one, in Annex XI: Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072, consolidated text of 15 October 2026, on EUR-Lex
Leaving the EU:
- Where the destination country's import rules ask for one, the competent authority issues a phytosanitary certificate for export, at the request of the professional operator (Art. 100(1)).
- The operator must be in the official register of professional operators, have the plants under its control, and the plants must meet the destination country's requirements. The authority may not delegate the certificate to anyone else (Art. 100(1)).
- In Italy, the regional plant protection services issue export certificates (D.Lgs. 19/2021, art. 6(3)(n)), and the register is the RUOP.
- A plant passport does not replace it. At most, it is one piece of evidence: the authority may rely on a passport that attests inspections the authority itself carried out (Art. 100(2)(c)).
- Plants that came from outside the EU and leave it again unchanged get a phytosanitary certificate for re-export instead, where possible (Art. 101). When plants are exported from a Member State other than the one where they were grown, produced, stored or processed, that Member State issues a pre-export certificate on the operator's request, as the basis for the export certificate (Art. 102).
Who must register on the RUOP, and how: The RUOP code: Italy's register of professional operators
How do they differ?
In who issues them and where they apply: the passport is the grower's own label for trade inside the EU, the certificate is an authority's document for trade across its border.
| Plant passport | Phytosanitary certificate | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An official label (Art. 78) | An official document that travels with the consignment (Art. 71 and 100) |
| Issued by | The authorised operator: in practice, the grower or trader (Art. 84) | Into the EU: the plant protection organisation of the country of export. Out of the EU: the competent authority (Art. 76 and 100) |
| Valid for | Movement within the EU and, with a protected-zone passport, into and within protected zones (Art. 78 and 80) | Entry into the EU, or export to a country that requires one (Art. 71 and 100) |
| Not needed | For direct supply to final users, except at a distance and for protected zones (Art. 81) | For the five fruits in Part C of Annex XI, and for destinations that do not require one (Art. 100) |
Do imported plants need a plant passport to move on?
- Yes, if they are plants that need a passport inside the EU. Once the official checks on their entry have been completed satisfactorily and conclude that the plants meet the requirements for a passport, the passport is issued and takes the place of the phytosanitary certificate (Art. 94(1)).
- Where checks at the place of destination are allowed, the certificate can be replaced there rather than at the point of entry (Art. 94(1)). A Member State may also replace it at the point of entry with a certified copy, or with its data in the EU's electronic system, which then go with the plants up to the place where the passport is issued (Art. 94(2)).
- The authorised operator responsible for the plants issues the passport, at another location than its own premises if the competent authority allows it (Art. 84(3)). Element D then gives the non-EU country of origin (Annex VII).
- The competent authority keeps the phytosanitary certificate for at least three years (Art. 94(3)).
- In Italy, the regional plant protection services carry out the checks on plants arriving from outside the EU (D.Lgs. 19/2021, art. 6(3)(m)).
What about the United Kingdom?
Great Britain and Northern Ireland follow different rules. Below are the rules as gov.uk published them on 14 October 2026, and as Northern Ireland's agriculture department (DAERA) publishes them; check both again before you ship.
- Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) does not recognise the EU plant passport as an official label, except on qualifying goods moving from Northern Ireland.
- Plants sent there from the EU are sorted into risk categories. High-risk, medium-risk A and medium-risk B goods need a phytosanitary certificate from the plant health authority of the country they leave: for a grower in Italy, the regional plant protection service. For high-risk and medium-risk A goods, the importer in Great Britain must also notify them in advance on IPAFFS. Low-risk goods need neither. Medium-risk fruit and vegetables are, for now, treated as low risk.
- Within Great Britain, plants move on UK plant passports: "UK Plant Passport" at the top, parts A to E, and no EU flag. Until 31 January 2028, a buyer in Great Britain authorised to issue them can give its EU supplier its own UK plant passports to attach before dispatch, for plants intended for direct sale to final users that travel on a phytosanitary certificate. The passports have draft status until the plants pass the buyer's own examination on arrival.
- In Northern Ireland, EU plant passports are used for movements within Northern Ireland and to the EU or Great Britain, so plants from the EU arrive on an EU plant passport. Northern Ireland is a protected zone for some pests, and the protected-zone passport rules apply there.
- Plants for planting of Castanea, Fraxinus, Olea, Pinus, Platanus, Prunus, Quercus and Ulmus landing in Northern Ireland directly from the EU must be notified to DAERA before or up to four days after landing.
The official pages, in English:
- Import plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain (gov.uk)
- Issue plant passports to move regulated plant material in Great Britain (gov.uk)
- Import and export of plants (DAERA, Northern Ireland)
Issuing plant passports with FloraPass
FloraPass issues plant passports, the label for moving plants within the EU, and keeps the records behind them. It does not issue phytosanitary certificates or apply for them: for an export, or a consignment to Great Britain, ask your plant protection service (in Italy, your region's).