The Marketing of Fruit Plant and Propagating Material (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025: integrated impact assessment

Introduction

Welsh Government is asking Welsh Ministers to make legislation for the purposes of protecting biosecurity by ensuring that categorisations of pests and requirements for the places of production are up to date and consistent with developments in the ongoing assessment of risk. 

The Marketing of Fruit Plants and Propagating Material (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (“the 2025 regulations”) will amend The Marketing of Fruit Plant and Propagating Material (Wales) Regulations 2017 (the “2017 regulations”) in relation to inspection, testing and site of production requirements for certain Regulated Non-Quarantine Pests (RNQPs). 

These amendments align with changes made by the European Union in relation to Commission Implementing Directive 2014/98/EU and Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/2072 thereby maintaining equivalence with the EU for the marketing of fruit plants and fruit propagating material. They also align with equivalent legislation being introduced in Scotland and England.

Regulated Non-Quarantine Pests (RNQPs) are plant pests that are present in a country but not subject to quarantine measures. Their presence on plants intended for planting can cause economically unacceptable impacts. The presence of RNQPs on plant hosts is therefore regulated on both domestic plants for planting and imported plants to reduce their potential impact, be that by requiring treatment of GB populations or refusing entry of imported infested plants.

The 2017 regulations currently control the quality of fruit plants (for fruit production) and fruit propagating material on the market. It does this through setting production standards for that material to ensure that it meets minimum standards for plant health and quality as well as varietal identity standards where appropriate. 

The legislation will add testing and related requirements for three new RNPQs  (Tobacco Ringspot Virus (ToRSV), Tomato Ringspot Virus (TRSV) and Pucciniastrum minimum (Blueberry rust) and will remove Fig Mosaic Agency and Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense as RNQPs. It also modifies requirements in relation to site of production for Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri (pear decline phytoplasma) to bring them in line with other similar pests. It also makes a number of minor amendments to improve overall clarity of the regulations.

Fruit suppliers

A supplier may only market such plant material if the supplier is registered, and the plant material meets various standards including those relating to quality and plant health. 

In England and Wales, the Fruit Propagating Certification Scheme (FPCS) (on gov.uk) implements the requirements of the 2017 regulations in relation to a subset of the fruit plant genera and species covered by the regulations including:

• soft fruit: all cultivated strawberry species (Fragaria), blackberry, raspberry and hybrid berries (Rubus), black, red and white currant, gooseberry (Ribes) and blueberry, cranberry and bilberry (Vaccinium)
• top fruit: apple (Malus), all cultivated edible pears, including perry pears (Pyrus), plum, sour cherry, sweet cherry (Prunus) and quince (Cydonia)
• rootstocks and ornamental varieties associated with top fruit
• micro-propagated material of any of the above crops

All material entered into the scheme must be of known lineage and grown under specific conditions regarding site and isolation from other crops. Crops are entered into the scheme to produce a specific grade and will normally be certified in that grade. The grades are: Pre-basic, Basic and Certified. The highest-grade material (pre-basic primarily used for propagation) is produced under very strict conditions. It is then multiplied through various grades until it is available for use by commercial growers. Certified represents the grade of plants that may be sold for fruit production. A fruit crop will be inspected at least once per year by a qualified APHA Plant Health and Seeds Inspector. The frequency and timing of inspections varies according to the category of plants and the tolerances for different pests and diseases. 

During an inspection plant material will be visually inspected to check it is either free from relevant pests and diseases or, where certain pests or diseases are present below prescribed tolerance level, as listed in Annex I or II to Directive 2014/98/EU (on www.legislation.gov.uk). Where necessary, sampling and laboratory testing may also be undertaken. Freedom from pests or tolerance levels may met by removal of infected plants and /or by biological, physical or chemical treatments if applicable. Destruction of the whole crop may be required in some cases. Certification details are published in an annual register produced by APHA.

Whilst the scheme cannot guarantee that every plant certified will be completely free from pests and diseases, the scheme does provide valuable plant health assurances as plants entered into the scheme are grown under strict conditions. This reduces risk of introducing damaging pests and diseases to the production site and provides traceability to meet stringent marketing requirements with certified material descended from parent stock proven in terms of health and vigour. 

* Conformitas Agraria Communitatis (CAC) grade material, the minimum standards that any fruit plant for fruit production should meet in Wales where it is to be sold, is regulated under the 2017 Regulations. It must also be practically free from certain pests and diseases as appropriate to the genus or species, but the supplier is responsible for carrying out visual inspections and sampling and testing of CAC material. (‘practically free’ means that the extent to which pests are present on the propagating material or fruit plants is sufficiently low to ensure acceptable quality and usefulness of the propagating material.)

Long term, prevention, integration, collaboration and involvement 

In line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (on legislation.gov.uk), the amendments made to the 2017 regulations by the 2025 regulations will continue and enhance protection of plant material from plant health pests and make the inspection regime for fruit plant and fruit propagating material equivalent with the rest of the UK nations and the EU. 

Collaboration

Earlier this year a bilingual engagement exercise was carried out jointly by Welsh Government, UK Government and the Scottish Government via email. The email was sent to interested stakeholders including fruit propagation specialists and breeders and those from the associated industries across the UK. The consultation sought views on a proposal to amend requirements for certifying fruit plants and fruit propagating material under relevant Marketing of Fruit Plant and Propagating Material Regulations in relation to the sampling and testing and requirements with regard to the production site, place of production or area for certain RNQPs. No responses were received. This is likely due to the fact that these RNQPs have already been added to the Plant Health regime and therefore industry anticipated these associated testing, inspection and site of production amendments being subsequently made to the fruit marketing legislation.

Equivalent legislation is being made in England and Scotland to amend their fruit marketing regulations. The regulations in England and Scotland are due to come into force on the same date as the Wales regulations (7 October 2025). Northern Ireland is already subject to these arrangements under EU law.

How have people most likely to be affected by the proposal been involved in developing it?

An informal bilingual targeted engagement exercise was carried out between 7 March and 2 May 2025 inviting stakeholders for views on the proposed changes to the Marketing of Fruit Plant and Propagating Material (Wales) Regulations 2017. These stakeholders included fruit propagation specialists, breeders and representative bodies for those industries in England, Scotland and Wales. 

What are the most significant impacts, positive and negative?

Impacts of significance

This change to legislation is of a technical nature which introduces additional requirements for certain fruit plant and fruit propagating material regarding testing, inspection and place of production for certain Regulated Non-Quarantine Pests (RNQPs). This will enhance biosecurity measures already in place by adding testing requirements for three additional RNQPs. Inspection and testing of relevant material is undertaken under the Fruit Propagation Certification Scheme. There is currently one business in Wales registered operating under this scheme. The legislation is therefore limited in its impacts. 

Positive impacts

The regulations will introduce measures which are equivalent to measures being introduced in England and Scotland and to measures which have been introduced in the EU. This means those involved in the marketing of certain fruit plant and fruit propagating material will be operating to the same high ‘pest free’ standards and there will be no barriers to trade. Whilst the FPCS cannot guarantee that every plant certified will be completely free from pests and diseases, the scheme does provide valuable plant health assurances as plants entered into the FPCS are grown under strict conditions. This reduces the risk of introducing damaging pests and diseases to the production site and provides traceability to meet stringent marketing requirements with certified material descended from parent stock proven in terms of health and vigour. 

Negative impacts

Since fruit plants entered into the FPCS already undergo inspection for other pests, we do not anticipate there being any significant increase in costs associated with inspection time, as inspectors will look for these pests at the same time as other regulated pests. There will be additional costs associated with the testing of mother plants, which must be met by the grower as they are for other tests already required. Mother plants make up only a very small proportion of material tested under the FPCS.

In light of the impacts identified, how will the proposal how will the proposal support the Welsh Governments well-being goals?

These regulations will have a positive impact on contributing to the national well-being goal of a ‘resilient Wales’ and associated impacts on a ‘prosperous Wales’ through the implementation of additional biosecurity measures and reducing any impacts on trade and wider biodiversity were we not to introduce these regulations.

How will the impact of the proposal be monitored and evaluated as it progresses and when it concludes? 

We will be able to monitor and evaluate via the Fruit Propagating Certification Scheme (FPCS) as details are published in an annual register produced by APHA. We know that there is one grower of fruit in Wales to date registered on the scheme who will benefit from the regulations and being able to continue to trade in the EU.