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All the latest news from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM
BACKGROUND The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has nominated 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. The International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) has been created to raise global awareness around plant health and how crucial plants, trees and forests are to our existence. Protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, boost economic development, protect the environment and support and enhance biodiversity.
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In this regard it is vital that we protect our horticulture, amenity/landscape and forestry sectors. Human activity and climate change have altered ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and creating new niches where pests and diseases can thrive. International travel and trade have tripled in scale in the last decade and can be responsible for the spread of pests and diseases around the world.
PROTECTING PLANTS, PROTECTING LIFE The FAO slogan for IYPH is “Protecting Plants, Protecting Life.” Plants are crucial to the world’s ecosystems and biodiversity. They are essential for human survival. Plants make up 80% of the food we eat and they produce 98% of the oxygen we breathe. Plants are also crucial to the global economy with the annual value of trade in agricultural products estimated at €1.5 trillion.
The key messages for IYPH are; ● Keep plants healthy to achieve the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals ● Be careful when bringing plants and plant products across borders; Don’t Risk It! ● Make trading in plants and plant products safe by complying with the international plant health standards ● Keep plants healthy while protecting the environment ● Invest in plant health capacity development, research and outreach.
AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PLANT HEALTH, THE DEPARTMENT STAFF HAVE BEEN BRINGING THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE OF PLANT HEALTH TO TRADE EVENTS SUCH AS THE RECENT IHNSA TROLLEY FAIR AT KELLYS NURSERIES.
IYPH AND IRELAND The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have been organising events to mark this prestigious year. Some of these events have been postponed due to the Covid 19 public health emergency. DAFM’s main priority is ensuring that the critical food supply chains remain open and to facilitate ongoing imports and exports of food and at the same time, protect the plant health status of the European Union.
DAFM will be arranging events more events for later in the year and if you would like to get involved in any of our events or organise your own event please visit our website: https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/dontriskit/ internationalyearofplanthealth2020iyph2020/
If you wish to contact us regarding IYPH please email: iyph2020@agriculture.gov.ie
COVID-19 Covid-19 is a major public health emergency. It’s having a big impact on the way we live our lives, the way our communities come together, and the way we do our business.
Find out about the supports available to help you and your business get through this Public Health crisis, please go to www.gov.ie. ✽
NEW PLANT HEALTH REGULATION
The new plant health regulation became active on December 14, 2019. This regulation which strengthens EU and Irish legislation in relation to plant health places new responsibilities on DAFM and all sectors of the horticulture and forestry industries.
This plant health regulation will enable DAFM, the horticulture and forestry industry, associated agencies and the general public to protect and preserve Ireland’s biodiversity for future generations.
With the introduction of the new plant health regulation, there has been a variety of changes for the horticultural industry and how you must conduct your business operation. The most significant changes have been to the definition of who is considered a professional operator, their obligation to become registered with the DAFM and plant traceability. Professional operators include garden centres, nurseries, landscapers/landscape architects and internet traders/sellers of plants, plus a few more; a complete list can be accessed on the DAFM website.
So, what does this mean for these core professional operators? First and foremost, each professional operator will need to ensure that they are registered with the DAFM. These details will need to be updated every 12 months. Additionally, professional operators must keep records regarding plants supplied to them by other professional operators, plants supplied by them to other professional operators, and the registration number of the professional operators they have conducted business with. These records must be kept for three years. Furthermore, each professional operator will be required to have a nominated competent person to issue plant passports and/or liaise with the DAFM. For clarification, here is a guideline to outline the requirement for each professional operator:
NURSERIES ● Register with the DAFM as a professional operator and update details every 12 months ● All plants for planting require a plant passport ● Ensure plant passports are correct and record ● Record registration numbers of professional operators they supply plants to ● Records must be kept and maintained for three years ● Must have a competent person to issue plant passports and liaise with DAFM
GARDEN CENTRES ● Register with the DAFM as a professional operator and update details every 12 months
● All plants for planting require a plant passport, but not required for final user (unless a host species for protected zone organism) ● Ensure plant passports are correct and record ● Records must be kept and maintained for three years ● Must have a competent person to issue plant passports (if required) and liaise with DAFM
LANDSCAPERS/LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ● Must register with the DAFM as a professional operator and update details every 12 months ● All plants for planting require a plant passport ● Ensure plant passports are correct and record ● Records must be kept and maintained for three years ● Must have a competent person to issue plant passports (if required) and liaise with DAFM
INTERNET TRADERS/SELLERS OF PLANTS ● Must register with the DAFM as a professional operator and update details every 12 months ● All internet sales of plants require a plant passport to the final user ● Ensure plant passports are correct and record ● Records must be kept and maintained for three years ● Must have a competent person to issue plant passports (if required) and liaise with DAFM
FORESTRY SECTOR ● Must register with DAFM ● Certain commodities including coniferous plants, wood and wood products (which are not bark-free) within the Protected Zone of Ireland should be accompanied by a plant passport ● All wood packaging must ISPM 15-compliant
The main objective for these newly established protocols for professional operators is to raise greater awareness of plant origins and the associated plant health risks. Therefore providing better protection of EU and Irish plant health - and more focus on proactive action - while harmonising EU standards with international standards. If you would like to learn more about the new Plant Health Regulation please visit https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/ planthealthtrade/newplanthealthregulations ✽
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Kildalton College has an extensive horticultural unit for student training, including a commercial nursery, fruit and vegetable production unit, protected crops and sportsturf units, as well as 16 hectares of established gardens and woodlands.
For further information:
Email: Kildalton.college@teagasc.ie Website: www.teagasc.ie/training/colleges/kildalton/ Facebook: Teagasc Kildalton College Telephone: 051 644400 or 051 644407
