General provisions relating to certificates
12.—(1) Where a phytosanitary certificate or reforwarding phytosanitary certificate is issued in a third country in a language other than English it shall incorporate or be accompanied by a translation into the English language, which translation, if it is a document separate from the certificate, shall be completed and signed by an authorised officer.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3) of this article, where a consignment of plants, plant products or other objects has been consigned between two or more third countries before being consigned to Great Britain, in the place of any certificate required by this Order it may be accompanied by a copy of such certificate issued in the country from which the consignment has been directly consigned to Great Britain and certified by an authorised officer as a true copy of the original or a true copy of a certified copy of the original, as the case may be.
(3) Paragraph (2) of this article shall not apply in the case of a reforwarding phytosanitary certificate issued in the third country from which the consignment was directly consigned to Great Britain, in which case the original reforwarding phytosanitary certificate issued in that country shall accompany the consignment.
(4) A certificate issued by or on behalf of a state, provincial or other regional or local government authority of part of a third country, or by or on behalf of any department, service or other organ of such authority shall not be deemed to be a valid phytosanitary certificate or a valid reforwarding phytosanitary certificate for the purposes of this Order unless such authority is the only one empowered to issue, in relation to such part of the country, phytosanitary certificates or reforwarding phytosanitary certificates to accord with the requirements of this Order.
(5) Except in the case of consignments imported into Great Britain by post from any third country, any phytosanitary certificate or reforwarding phytosanitary certificate shall be delivered to the proper officer at the same time as, and together with, the consignment. In this paragraph the expression “proper officer” has the like meaning as in the Customs Act and the reference to the entry shall be construed as reference to the entry, delivery of which is to be made in accordance with the provisions of that Act. This paragraph shall be without prejudice to the obligation of a forestry trader to deliver the certificate within three days of landing of the consignment, in accordance with article 12(5) of the Plant Health (Forestry) (Great Britain) Order 1993(1).
(6) In the case of a consignment imported into Great Britain by post from any third country any phytosanitary certificate or reforwarding phytosanitary certificate shall be affixed to the outside of the package comprising the consignment or, if the consignment consists of more than one package, such certificate shall be affixed to the outside of one of the packages and copies thereof affixed to the outside of each of the remaining packages.
(7) All phytosanitary certificates or reforwarding phytosanitary certificates produced when plants, plant products or other objects are landed in Great Britain from any third country shall be stamped or otherwise endorsed by an officer of Customs and Excise showing the date on which the consignment is cleared from Customs charge.