The Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 2018

General provisions relating to plant passports

25.—(1) Any alteration or erasure in a plant passport automatically invalidates the plant passport unless the alteration or erasure is certified by an authorised officer or the plant trader authorised under article 30 to issue the plant passport, in either case by initialling the alteration or erasure by hand.

(2) A plant passport relating to any relevant material is to be treated as accompanying that relevant material only if the plant passport is affixed to the relevant material, its packaging or the vehicle transporting it by an authorised officer, by the plant trader authorised to issue it or by an inspector.

(3) Where a plant passport comprises an official label and is to be affixed by the plant trader who is authorised to issue the plant passport, the plant trader must affix it in such a way that it cannot be re-used.

(4) A person may only issue a replacement plant passport to replace a plant passport issued in respect of a consignment if—

(a) the consignment has been divided up, the consignment or part of the consignment has been combined with another consignment or the plant health status of the consignment has been changed; and

(b) the person is satisfied that the relevant material to which the replacement plant passport will relate can be identified and is free from any risk of infestation by a plant pest of a description specified in Part A or B of Schedule 1 or in column 3 of Schedule 2.

(5) A plant passport or official documentation which accompanies any relevant material in accordance with article 22 must be retained by the person who is the final user of the relevant material or who uses the relevant material in the course of a trade or business.