Online plant sales risk
Plants could be arriving in the UK illegally from around the world, bypassing plant health checks designed to screen out potentially devastating diseases because they’re ordered online and sent by post. GW found houseplants on sale via online marketplace eBay from Spain, Malta, France and Portugal, available for UK delivery but without mention of legally required plant health certificates. Also for sale were lavender, rosemary and olive trees from Italy: imports of all three are strictly controlled as they’re hosts for the deadly bacterial disease Xylella fastidiosa.
An eBay spokesperson said that plant sellers must comply with its plants and seeds policy, including providing plant health certificates where applicable: “If any listing does not adhere to this policy, we will remove the item and take appropriate action.”
Lisa Ward, Senior Plant Health scientist at the Royal Horticultural Society, advises sticking to reputable companies and avoiding online sellers not based in the UK. “Gardening has boomed in lockdown and people are ordering more on the internet,” she says. “You may think it’s only one plant, but sometimes that’s all it takes.”