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Fera Fees for Statutory Services Review

Fera is currently undertaking a review of its statutory services and associated fees for its Plant Health and Seeds Marketing statutory schemes in England and Wales, and for National Listing Plant Breeders' Rights across the UK.

It is the current government policy on charging for such services, to achieve where possible, recovery of the full costs of service provision from those businesses or individuals using the service. The total annual income Fera receives from business users for the statutory services we provide, is currently around 40%, of the cost of provision. Therefore, moving to full cost recovery will result in an increase to fees. To keep the impact of increased fees to a minimum, Fera is committed to engaging with industry to develop our charging regimes and policy to reduce regulatory costs year-on-year, while ensuring the Plant Health security of the UK and provision of services for National Listing, Plant Breeders' Rights and Seeds Marketing.

Over the last few months, Fera has been consulting across industry to gather ideas on how these services are best delivered and on options for achieving full cost recovery for these statutory services. These discussions will continue and will include discussions on cost and responsibility sharing, where together we can review the respective roles of Government and industry and identify how best to work in partnership in these areas.

Introducing a full cost recovery charging regime for Fera's Plant Health and Plant Varieties & Seeds Statutory Services

  • What Fera is doing

    • What Fera is doing:

    The next few years can expect to see significant changes in the way the Fera develops and delivers policy for Plant Health and Plant Varieties and Seeds. Fera has and will continue to consult with business, through discussions with representative Trade Associations and public consultations; seeking feedback from businesses on the proposed changes we are making to the licensing regimes and regulatory work we do. In the first instance this is focusing on fees for the eight statutory services.

    1. Import Inspection Service

    Fees to cover the costs of documentary, identity and plant health examinations of proscribed plants and plant products imported from countries outside the EU and the administration of the scheme.

    Fees in England now set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012. Equivalent fees legislation for Wales expected soon.

    2. Import Inspection Service for Potatoes Originating in Egypt

    Fees to cover the costs of inspecting and sampling potatoes imported from "pest-free areas" in Egypt, to determine whether they are infected with Potato brown rot (Ralastonia solanacearum) and the administration of the scheme.

    Fees in England now set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012. Equivalent fees legislation for Wales expected soon.

    3. Plant Health Licensing Services

    Fees to cover the cost of issuing licences to permit trials, scientific or varietal selection work on imported plants, plant pests, and growing medium that would otherwise be prohibited, plus administration costs The fees also cover the costs for initial inspections and subsequent monitoring of the facility quarantine and containment facilities to ensure compliance to licence conditions.

    Fees in England now set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012. Equivalent fees legislation for Wales expected soon.

    4. Export Inspection Services

    Fees to cover the cost of pre-export inspections in support of the export of plants, plant products or other objects to countries outside the EU including administration costs.

    Fees currently set by the Plant Health (Export Certification) (England) Order 2004 and the Plant Health (Export Certification) Wales Order 2006

    5. Plant Passport Services

    Fees to cover the costs of inspections carried out in conferring authority to plant growers and traders to issue plant passports. A limited range of plants, which can host serious pest and diseases, require a plant passport to facilitate their movement within the EU. Businesses wishing to trade in these materials must be authorised to issue plant passports.

    Fees in England now set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012. Equivalent fees legislation for Wales expected soon.

    6. Seed Potato Certification Service

    Fees to cover the costs for the inspection of seed potatoes, during the growing season and tubers during grading, and the provision of certification seals and labels. Seed potatoes produced and marketed in England must be classified under the Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS). The SPCS aims to protect purchasers by addressing quality in respect to health and trueness to variety.

    Fees in England now set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012. Equivalent fees legislation for Wales expected soon.

    7. Seed Marketing Service

    Fees to cover the costs of licensing (seed testing stations, seed samplers and crop inspectors), official inspection, provision of certification seals and labels, and the administration of the service in England and Wales. Seeds of the main agricultural and vegetable crops cannot be marketed in the UK unless it is officially certified; that is, of a registered variety, produced through a defined generation system, meeting specified quality standards, and correctly packaged, labelled and sealed. The service meets EU obligations to provide a statutory framework for the marketing of seed, with objectives of quality assurance, consumer protection, and ensuring a single market.

    Fees are currently set by the Seed Marketing Regulations 2011 and The Seed Marketing (Wales) Regulations 2012.

    8. UK National Listing and UK Plant Breeders' Rights

    Fees to cover the cost of the UK National List testing system and the Plant Breeders Rights scheme. EU and international obligations require a statutory framework for registration of new crop varieties and for Plant Breeders' Rights. These services, administered by Fera, assure the quality attributes of marketed varieties, drive improvement of agricultural crops, enable the collection of royalties and protect the property rights of plant breeders who invest substantial resources in research and development of new varieties.

    Fees are currently set by the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 2001 and Plant Breeders' Rights Regulations 1998.

    References

    For more information on Fera's Plant Health and Plant Varieties & Seeds services go to http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/
  • Why Fera is doing this now

    • Why Fera is doing this now

    The fees charged to businesses using these services have not been revised for a number of years, in some cases for over a decade. The total annual income received from business users for the eight services now falls considerably short, currently 40%, of the cost of this provision. The shortfall is currently being met by public funds. We are required to intervene now to remove this subsidy, thus relieving the burden on the taxpayer by moving to Full Cost Recovery (FCR).

    References

    For more information on government policy in charging for its services go to http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/mpm_ch6.pdf/
  • How does business get involved

    • How does business get involved

    Part of the challenge for Fera is to:

    • ensure that it meets Government's obligations in
      • preventing the introduction of potentially economically and environmentally devastating plant pests and diseases
      • supporting sustainable food production
    • whilst minimising the cost burden on business

    Fera feel that it is important to involve business directly and early in the development of policy so that they have the opportunity to feed into the process and help Fera deliver an effective service at minimal cost to business and government. Through this engagement Fera can better understand the impact of these policies and be able to collaborate with others in minimising the burdens they create.

    Fera are currently in discussion with some of the representative associations for more than 2,500 businesses using the service and their customers.

    Fera's preferred options under discussion is the phasing of fee increases, moving to Full-Cost Recovery (FCR) over a period of three years. In doing so Fera would aim to balance the need to remove the financial burden on the taxpayer whilst providing businesses time to adapt to the changes.

    Fera are also developing ideas for radically changing the way we work to reduce cost; potentially transferring more of the responsibility for delivery of the service from Fera to non-government bodies.

    Fera has run a series of workshops with representative trade associations at Fera Cambridge and Fera York. Their aim has been to gather evidence on the impact of FCR fees on business and to assist in the development of key documents (e.g. Impact Assessments) in support of formal (public) consultations.

    Summary information from these Workshops is now available.

    References

    For more information on impact assessments and their role in consultations go to http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/better-regulation/consultation-guidance/impact-assessment
  • How do I get involved

    • How do I get involved

    If you would like more information and have questions that you feel would help us in the development of a "Frequently Asked Questions" web page, please contact us using our dedicated e-mail address -

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    Trade Associations

    If you are a representative of a trade association and would like to be involved in discussions in advance of any formal consultation we would be delighted to hear from you by emailing -

    [You must enable JavaScript to see this email address]

    Business

    If you are a business that could be affected by these proposals for increased fees we would welcome your input into the assessment and development of this policy objective at the formal consultations starting in 2011.
  • What's the timeline

    • What's the timeline

    This timeline is provisional and may be subject to change.

    April 2011 onwards:Informal consultation with key trade associations and industry representatives on proposed changes to Fera's Plant Health and Plant Varieties and Seeds services, with the objective of:

    • Collaborate in the design of an effective formal (public) consultation
    • Raise awareness amongst business of the timescale of the proposed regulatory changes
    • Set in train more formal collaborations between Fera and business going forward

    October to December 2011:Eight week formal consultation for plant health import inspections, import inspections of potatoes originating in Egypt, plant health licences, plant passports, seed potato certification. Assessment of policy options for achieving full cost recovery and their impacts on business users, the wider economy and the environment; all interested parties given the opportunity to provide feedback. (Completed)

    Summer 2012: Eight week formal consultation for the plant health export certification service and the plant varieties and seeds national listing, plant breeders' rights and seed marking schemes. Assessment of policy options for achieving full cost recovery and their impacts on business users, the wider economy and the environment; all interested parties given the opportunity to provide feedback.

    April 2012: Plant health import inspections, import inspections of potatoes originating in Egypt, plant health licences, plant passports, seed potato certification:

    • Publication of consultation responses (Completed)
    • Implementation of agreed policy option for service fees. 1st phase of fee increases set by the Plant Health (Fees) (England) Regulations 2012 (Completed)

    April 2012 - Onwards: Meeting of business-government partnership taskforces whose main aim will be the development of more cost-efficient services with simple and transparent charges. First government-taskforce meeting held April 18th 2012.

    Winter 2012: Plant health export certification service, plant varieties and seeds national listing, plant breeders' rights and seed marking schemes:

    • Publication of consultation responses
    • Implementation of agreed policy option for service fees
  • Task forces

    • Task forces

    Government-Industry Task Forces will be working together to review the efficiency of the schemes, to minimise the scale of any fee increases needed. Please use the link below for the Task Forces' Terms of Reference:

    Introductory PH meeting on 18 April 2012

    Presentations from the meeting are now available to download: