The Forestry Commission has issued an update on recent regulatory changes that forestry traders must be aware of, including new landing requirements when importing conifer wood, wood products and isolated bark from France.
There are also other changes to phytosanitary rules, amendments to the use of document entry code 9115 with Customs Declarations and consignments containing regulated and non-regulated materials.
Landing requirements
Landing Requirements are now in effect for the import of conifer wood, wood products and isolated bark from France. These have been introduced in response to an outbreak of pine wood nematode (PWM) in France, which was confirmed in November 2025. PWT (also known as pine wilt nematode), is a microscopic creature that can cause pine wilt disease in conifers and is often fatal to the tree.
Measures to contain the pest are being applied in line with EU regulation 2012/535/EU. More details on France’s response to the outbreak can be found online here regional website.
New controls were also introduced on 1 April 2025 on conifer material from Armenia as a way to prevent PWN being introduced.
Due to the outbreak in France, pre-notification of landing to the Forestry Commission is now required for all forms of regulated conifer wood. These must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate on goods landing from France and Armenia. All regulated material must be declared to HMRC for quarantine release certificate checks by the Forestry Commission.
The exclusion that previously applied to the pre-notification and requirement for phytosanitary certificates to bark-free conifer wood no longer applies, nor is use of the 991Y waiver code for bark-free conifer material from France or Armenia.
Instead, all imported wood and bark of conifers will need to meet the associated import requirements at entries 109, 110 and 111 of Annex 7A of the Phytosanitary Conditions Regulation.
Importers are advised to contact their suppliers in France to ensure that exports of regulated conifer wood, wood products and isolated bark have now either:
- undergone an appropriate heat treatment to achieve a minimum temperature of 56°C for a minimum duration of 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood (including at its core), and
- that subsequent to its treatment, it was transported, until its export from the country issuing the statement, outside the flight season of its vectors, Monochamus spp., taking into account a safety margin of four additional weeks at the beginning and at the end of the expected flight season or, in the case of wood which is not free from bark, with a protective covering to prevent infestation with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner & Bührer) Nickle or its vectors, Monochamus spp.
or:
- undergone an appropriate heat treatment to achieve a minimum temperature of 56°C for a minimum duration of 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood, and
- kiln-drying to below 20% moisture content expressed as a percentage of dry matter, achieved through an appropriate time/ temperature schedule.
Importing conifer from France or Armenia
Any importer, or their agent, that imports conifer from France or Armenia must be registered as a professional operator with the Forestry Commission. You can find out how to at GOV.UK.
You must also give advance notice of landing to the Forestry Commission of at least:
- Four working hours for air cargo and ‘roll-on-roll-off’ freight
- One working day for any other case.
This can be done by completing a notification of landing form, which can be found on GOV.UK and emailing it to the relevant inspector. Contact e-mails for notifications are also on GOV.UK.
Copies of phytosanitary certificates must be presented to the Forestry Commission with the notifications of landing, or there may be delays in clearing your consignment.
When required to do so you must also present your consignment to an authorised Border Control Post, or to a Control Point, for physical checks to be carried out, including consignments entering through Dover or other Channel ports.
Changes to Customs Declarations
HMRC is phasing in the withdrawal of the 9115 clearance code used with forestry material. Code C085 has been introduced as a replacement for three of the older document codes that are currently used ln Data Element (DE) 2/3 of the customs declaration. Although there is a period during which both the new and older document codes can be used, users should begin using Code C085 instead of 9115, before the older codes are phased out and removed from live systems. Updates will be communicated before the older codes are fully retired. All future guidance will now refer to the new C085 code.
Users are being advised to:
- communicate the forthcoming change to the person responsible for submitting customs declarations on your behalf
- make changes to any templates used for customs declarations to remove code 9115 and include the new C085 code
- review the trade tariff for regulated commodities to ensure you are using the correct document codes and waivers.
Pre-notifications for the landing of regulated material should continue to be sent to the Forestry Commission as detailed above.
Other phytosanitary rule changes
Legislation introduced on 30 November 2025 by The GB Plant Health Service included several updates to enhance biosecurity, such as new pest classifications, updated import requirements, and technical amendments which are relevant to the import of regulated wood, wood products and isolated bark.
Agrilus horni (known as the aspen root girdler) and the fungal pathogen Heterobasidion occidentale are both reclassified as quarantine pests.
There is no new specific pest measure required for imports, but both these pests will be subject to increased awareness raising, surveillance and action on detection within Great Britain to protect biosecurity.
There has been a change to the status of the bark beetles, Dendroctonus micans (Great spruce bark beetle) and Ips cembrae (Large larch bark beetle). These are now deregulated and no longer considered to be Pest Free Area quarantine pests.
Recent surveillance evidence no longer supports the absence of these beetles in the Pest Free Area (in the west of Scotland). The presence of these pests will impact the export of conifer roundwood, bark and cut conifers over three metres from the west of Scotland to countries that maintain a Pest Free Area for these pests (Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
Consignments containing regulated and non-regulated material
The Forestry Commission says it has seen an increase in consignments where regulated and non‑regulated materials are shipped together in the same freight container, with the regulated material loaded behind non‑regulated goods. This, the Commission warns, can restrict an inspector’s ability to safely and effectively access the regulated material to carry out their checks, due to the limited space within the container.
To avoid delays, importers are strongly advised to ensure that regulated timber is packed so it is readily accessible for inspection on arrival. Poor loading arrangements may result in delays associated with unloading and re‑loading, or, in some cases, re‑export where Border Control Post (BCP) staff are unable to de‑van the container safely.
Update: Sweet Chestnut Blight
Following confirmation of a sweet chestnut blight outbreak in parts of South Devon, the Forestry Commission introduced restrictions to help prevent further spread of this disease. Restrictions on the felling, killing and movement of sweet chestnut trees are now covered in a new notice, which includes a map of the demarcated area and came into force on 2 April.
Timber plant passports for the movement of sweet chestnut wood with bark can no longer be issued. Instead, professional operators will need to apply to the Forestry Commission to obtain separate authorisations for the movement of relevant material through the contact e-mail on GOV.UK.
