House plants more expensive because of Brexit

House plants more expensive because of Brexit

House plants such as aspidistra, yucca and cactus have become more expensive because of Brexit red tape , as garden centres warn new rules have made it more difficult to import stock. Yucca, ficus, Kentia palms and cactus are among the most popular house plants in the UK but cost eight per cent more than they did before Brexit, according to the Horticultural Trades Association. Garden centres have cut the choice offered to green-fingered Britons by another estimated eight per cent because the new rules have made some options commercially unviable. James Barnes, the chairman of the HTA, said: “A lot of what we're facing is self-imposed by the British Government and regulators rather than just as a result of Brexit itself. Our frustration comes in because these are issues of our own making.” The Government introduced new controls on plant movement at the border with the EU in January, when Brexit took legal effect. These new rules introduced pre-notification, certificate and inspection requirements after the UK left the EU’s single market and customs union. A new fee for import checks of high-priority plants from the EU was added five months later in June. New trading arrangements introduced by the