The Northern Ireland horticulture sector faces “disarray” this spring due to post-Brexit trading rules, a garden centre owner has warned.
Robin Mercer, owner of Hillmount Garden Centre in Belfast, has called on the Government to help the industry as it grapples with trade issues caused by the UK leaving the EU.
Northern Ireland has remained in the EU’s plant health system post-Brexit, while the rest of the UK is not, meaning the region must apply EU rules on all horticulture products entering from Great Britain.
Some plants now need a plant health certificate before they can enter Northern Ireland. Other products have been completely banned, including soil as it can carry pests and diseases.
It has resulted in some businesses in the rest of the UK halting sales to Northern Ireland customers.
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Also the BBC spoke with a garden center owner in Northern Ireland. For Beth Lunney the impact of Brexit and the Irish Sea border started to become clear in late November. Along with her family she runs Saintfield Nursery Centre, a garden centre in County Down. She had been preparing for the new sea border, signing up to the government's Trader Support Service and liaising with her suppliers in England.
Then her longstanding supplier of azaleas and rhododendrons got in touch with her.
"He said: 'Beth I don't think I'm going to be able to get this over to you. It's really about the possibility that there's soil on the pots'," she told BBC News NI.