Importing Flowers From Turkey: Papers and Plant Health Rules

A cut-flower consignment from Türkiye travels with papers, and the plant-health bodies name one of them: the phytosanitary certificate (bitki sağlık sertifikası, BSS), a statement from the exporting country’s plant-health authority. In Türkiye the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı) runs the control behind it, and the European Commission and the UK government each set what the importing side asks for.

What the certificate is, and who issues it

A phytosanitary certificate (bitki sağlık sertifikası, BSS, a plant-health certificate) is a statement by the exporting country’s plant-health authority about one consignment. The EU and Great Britain each word what it states.

Great Britain

The consignment has been inspected or tested, or both; complies with the legal requirements for entry into Great Britain; and is free from quarantine pests and diseases.

EU

The goods are properly inspected; free from quarantine pests, within the requirements for regulated non-quarantine pests and practically free from other pests; and in line with the EU’s plant-health requirements in Regulation (EU) 2019/2072.

GOV.UK, Defra and APHA · updated 27.08.2026 · European Commission, Food Safety · no date line · checked 02.11.2026 · GOV.UK page · Commission page

Who issues it in Türkiye

Ministry

Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Directorate

Gıda ve Kontrol Genel Müdürlüğü (GKGM), the General Directorate of Food and Control

Law

Veteriner Hizmetleri, Bitki Sağlığı, Gıda ve Yem Kanunu (law 5996) and the Plant Quarantine Regulation (Bitki Karantinası Yönetmeliği, Resmî Gazete of 03.12.2011, no. 28131)

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, GKGM · checked 02.11.2026 · plants: export, import and transit

Into the EU, the Commission’s page

The European Commission sets out the certificate rule for plants and plant products from non-EU countries.

• Goods in Annexes XI and XII of Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 need a certificate. Certain plants, plant products and other objects listed there have to have a phytosanitary certificate when they enter the EU.
• The exporting country issues it. The national plant protection authorities of the exporting country issue the phytosanitary certificates.
• A plant passport may replace it inside the EU. That holds for imported goods also listed in Annexes XIII and XIV.
• Cut flowers are named once, for passengers. In personal luggage, plants, plant products and other objects, cut flowers among them, are prohibited unless accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
• The annex lists are in the regulation itself. The Commission’s page links them.

European Commission, Food Safety · no date line · checked 02.11.2026 · trade in plants and plant products from non-EU countries

Into Great Britain, GOV.UK’s page

GOV.UK’s guidance for plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, trees, seeds and used agricultural machinery coming from non-EU countries to England, Scotland and Wales was published on 21.12.2023 by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and last updated on 27.08.2026. The steps, in order:

1. The certificateFor high risk or medium risk A or B plants and plant products, the exporter gets a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment from the plant-health authority of the exporting country. The importer gets a scanned copy from the exporter before the consignment arrives in Great Britain.
2. The noticeFor high risk and medium risk A goods the importer uses IPAFFS (the import of products, animals, food and feed system) to tell APHA, or SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) in Scotland, in advance, and uploads a copy of the certificate. Notice is due at least 4 working hours before landing for air and roll-on roll-off freight, and at least 1 working day before arrival for all other freight.
3. The checksAPHA (England and Wales) or SASA (Scotland) carry out documentary, identity and physical checks, at a border control post or a control point. In England and Wales the documentary check costs £5.25 per phytosanitary certificate; identity and physical checks depend on the type of plant material.
4. The paper originalIf the original certificate is on paper, it is posted to APHA or SASA within 3 days of the consignment reaching Great Britain.

GOV.UK, Defra and APHA · updated 27.08.2026 · checked 02.11.2026 · the window in its own words: “… no more than 13 days before or after the date the consignment left …” · import plants and plant products from non-EU countries to Great Britain

There is no requirement for a consignment to arrive in Great Britain within 13 days of leaving the country of export. A UK plant passport covers the onward movement of certain goods from the first place of destination: when they move to another professional operator, when they are sold to final users under a distance contract, when they move to another of the importer’s premises more than 10 miles from the one they arrived at, or when the consignment’s plant-health status changes.

In Türkiye, from the application to the paper

For plants, plant products and other goods the export side follows law 5996 and the Plant Quarantine Regulation, and the General Directorate of Food and Control runs it. The steps, in order:

1. ApplyThe exporter, or its legal representative, applies to the ministry’s directorate (Müdürlük) on the export application form that the General Directorate sets, and asks for the goods to be controlled.
2. ControlThe goods and their packaging are controlled against the plant-health conditions of the receiving country. Where needed, extra laboratory analyses are made or ordered.
3. CertificateThe certificate is made out under ISPM 12 (International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures no. 12), in one original and two copies. The original and one copy go to the exporter, one copy stays with the directorate, and certified copies are given in the number the exporter asks for.
4. Leave within 14 daysPlants, plant products and other goods have to leave within 14 days of the certificate being made out. Goods that have not left in that time are controlled again.
5. Control againGoods with a certificate can be controlled again until they leave. If they differ from the first control, the certificate is cancelled, and if customs has started its procedure, customs is told.
6. Not metIf the controlled goods cannot meet the receiving country’s plant-health conditions, the owner or the representative is told.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, GKGM · checked 02.11.2026 · plants: export, import and transit

For plants that were not produced in Türkiye there is a re-export certificate, made out with a certified copy of the origin country’s certificate attached.

Origin and customs papers, in the Ministry of Trade’s terms

The Ministry of Trade (Ticaret Bakanlığı) covers these papers in two question pages: exports (page of 08.01.2025) and origin (no date line).

Export declaration

İhracat beyannamesi. Goods leaving Türkiye’s customs territory are declared to the competent customs office with it. An oral declaration form (sözlü beyan formu), a special invoice (özel fatura) and a provisions list (kumanya listesi) can carry the customs procedures of goods allowed out.

Certificate of origin

Menşe şahadetnamesi. It proves the goods’ non-preferential origin. It is not compulsory on export and is made out if the importing country asks for one for those goods.

EUR.1

Proof of preferential origin under an agreement. The exporter fills it in, the Chambers of Commerce or Industry check it, and customs visas it. Goods under it pay a reduced tariff in trade with countries that have a preferential agreement with Türkiye.

A.TR

Under Council of Ministers decision 2006/10895 it lets goods in free circulation in Türkiye or the Community use the Customs Union’s preferential regime. Customs, or bodies customs authorises, issue it and customs visas it. It shows that goods are in free circulation and does not show their origin.

Invoice declaration

Fatura beyanı. Like EUR.1 it shows preferential origin; the exporter writes it on the invoice, a delivery note or another commercial document. Below EUR 6,000 all exporters may make it; above, only approved exporters.

Ministry of Trade · export page of 08.01.2025 and origin page, no date line · checked 02.11.2026 · export questions · origin questions

Words on the papers

ihracat

export

ithalat

import

gümrük

customs

gümrük beyannamesi

customs declaration

ihracat beyannamesi

export declaration

fatura

invoice

çeki listesi

packing list

konşimento

bill of lading

bitki sağlık sertifikası

phytosanitary certificate, BSS

menşe

origin

menşe şahadetnamesi

certificate of origin

Müdürlük

directorate, an office of the ministry

karanfil

carnation

gül

rose

Quick answers in plain words

Sources and limits

Rules and pages are those of 02.11.2026; the bodies change them. No trade figure, price, tax rule, transit time or supplier is given.