Stricter rules on importing plants could be imposed under government plans to protect British trees from foreign pests and diseases.
Ministers are expected to launch a consultation on a plant biosecurity strategy today.
The government is considering whether to ban imports of specific plants from countries where diseases have taken hold and whether to require treatment and testing of all imported trees.
Stricter measures were introduced in March on imports of olive, almond, lavender, rosemary and oleander plants from countries affected by Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium spread by sap-sucking insects, which has severely damaged more than 6.5 million olive trees in southern Italy since 2013 and has also been reported in Spain, France, Portugal, Germany and Israel.
Ash dieback disease, which could cost the
