The NFU has argued that the packaging around plants - the pot - is integral rather than additional packaging, which the regulation targets.

Lionel Mills, NFU representative on the issue said: 'Flower pots have simply been caught up in the proposal's attempt to cover a wide range of waste packaging products and we have been working hard ever since to get them excluded.' NFU board for horticulture member Neil Stevenson added: 'Plants can't be grown or sold unless they are contained in something.

'We have argued that the packaging in this case is not additional, but is integral to the product at the point of sale.' The Environment Committee agreed that pots are not packaging except where the pot is 'added immediately prior to and for the purposes of sale'. Approval for the regulation will be needed by both the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.