Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2091 of 28 September 2023 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the requirements for the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of tubers of Solanum tuberosum L. for planting (seed potatoes), their use in Northern Ireland, and the model form of the plant health label for seed potatoes (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2023 on specific rules relating to the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of certain consignments of retail goods, plants for planting, seed potatoes, machinery and certain vehicles operated for agricultural or forestry purposes, as well as non-commercial movements of certain pet animals into Northern Ireland ¹, and in particular Article 11(3) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 lays down specific rules relating to, inter alia, the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of tubers of Solanum tuberosum L. for planting (seed potatoes) for placing on the market.

• (2) In particular, Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 provides that the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of seed potatoes for placing on the market is to be subject to specific rules and to a plant health label requirement, subject to compliance with certain conditions, including written guarantees to be provided by the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 11(1), point (f), of that Regulation.

• (3) The written guarantees are to give assurance that a process of registration and authorisation of professional operators is in place, including official procedures to ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 and address non-compliance, and that official controls on consignments of seed potatoes at sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) Inspection Facilities of first arrival in Northern Ireland that comply with the requirements set out in Annex II to that Regulation are carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council ², and that official controls and surveillance measures are carried out covering the movements of those consignments from the SPS Inspection Facilities of first arrival in Northern Ireland to their place of destination in Northern Ireland to ensure that those consignments will not subsequently be moved to a Member State.

• (4) The United Kingdom, in its letters of 4, 11 and 15 September 2023, states that the process of authorisation and registration of professional operators in parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland and in Northern Ireland is in place, and the official procedures to ensure compliance by those operators with Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 and to address non-compliance will be adopted and implemented by 1 October 2023.

• (5) The United Kingdom, in its letters of 4, 11 and 15 September 2023, further states that SPS Inspection Facilities of first arrival in Northern Ireland will comply with the requirements set out in Part 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 by 1 October 2023, and that official controls will be carried out on these consignments at SPS Inspection Facilities in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

• (6) The United Kingdom, in its letters of 4 September 2023 also states that, from 1 October 2023, official controls and surveillance measures will be carried out covering the movements of those consignments from the SPS Inspection Facilities of first arrival in Northern Ireland to their place of destination in Northern Ireland.

• (7) In accordance with Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231, the Commission services carried out a Commission control in Northern Ireland from 11 to 14 September 2023 on the verification of compliance of the SPS Inspection Facilities in Northern Ireland with the requirements set out in Part 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2023/1231. The report of 15 September 2023, drawn up following the Commission control, concludes that the SPS Inspection Facilities of Belfast Port, Larne Harbour, and Warrenpoint Port comply with the requirements set out in Part 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2023/1231.

• (8) As the United Kingdom has provided the necessary written guarantees, required by Article 11(1), point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 in its letters of 4, 11 and 15 September 2023, it is thus appropriate to lay down rules on the requirements for the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of seed potatoes and their use in Northern Ireland, and on the model form of the plant health label required to accompany those consignments, as referred to in Article 11(3) of that Regulation.

• (9) To ensure the maximum possible level of plant health on the island of Ireland, rules should be laid down concerning the plant health label for each consignment of seed potatoes, the registration and inspection of the seed potatoes’ sites of production in Northern Ireland, the inspection of the seed potatoes and sites of production thereof in parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland, and the annual reporting of the quantities of seed potatoes introduced into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom.

• (10) The plant health label to be used for the entry into, and the use in, Northern Ireland of seed potatoes should indicate all the elements necessary for their identification and traceability. In particular, the plant health label should indicate the botanical name of the seed potatoes, the registration number of the professional operator concerned, and the traceability code of the seed potatoes. A reference to the applicable Union legislation should also be included in the plant health label.

• (11) The format of the plant health label should be standardised to ensure its visibility and to make it distinct from other labels that might accompany the goods concerned. To ensure transparency and give appropriate information to producers and users, the plant health label should contain the indications ‘NI plant health label’ and ‘for use in the United Kingdom only’.

• (12) In the interest of legal certainty and to avoid any unnecessary disruption to trade, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

• (13) The written guarantees provided by the United Kingdom state that all the conditions referred to in Article 11(1), point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 will be met from 1 October 2023. This Regulation should, therefore, apply from that date to ensure legal certainty and avoid any unnecessary disruption to trade.

• (14) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation lays down rules on the requirements for the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of seed potatoes and their use in Northern Ireland, and on the model form of the plant health label required to accompany those consignments, as referred to in Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231.

Article 2

Requirements for the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of seed potatoes, and their use in Northern Ireland

The entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of consignments of seed potatoes, and their use in Northern Ireland, shall be subject to compliance with all of the following requirements:

• (a) the seed potatoes are intended for registered professional operators in Northern Ireland;

• (b) the seed potatoes originate in parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland, in production sites that have been officially inspected and found to comply with Union requirements concerning:

• (i) Union quarantine pests, protected zone quarantine pests and Union regulated non-quarantine pests (‘RNQPs’), referred to in Articles 5(2), 32(1) and 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³;

• (ii) pests subject to Union measures laid down in Commission implementing acts adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;

• (c) the seed potatoes have been officially inspected in parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland, at the production sites or the packaging facilities, and found to comply with Union requirements concerning:

• (i) Union quarantine pests, protected zone quarantine pests and RNQPs referred to in Articles 5(2), 32(1) and 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;

• (ii) pests subject to Union measures laid down in Commission implementing acts adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;

• (d) after their entry into Northern Ireland, the seed potatoes shall only be grown in sites of production in Northern Ireland, which are registered for this purpose by the competent authorities of the United Kingdom;

• (e) after their entry into Northern Ireland, the seed potatoes, as well as the plants grown from them, shall be subject to annual official inspections in their sites of production in Northern Ireland to ensure compliance with Union requirements concerning Union quarantine pests, protected zone quarantine pests and RNQPs referred to in Articles 5(2), 32(1) and 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, and pests subject to Union measures laid down in Commission implementing acts adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of that Regulation;

• (f) the quantities of seed potatoes entered into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom and the results of the inspections referred to in points (b), (c) and (e) shall be reported to the Commission by the United Kingdom by 30 June of each year concerning the entries between 1 May of year n-1 and 30 April of year n;

• (g) the entry into Northern Ireland of the consignments shall comply with the applicable rules laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

Article 3

Plant health label requirements and model form of plant health label

• (a) at the top part of the plant health label, the words ‘NI plant health label’;

• (b) the letter ‘A.’, followed by the botanical name of the seed potatoes;

• (c) the letter ‘B.’, followed by the registration number of the professional operator;

• (d) the letter ‘C.’, followed by the traceability code of the seed potatoes;

• (e) the letter ‘D.’, followed by:

• (i) a QR code referring to a page on the official websites of the competent authorities of the United Kingdom, relevant to the professional operator receiving the consignments of seed potatoes and informing that professional operator of the applicable Union legislation with an explicit reference to Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 and this Regulation; or

• (ii) the indication ‘complies with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231’;

• (f) at the bottom part of the plant health label, the words ‘for use in the United Kingdom only’.

Article 4

Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 October 2023.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 September 2023.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

ANNEX

Model form of the plant health label for consignments of seed potatoes referred to in Article 3