Regulation (EU) 2024/3115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 as regards multiannual survey programmes, notifications concerning the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests, temporary derogations from import prohibitions and special import requirements and establishment of procedures for granting them, temporary import requirements for high-risk plants, plant products and other objects, the establishment of procedures for the listing of high-risk plants, the content of phytosanitary certificates and the use of plant passports, and as regards certain reporting requirements for demarcated areas and surveys of pests and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625 as regards certain notifications of non-compliance

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (2),

Whereas:

(1) Enhanced clarity, transparency and coherence are needed to ensure the correct implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), as healthy plants are vital to sustainable agricultural and horticultural production and contribute to food security and food safety and to the protection of the environment against pests.

(2) Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 sets out rules on protective measures against pests of plants. Those rules include the classification and listing of regulated pests, requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of certain plants, plant products and other objects, surveys, notifications of outbreaks, measures to eradicate pests if found present in the Union territory and certification.

(3) Moreover, Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 contains a number of reporting requirements in the fields of establishment of demarcated areas and surveys of Union quarantine pests, priority pests and protected zones quarantine pests. Those reporting requirements play a key role in ensuring proper monitoring and correct enforcement of legislation. However, it is important to streamline and simplify those requirements in line with the Commission’s Communication of 16 March 2023 entitled ‘Long-term competitiveness of the EU: looking beyond 2030’ and to promote harmonised, standardised and digitalised procedures in order to ensure that those requirements fulfil the purpose for which they were intended and to reduce bureaucracy while limiting the administrative and financial burden.

(4) In accordance with Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, Member States are to notify the Commission and the other Member States, by 30 April of each year, of the number and locations of the demarcated areas established, the pests concerned and the respective measures taken during the preceding calendar year.

(5) Experience with the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 has shown that it is more effective, for the purpose of coordination of phytosanitary policy at Union level, to notify the demarcated areas immediately after their establishment. Immediate notification of demarcated areas by a Member State helps the other Member States, the Commission and professional operators to become aware about the presence and spread of the pest concerned and to decide on the next measures to be taken. Therefore, it is appropriate to include in Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 an obligation for Member States to notify the Commission and the other Member States of the demarcated areas immediately after their establishment, together with the pests concerned and the respective measures taken. Such an obligation would not add any new administrative burden, because it is already set out in Annex I, point 7.1, to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 (4) and applied by all Member States. Setting out that obligation in Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 would further enhance clarity about the applicable rules concerning demarcated areas, with the understanding that the corresponding obligation in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 is to be removed to avoid overlaps of the provisions concerned.

(6) Moreover, and as experience with the application of Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 has shown, the obligation for Member States to notify the Commission and the other Member States, by 30 April of each year, of the number and locations of the demarcated areas established, the pests concerned, and the respective measures taken during the preceding calendar year only adds administrative burden and has no practical value in view of the obligation of immediate notification of demarcated areas. The corresponding provision should therefore be removed from that Article.

(7) In order to rationalise the reporting obligations and to enhance the digitalisation of reporting, the immediate notification of demarcated areas should be made through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031. For reasons of consistency, the notifications following the finding of a presence of the pest concerned in the buffer zone referred to in Article 19(2) and the abolition of the demarcated areas referred to in Article 19(4) of that Regulation should also be made through that electronic notification system.

(8) Experience has shown that on certain occasions Member States need the assistance of experts to allow for swift action against new outbreaks of particular pests in their territories. Therefore, a Union Plant Health Emergency Team (‘the Team’) should be created, with the purpose of providing Member States, upon their request, with urgent assistance in relation to the measures to be taken pursuant to Articles 10 to 19, 27 and 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 concerning Union quarantine pests, and the measures to be taken pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation. In order to protect the Union territory from possible outbreaks in third countries bordering the Union territory or presenting an imminent phytosanitary risk for that territory, the Team could also be available to provide third countries with urgent assistance, upon the request of one or more Member States and of the third country concerned, in relation to the outbreaks in their territories of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation.

(9) In order to ensure the appropriate functioning of the Team, rules should be established concerning its appointment, composition and financing by the Commission. In order to ensure better coordination and efficiency, the members of the Team should be appointed by the Commission, in consultation with the Member States or third countries concerned, from experts proposed by the Member States, and those experts should possess different specialities related to plant health.

(10) In accordance with Article 22(3), Article 24(2) and Article 34(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, Member States are to report to the Commission and the other Member States, by 30 April of each year, the results of the surveys which were carried out in the preceding calendar year, concerning the presence of certain pests within the Union territory, namely of Union quarantine pests, pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Articles 29 and 30 of that Regulation, priority pests and protected zone quarantine pests. Moreover, Article 23(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 provides that Member States are, on request, to notify their multiannual survey programmes upon their establishment to the Commission and the other Member States. In order to rationalise the reporting obligations and to enhance the digitalisation of reporting, the Articles concerned should be amended by specifying that those notifications are to be submitted through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of that Regulation.

(11) In accordance with Article 23(1), third subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, the multiannual survey programmes are to be established for a period of five to seven years. In order to cope with challenges of implementing the multiannual survey programmes and to reduce administrative burden for the competent authorities, that period should be extended to 10 years, and those programmes should be subject to review and update.

(12) Article 30(1), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 sets out that, where the Commission concludes that a pest fulfils the criteria as regards pests not listed as Union quarantine pests, set out in Subsection 2 of Section 3 of Annex I to that Regulation, it is to immediately, by means of implementing acts, adopt measures for a limited time as regards the risks posed by that pest.

(13) In the course of the implementation of that provision, certain Member States expressed their doubts concerning the precise scope of the term ‘measures’, and in particular whether it covers actions taken in the context of imports or internal movement of goods, in order to prevent the entry and spread of the pest concerned in the Union territory. Therefore, and for reasons of legal clarity and completeness, Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 should be amended to specifically indicate that those measures may include the prohibition of the pest concerned being introduced into, moved within, or held, multiplied or released in the Union territory, and requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of plants, plant products and other objects. However, pursuant to Articles 8 and 48 of that Regulation, it is still possible to grant derogations from those prohibitions where needed, for example for relevant research or breeding activities with regard to resistances or tolerances.

(14) Article 41 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 sets out the requirement to prevent the presence of Union quarantine pests on plants, plant products or other objects. Paragraph 4 of that Article provides that, in the event that plants, plant products or other objects have been introduced into, or moved within, the Union territory in violation of paragraph 1 of that Article, Member States are to adopt the necessary measures, as referred to in Union legislation on official controls, and to notify the Commission and other Member States through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of that Regulation.

(15) However, there is no requirement to notify non-compliance with the rules set out in Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which concerns measures to prevent the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests (‘RNQPs’) on plants for planting above the specified thresholds when introduced into or moved within the Union territory. That Article should therefore be amended by providing that, in the event of non-compliance with the requirements on RNQPs, Member States are to adopt the necessary measures and to notify the Commission, the other Member States and the third country concerned through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of that Regulation.

(16) Consequently, Article 104 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which concerns notifications in the case of presence of pests, should also include a reference to Article 37(10) of that Regulation.

(17) The power to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 by setting out the procedure to conduct the listing of high-risk plants, plant products and other objects pursuant to Article 42(1) of that Regulation. That procedure should include the following elements: the preparation of the evidence for the assessment of the high-risk plants, plant products and other objects; the actions to be taken following the receipt of that evidence; the procedures for that assessment; and the handling of dossiers concerning confidentiality and data protection. This is necessary because experience has shown that a specified procedure to conduct the listing of high-risk plants could ensure transparency and consistency for Member States, third countries and the professional operators concerned. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (5). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(18) In certain cases, it is appropriate to allow the introduction into the Union territory of certain plants, plant products or other objects, from certain third countries, by way of derogation from the prohibition established pursuant to Article 40(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 or the special and equivalent requirements established by the implementing act adopted in accordance with Article 41(2) thereof. The plants, plant products and other objects concerned are currently listed in Annexes VI and VII to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (6). Such cases are those where the Commission has received evidence justifying the adoption of temporary derogations with requirements equivalent to, or more stringent than, those referred to in Article 41 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, or where a third country has made a request for a derogation and has provided written guarantees that the measures that it is applying on its territory are effective in reducing the relevant risk from those plants, plant products or other objects and an assessment has shown that the risk for the Union territory can be reduced to an acceptable level by the application of certain temporary measures set out in points 2 and 3 of Section 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

(19) For purposes of clarity, consistency and transparency, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts providing for such derogations. For reasons of completeness, those acts should also set out the temporary and proportionate measures which are necessary to reduce the phytosanitary risk concerned to an acceptable level. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).

(20) In order to ensure their timely review, the application period of all those implementing acts should be no longer than five years. In exceptional cases, if justified on the basis of an updated assessment, it should be possible for that period to be renewed, and for the derogation concerned to be subject to amended requirements, in order to address any phytosanitary risk.

(21) Moreover, the power to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 with elements concerning the procedure to be followed in order to grant temporary derogations from Article 40(2) and Article 41(2) of that Regulation. This is necessary because experience since the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 has shown that a standardised procedure for granting such temporary derogations is necessary to ensure transparency and consistency for Member States, third countries and the professional operators concerned.

(22) In accordance with Article 42(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, a plant, plant product or other object is to be removed from the list of high-risk plants, plant products and other objects if it is concluded, on the basis of a risk assessment, that their introduction into the Union territory is to be subject to prohibition, special requirements or no requirements at all. However, experience with the application of that Article has shown that in certain cases the introduction of those commodities into the Union territory could be subject to special measures that reduce the phytosanitary risk concerned to an acceptable level, while for some of the relevant pests a full assessment is still pending. For that reason, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to remove plants, plant products or other objects from the list of high-risk plants, plant products or other objects adopted pursuant to Article 42(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, if they present a phytosanitary risk which is not yet fully assessed and no implementing act has yet been adopted for them pursuant to Article 42(4) of that Regulation. In order to reduce any phytosanitary risk to an acceptable level, implementing acts adopted pursuant to those powers should set out temporary measures concerning the introduction of those plants, plant products and other objects into the Union territory, which should be limited to the appropriate and reasonable period of time needed to perform the full assessment. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

(23) In accordance with Article 44(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, the Commission is to set out equivalent requirements, by means of implementing acts, on request of a particular third country, if the third country concerned ensures, through the application under its official control of one or more specified measures, a level of phytosanitary protection which is equivalent to the special requirements in respect of the movement within the Union territory of the plants, plant products and other objects concerned.

(24) Experience with the implementation of that provision has shown that setting out requirements equivalent only to the special requirements in respect of the movement of plants, plant products and other objects within the Union territory is neither adequate nor possible in the event that such requirements for movement do not exist. This is frequently the case where Union rules concern pests which are only present in third countries and not in the Union territory and where only requirements for the introduction of commodities into the Union territory have been adopted.

(25) For that reason, the requested level of phytosanitary protection on the part of the third country concerned should also be equivalent to the applicable special requirements in respect of the introduction into the Union territory of the plants, plant products and other objects concerned from all or certain third countries.

(26) In accordance with Article 71(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, the phytosanitary certificate is to specify under the heading ‘Additional Declaration’ which specific requirement is fulfilled, whenever the respective implementing act, adopted pursuant to Article 28(1) and (2), Article 30(1) and (3), Article 37(2), Article 41(2) and (3) and Article 54(2) and (3) of that Regulation, provides for several options for such requirements. That specification is to include the full wording of the relevant requirement.