Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1545 of 30 July 2025 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as regards certain plants for planting of Cornus alba, Cornus sanguinea, Populus alba, Populus nigra, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Taxus baccata originating in the United Kingdom and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 as regards the phytosanitary measures for the introduction into the Union territory of plants for planting of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea originating in the United Kingdom

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on protective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC (1), and in particular Article 42(4), third subparagraph, thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (2) establishes, on the basis of a preliminary risk assessment, a list of high-risk plants, plant products and other objects.

(2) Following a preliminary assessment, 34 genera and one species of plants for planting originating from third countries are provisionally listed in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as high-risk plants. That list includes the genera Cornus L., Populus L., Sorbus L. and Taxus L.

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 (3) sets out the phytosanitary measures for the introduction into the Union territory of certain plants, plant products and other objects, which have been removed from the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019, but for which phytosanitary risks are not yet fully assessed. This is because one or more pests hosted by those plants are not yet included in the list of Union quarantine pests of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (4), but they may fulfil the conditions to be included in that list following a further complete risk assessment.

(5) On 1 February 2024, the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) adopted a scientific opinion regarding the risk assessment of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea plants originating in the United Kingdom (6). The Authority identified Discula destructiva, Meloidogyne fallax, Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates), Tobacco ringspot virus and Tomato ringspot virus, as pests relevant for those plants.

(6) On 23 May 2024, the Authority adopted a scientific opinion regarding the risk assessment of Sorbus aucuparia plants originating in the United Kingdom (7). It identified Entoleuca mammata and Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates) as pests relevant for those plants.

(8) On 29 January 2025, the Authority adopted a scientific opinion regarding the risk assessment of Taxus baccata plants originating in the United Kingdom (8). It identified Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates) as pest relevant for those plants.

(9) On 26 February 2025, the Authority adopted a scientific opinion regarding the risk assessment of Populus alba, Populus nigra and Populus tremula plants originating in the United Kingdom (9). It identified Bemisia tabaci (European populations) and Entoleuca mammata as pests relevant for those plants.

(10) The Authority evaluated the risk mitigation measures described in the respective dossiers for the identified pests. It concluded that the likelihood that the relevant plants, as well as the other relevant plants, are free from those pests is high, provided the relevant risk mitigation measures are applied.

(11) On the basis of those opinions, the phytosanitary risk arising from the introduction into the Union territory of the relevant plants, as well as the other relevant plants, is considered to be reduced to an acceptable level, provided that appropriate measures are applied to address the risk of pests related to those plants.

(12) As the phytosanitary risk from the introduction into the Union territory of large 15-year-old plants for planting in growing media of Populus alba, Populus nigra, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Taxus baccata which is the commodity possibly posing the highest phytosanitary risk is considered to be reduced to an acceptable level, it is therefore justified to conclude that the phytosanitary risk from the introduction into the Union of all plants for planting of Populus alba, Populus nigra, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Taxus baccata, irrespective of their size, age, bare rooted or in growing medium, originating in the United Kingdom, is reduced to an acceptable level.

(13) Consequently, up to two-year-old plants for planting of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea with a maximum diameter of 10 mm; up to five-year-old plants for planting of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea in growing medium, with a maximum diameter of 40 mm; up to seven-year-old bare-rooted plants for planting of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea with a maximum diameter of 40 mm; and plants for planting of Populus alba, Populus nigra, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Taxus baccata, originating in the United Kingdom, should no longer be considered high-risk plants.

(14) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(15) The measures described by the United Kingdom in the technical dossiers are considered sufficient to reduce the risk arising from the introduction into the Union territory of the relevant plants and the other relevant plants, to an acceptable level. Those measures should therefore be adopted as phytosanitary import requirements to ensure the phytosanitary protection of the Union territory from the risk arising from the introduction of those plants into it.

(16) Meloidogyne fallax and Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates) are listed as Union quarantine pests in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072. Bemisia tabaci (European populations) and Entoleuca mammata are listed as protected zone quarantine pests in Annex III to that Regulation. Tobacco ringspot virus and Tomato ringspot virus are now listed as Union regulated non-quarantine pests in Annex IV to that Regulation.

(17) Discula destructiva is not yet included in the list of Union quarantine pests of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072. A complete pest risk assessment for the pest needs to become available to determine whether it fulfils the conditions to be listed in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, and whether the relevant plants, originating in the United Kingdom, are to be listed in Annex VII to that Regulation, together with the respective specific requirements Discula destructiva and the corresponding requirements should therefore be included in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213.

(18) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 should therefore be amended accordingly.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 2

The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 3

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

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

Done at Brussels, 30 July 2025.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 317, 23.11.2016, p. 4, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/2031/oj.

(2) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 of 18 December 2018 establishing a provisional list of high risk plants, plant products or other objects, within the meaning of Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and a list of plants for which phytosanitary certificates are not required for introduction into the Union, within the meaning of Article 73 of that Regulation (OJ L 323, 19.12.2018, p. 10, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2018/2019/oj).

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 of 21 August 2020 concerning the phytosanitary measures for the introduction into the Union of certain plants, plant products and other objects which have been removed from the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (OJ L 275, 24.8.2020, p. 5, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2020/1213/oj).

(4) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards protective measures against pests of plants, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 690/2008 and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (OJ L 319, 10.12.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2019/2072/oj).

(5) In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 5(4) of the Windsor Framework (See Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 102, 17.4.2023, p. 87) in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Framework, for the purposes of this Regulation, references to the United Kingdom do not include Northern Ireland.

(6) EFSA Panel on Plant Health, 2024. Commodity risk assessment of Cornus alba and Cornus sanguinea plants from the UK. EFSA Journal, 22(3), e8657. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8657.

(7) EFSA Panel on Plant Health, 2024. Commodity risk assessment of Sorbus aucuparia plants from the UK. EFSA Journal, 22(6), e8837. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8837.

(8) EFSA Panel on Plant Health, 2025. Commodity risk assessment of Taxus baccata plants from the UK. EFSA Journal, 23(2), e9277. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9277.

(9) EFSA Panel on Plant Health, 2025. Commodity risk assessment of Populus alba, Populus nigra and Populus tremula plants from the UK. EFSA Journal, 23(3), e9305. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9305.