LegalizeCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1952 of 29 September 2025 on measures to prevent the establishment and the spread within the Union territory of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) and for the eradication and containment of that pest within certain demarcated areas and repealing Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893
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 28(1) and (2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893 (2) establishes measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (‘the specified pest’).
(2) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (3) lays down, in Part B of its Annex II, the list of Union quarantine pests known to occur in the Union territory.
(3) The specified pest is included in the list contained in Part B of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, as it is known to occur in certain parts of the Union territory. It is a polyphagous pest reported to have an impact on many different plant species in the Union territory.
(4) The specified pest is also listed in the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 (4) as a priority pest.
(5) Plants which are hosts of the specified pest (‘host plants’) should be subjected to surveys in order to ensure the earliest possible detection of the specified pest.
(6) Several host plants could be used to attract the specified pest and thus delimit its presence in case of finding. In this respect, they should be referred to as ‘sentinel plants’.
(7) Host plants, which in the past have been found to be infested by the specified pest in the Union territory, are most likely to contribute to its spread. They should be referred to as ‘specified plants’. Moreover, they should be subjected to certain measures for eradication or containment, as applicable, in the demarcated areas.
(8) In order to ensure the early detection and eradication of the specified pest in the Union territory, where the specified pest is not known to occur, Member States should carry out annual surveys. Such surveys should cover all the host plants, in order to be most effective. Those surveys should be based on the scientific advice of the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) contained in the General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests (5).
(9) Moreover, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, each Member State is to draw up and keep up to date a contingency plan for each priority pest which is able to enter and become established in its territory. Based on the experience from previous outbreaks, it is necessary to adopt specific rules implementing Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 for drawing up a comprehensive contingency plan in case of findings of the specified pest in the Union.
(10) To prevent the spread of the specified pest in the Union territory and bearing in mind its spread capacity, the width of a buffer zone should be at least 2 km beyond the boundaries of the infested zone.
(11) In order to ensure the immediate application of eradication measures and to prevent the further spread of the specified pest to the rest of the Union territory, it is necessary to set out rules concerning the annual surveys of the demarcated areas. Those rules should be based on the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests in order to adapt to the most updated scientific and technical evidence.
(12) In order to ensure a proportionate response to the respective phytosanitary risk from the specified pest, it is necessary to set out rules for the reduction of the size of the demarcated areas, derogations from their establishment and their abolition. Specific conditions should be established for the application of those rules, to ensure that the specified pest does not spread to the rest of the Union territory.
(13) In cases of isolated findings of the specified pest in the Union territory, the establishment of a demarcated area should not be required if the specified pest can be eliminated from the respective plants, and if there is evidence that those plants were infested before their introduction into the area, or that the concrete finding is not expected to lead to establishment of the specified pest. This is the most proportionate approach, as long as the surveys carried out in the area concerned confirm the absence of the specified pest. However, in very specific cases, where the emergence and spread of the specified pest in the Union territory can unequivocally be excluded and the respective risk is considered negligeable, such surveillance is not justified and thus should not be required.
(14) In certain areas of the Union territory, the eradication of the specified pest is no longer possible. The Member States concerned should therefore be allowed to apply measures for the containment of that pest within those areas, instead of its eradication.
(15) The measures in the demarcated areas under containment should be less stringent than the measures for eradication but they should ensure a diligent survey approach and taking precautionary actions, mainly in the respective buffer zones, in order to prevent the spread of the specified pest to the rest of the Union territory.
(16) Bearing in mind that the measures concerning the demarcated areas for containment are less stringent, the width of the buffer zone should be increased to at least 4 km to ensure that the specified pest does not spread outside those demarcated areas.
(17) Member States should notify to the Commission and to the other Member States every demarcated area for containment that they intend to designate or modify, in order for the Commission to obtain an overview of the spread of the specified pest in the Union territory and to be able to include the respective area in a list of demarcated areas for containment in Annex I to this Regulation.
(18) In order to ensure the immediate removal of the infested plants and to prevent the further spread of the specified pest to the rest of the Union territory, the surveys of the buffer zones should be carried out annually at the most appropriate time of the year and with sufficient intensity, taking into account the possibility for the competent authorities to further monitor the host plants in the infested zones for containment.
(19) In order to prevent the possible spread of the specified pest outside demarcated areas, the intensity of the annual surveys around the places of production in the demarcated areas should be more intensive than in the rest of these areas.
(20) The measures contained in Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893 concerning the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of the specified plants, are included in Annexes VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, while its measures concerning surveys, eradication and containment of the specified pest are updated and replaced by the measures of this Regulation.
(21) Therefore, Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893 should be repealed and replaced by this Regulation.
(22) The provisions of this Regulation concerning surveys on the basis of the Authority’s Pest Survey Card on Anoplophora glabripennis (6) (‘pest survey card’) and the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys should apply from 1 January 2027, in order to allow sufficient time for the competent authorities to plan, prepare the design and allocate sufficient resources for such surveys.
(23) 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:
CHAPTER I
SUBJECT MATTER AND DEFINITIONS
Article 1
Subject matter
This Regulation sets out measures to prevent the establishment and spread within the Union territory of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), measures for its eradication, where it is found present in that territory, and measures for its containment, when eradication is no longer possible.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1) ‘specified pest’ means Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky);
(2) ‘specified plants’ means plants for planting, that have a stem or root collar diameter of 1 cm or more at their thickest point, of Acer spp., Aesculus spp., Betula spp., Fraxinus spp., Populus spp., Salix spp. and Ulmus spp.;
(3) ‘host plants’ means plants for planting, that have a stem or root collar diameter of 1 cm or more at their thickest point, of Acer spp., Aesculus spp., Albizia spp., Alnus spp., Betula spp., Carpinus spp., Celtis spp., Cercidiphyllum spp., Corylus spp., Elaeagnus spp., Fagus spp., Fraxinus spp., Gleditsia spp., Hibiscus spp., Koelreuteria spp., Malus spp., Melia spp., Morus spp., Platanus spp., Populus spp., Prunus spp., Pyrus spp., Ostrya spp., Quercus rubra, Robinia spp., Salix spp., Sophora spp., Sorbus spp., Tilia spp. and Ulmus spp.;
(4) ‘specified wood and wood packaging material’ means wood and wood packaging material of Acer spp., Aesculus spp., Betula spp., Fraxinus spp., Populus spp., Salix spp. and Ulmus spp.;
(5) ‘sentinel plants’ means specified plants specifically planted to support the early detection of the specified pest and used for surveys;
(6) ‘demarcated area for containment’ means an area, where the specified pest cannot be eradicated, listed in Annex I.
CHAPTER II
ANNUAL SURVEYS FOR THE SPECIFIED PEST OUTSIDE OF DEMARCATED AREAS IN THE UNION TERRITORY AND CONTINGENCY PLANS
Article 3
Surveys of the Union territory outside of demarcated areas
Competent authorities shall conduct risk-based annual surveys of the host plants in the areas of their territories, where the specified pest is not known to occur, for the presence of that pest.
The design and sampling scheme of those surveys shall allow to detect, within the Member State concerned, with a sufficient level of confidence, a low level of presence of infested plants.
They shall be based on the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests.
The surveys shall be carried out:
(a) by using techniques capable of detecting infestation at crown height;
(b) in open air, natural and urban areas, stops along the roads and railways, as well as in nurseries, garden centres, trading centres, hardwood sawmills, and other relevant sites, where the competent authorities may consider more likely to detect the specified pest;
(c) taking into account the presence and biology of host plants, and the scientific and technical information referred to in the pest survey card.
The surveys shall consist of:
(a) visual examination of host plants; and
(b) where appropriate, collection of samples and testing of plants for planting, wood or wood packaging material.
In order to complement the visual examinations of the surveys, specifically trained sniffer dogs or trapping may be used, where appropriate.
Article 4
Contingency plans
Each Member State shall provide for the following in its contingency plan required under Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031:
(a) the eradication of the specified pest, as set out in Article 9;
(b) the necessary resources to be made available, and the procedures for making those resources available, in case of a confirmed or suspected presence of the specified pest;
(c) the provisions for the application of the special requirements regarding the introduction of host plants into, and their movement within, the Union territory, as set out in Annexes VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072;
(d) the procedures for identifying the owners of private properties, where measures are to be applied in case of detection of the specified pest.
Member States shall update annually their contingency plans, as appropriate.
CHAPTER III
DEMARCATED AREAS
Article 5
Establishment of demarcated areas
Where the presence of the specified pest is officially confirmed, the Member State concerned shall, without delay, establish a demarcated area for the purpose of eradication of the specified pest.
Following an official confirmation of the presence of the specified pest and the establishment of the demarcated area referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities shall, without delay, determine the level of infestation through a delimiting survey.
When, on the basis of the results of the survey referred to in Article 8, during at least four consecutive years it is concluded that the level of infestation by the specified pest is such that makes its eradication impossible, the competent authorities shall immediately notify to the Commission the details of the new demarcated area for containment that they intend to designate or modify, in order for such area to be included in the list of demarcated areas for containment in Annex I.
The demarcated area shall consist of the following:
(a) a zone including all infested plants and all specified plants which are liable to become infested, within at least 100 m radius around infested plants (‘infested zone’);
The delimitation of the demarcated area shall take into account the scientific principles, the biology of the specified pest, the level of infestation, the particular distribution of the host plants in the area concerned, and the evidence of establishment of the specified pest.
It shall be based on a delimiting survey with a design and sampling scheme allowing to detect with a 95 % level of confidence, a 1 % of presence of infested plants. The survey shall be based on the Authority’s Guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys.
For the purposes of taking the eradication measures referred to in Article 9, the width of the buffer zone may be reduced to no less than 1 km where the competent authority concludes that eradication of the specified pest is possible, taking into account the circumstances of the outbreak, such as its size and location, the level of infestation or the number and distribution of host plants.
In the case of a demarcated area for containment, the width of the buffer zone may be reduced to not less than 2 km, if the competent authority considers that distance to be appropriate for the containment of the specified pest, taking into account the circumstances of the outbreak, such as its size and location, the level of infestation or the number and distribution of host plants.
Within the demarcated areas, the competent authorities shall ensure that the general public and professional operators are aware of the delimitation of the demarcated areas.
Article 6
Derogation from the establishment of demarcated areas
By way of derogation from Article 5, the competent authorities may choose not to establish a demarcated area, or establish it provisionally, if there is evidence that:
(a) the specified pest has been introduced into the area with the plants, wood or wood packaging material on which it was found, and those plants, wood or wood packaging material were infested before their introduction into the area concerned and no multiplication of the specified pest has occurred or it is an isolated finding, not expected to lead to establishment; and
(b) there is no establishment of the specified pest, and the spread or successful breeding of the specified pest is not possible due to its biology, based on the results of a specific investigation and eradication measures taken.
Where the competent authority uses the derogation provided for in paragraph 1, it shall:
(a) take immediate measures to ensure the prompt eradication of the specified pest and to exclude the possibility of its spread;
(b) during at least one life cycle of the specified pest plus one additional year, and not less than four consecutive years, survey a width of at least 1 km around the infested plants or the place where the specified pest was found and regularly and intensively, in accordance with Article 3, during at least the first flying period of the specified pest;
(c) trace back the origin of the infestation, examining the specified plants, specified wood or wood packaging material around the finding for any sign of infestation, including by targeted destructive sampling, to discard the presence of larvae;
(d) raise public awareness of the threat of the specified pest; and
(e) take any other measure, which may help eradicate the specified pest, taking account of ISPM No 9 (7) and applying an integrated approach in accordance with the principles set out in ISPM No 14 (8).
The survey referred to in point 2(b) shall not be required in cases where the presence or emergence of adults of the specified pest in the host plant, specified wood or specified wood packaging material can unequivocally be excluded and the reasons for that conclusion have been communicated to the Commission in writing.
Article 7
Abolition of the demarcated area
A demarcated area may be abolished when, based on the surveys referred to in Article 8, the specified pest is not detected in the demarcated area for at least four consecutive years.
The demarcation may also be lifted in cases where the conditions set out in Article 6(1) are fulfilled.
Article 8
Annual surveys in demarcated areas
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