Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2247 of 10 November 2025 on measures to prevent the establishment and spread within the Union territory of Candidatus Liberibacter africanus, Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus

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), points (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i), thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (2) lays down, in Part A of Annex II, the list of Union quarantine pests not known to occur in the Union territory, and, in Part B of that Annex, the list of Union quarantine pests known to occur in the Union territory.

(2) Candidatus Liberibacter africanus, Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (‘the specified pests’) are listed in Part A of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072. These pests have a significant negative impact on citrus plant species in the countries where they are present.

(3) The specified pests can be spread through Diaphorina citri Kuwayama and Trioza erytreae Del Guercio (‘the specified vectors’), both of which are listed respectively in Part A and in Part B of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072.

(4) The specified pests are also listed as priority pests in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 (3), as they are the three species of Candidatus Liberibacter which are the causal agents of Huanglongbing disease of citrus/citrus greening.

(5) In order to ensure early detection and eradication of the specified pests in the Union territory, Member States should carry out annual surveys with a sufficiently high number of visual examinations, sampling and testing, using methods in line with the latest scientific and technical information.

(6) 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. Based on the experience from previous outbreaks, it is necessary to adopt specific rules implementing Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, in order to ensure a comprehensive contingency plan in case of any findings of the specified pests in the Union territory.

(7) In case of an outbreak of the specified pests and in order to eradicate them and prevent their spread in the Union territory, Member States should establish demarcated areas, consisting of an infected zone and a buffer zone, and apply eradication measures therein. The size of those demarcated areas should be determined on the basis of the spread capacity of the specified vectors, when their presence has been officially confirmed.

(8) However, in cases of isolated findings of the specified pests, the establishment of a demarcated area should not be required, because in such a case the phytosanitary risk can quickly be reduced to an acceptable level by applying specific measures. For the same reason, it should be specified that that derogation may be applied when there is evidence that the detected specified pests have not spread further and the specified vectors are not known to be present in an area with a width of at least 3 km surrounding the isolated finding, or if there is a finding in a production site with physical isolation against the specified vectors in areas where the specified vectors cannot be established outdoors.

(9) Furthermore, certain specified plants are grown in production sites with physical isolation against the specified vectors. Where an outbreak of the specified pests occurs outside of such production sites, there is low probability that the outbreak affects the specified plants grown in that site. The competent authorities should thus be exempted from the obligation to apply eradication measures concerning those specified plants, even if they are located within the demarcated area.

(10) In order to ensure the immediate application of eradication measures and to prevent further spread of the specified pests to the rest of the Union territory, the surveys in the demarcated areas should be carried out annually at the most appropriate time of the year and with sufficient intensity.

(11) The provisions of this Regulation concerning the conduct of statistically sound and risk-based surveys outside of demarcated areas should apply from 1 January 2029, in order to allow sufficient time for the competent authorities to plan, prepare the design of, gather the necessary statistical data for, and allocate sufficient resources for the carrying out of those surveys.

(12) The provisions of this Regulation concerning the design and sampling scheme of statistically sound and risk-based surveys in demarcated areas should apply from 1 January 2028, in order to allow sufficient time for the competent authorities to plan and prepare that design and allocate sufficient resources for the carrying out of such surveys. That transitional period should be shorter than the one for the surveys outside of the demarcated areas, because the presence of the pests in the demarcated area allows a quicker gathering of the necessary statistical data.

(13) Special requirements should be set out as regards the movement of the specified plants and the fruits of those specified plants out of the demarcated areas, as well as from the infected zones to the buffer zones in case of an outbreak in the Union territory, to ensure that the competent authorities are able to immediately address the risk of spread of the specified pests.

(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

This Regulation sets out measures to prevent the establishment and spread within the Union territory of Candidatus Liberibacter africanus, Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, and measures for their eradication when found present in that territory.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘specified pests’ means Candidatus Liberibacter africanus, Candidatus Liberibacter americanus or Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus;

(2) ‘specified plants’ means plants of Citrus L., Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf., Aegle Corrêa, Aeglopsis Swingle, Afraegle Engl., Atalantia Corrêa, Balsamocitrus Stapf, Burkillanthus Swingle, Calodendrum Thunb., Choisya Kunth, Clausena Burm. f., Limonia L., Microcitrus Swingle, Murraya J. Koenig ex L., Pamburus Swingle, Severinia Ten., Swinglea Merr., Triphasia Lour., or Vepris Comm., or their hybrids, other than fruits without peduncles and leaves;

(3) ‘specified vectors’ means Diaphorina citri Kuwayama or Trioza erytreae Del Guercio;

(4) ‘pest survey card’ means the publication ‘Pest survey card on Huanglongbing and its vectors’ (4) of the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’);

(5) ‘General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys’ means the publication ‘General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys of plant pests’ (5) of the Authority.

Article 3

Surveys in the Union territory

(a) on the basis of the level of the phytosanitary risk;

(b) in the risk areas, including at least nurseries, garden centres and public sites, production sites with or without physical isolation against the specified vectors, and other areas where the presence of the specified pests is likely to occur;

(c) at appropriate times of the year, with regards to the possibility to detect the specified pests and the specified vectors, taking into account the biology of the specified pests, the presence and biology of the specified vectors and the presence of the specified plants.

(a) visual examinations of the specified plants for the detection of the specified pests, of symptoms of the specified pests, or of signs of the specified vectors;

(b) placing of yellow sticky traps and use of stem-tap methods, or sweep nets for the detection of the specified vectors;

(c) sampling and molecular testing of the specified plants, in accordance with the relevant international standards;

(d) if present, sampling of the specified vectors and molecular testing for the presence of the specified pests in accordance with the relevant international standards.

Article 4

Contingency plans

Article 5

Establishment of demarcated areas

(a) an infected zone, with a radius of at least 50 m around the specified plants found infected by the specified pests; and

(b) a buffer zone, with a width of at least 3 km beyond the boundary of the infected zone.

Where the risk area is a garden centre or a nursery, the delimitation of the demarcated area as regards the infected zone shall include the entire garden centre or nursery. This shall apply in addition to the radius of at least 50 m around the specified plants found infected by the specified pests as set out in the first subparagraph, point (a).

Article 6

Derogations from the obligation to establish demarcated areas

(a) there is evidence that the presence of the specified pests is an isolated finding, not expected to lead to establishment;

(b) there is evidence that the specified pests have not spread further; and

(c) the specified vectors are known not to be present in an area with a width of at least 3 km surrounding the finding or the finding has occurred in a production site with physical isolation and there is evidence that the specified vectors cannot establish outdoors.

(a) immediately remove and destroy the infected plants, the symptomatic specified plants, and their adjacent specified plants;

(b) immediately intensify the visual examination for the presence of symptoms of the specified pests, and molecular testing on the specified plants, in accordance with the relevant international standards;

(c) take measures in an area of at least 500 m surrounding the infected plant to ensure the prompt eradication of the specified pests and to exclude the possibility of their spread;

(d) during at least 3 years, regularly and intensively survey a width of at least 500 m around the site where the specified pests were found, unless, following the removal of the infected plants, the symptomatic specified plants, and their adjacent specified plants referred to in point (a), no other specified plants are present in the area of at least 500 m around the site where the specified pests were found;

(e) as far as possible trace back the origin of the infection and the pathway associated with the infection;

(f) raise public awareness of the threat of the specified pests; and

(g) take any other measure, which may help with the eradication of the specified pests.

Article 7

Surveys in demarcated areas

Article 8

Lifting of demarcation

The demarcation may be lifted when, on the basis of the surveys referred to in Article 7, the specified pests have not been detected in the demarcated area for at least three consecutive years.

Article 9

Eradication measures

(a) apply effective phytosanitary treatments, to eradicate the specified vectors prior to the removal of the specified plants;

(b) without delay, remove and destroy all infected plants, and their adjacent specified plants, as well as other symptomatic specified plants;

(c) sample and test the specified plants which have not been removed pursuant to point (b) by applying a sampling scheme able to identify with at least 99 % confidence a level of presence of infected plants of 1 %;

(d) without delay, remove and destroy all specified plants in the infected zone, if testing pursuant to point (c) results in an additional finding within that infected zone.

Article 10

Measures preventing the spread of the specified pests in case of an outbreak of the specified pests in the Union territory

(a) the specified plants have been grown throughout their life in a production site with physical isolation against the specified vectors, registered by the competent authorities, and inspected at an appropriate frequency by those authorities;