Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2461 of 29 September 2025 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 as regards measures to prevent the introduction into, establishment and spread within the Union territory of Anoplophora chinensis (Forster)

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 [^ntr1-L_202502461EN.000101-E0001], and in particular Article 28(1) and (2), and Article 41(2) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 [^ntr2-L_202502461EN.000101-E0002] establishes measures to prevent the introduction into, establishment and spread within the Union territory of Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) (‘the specified pest’).

• (2) Since 2022, the specified pest became established in certain areas of Italy, where its eradication is no longer possible. For this reason, those areas should be listed as demarcated areas for containment of the specified pest, where specific measures should be applied for that purpose.

• (3) For legal certainty, it is appropriate to remove from Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 all requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within the Union, of the plants that can host the specified pest, as those requirements have been included in Annexes VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 [^ntr3-L_202502461EN.000101-E0003], pursuant to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1953 [^ntr4-L_202502461EN.000101-E0004].

• (4) As regards the Aesculus genus, the list of specified plants, as defined in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095, includes only the species of Aesculus hippocastanum as a host plant on which eradication and containment measures are to be taken. However, after the finding of the specified pest on other Aesculus species in the Union, that list should be extended to the whole genus Aesculus.

• (5) Article 6(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 allows for a derogation from the establishment of demarcated areas under certain conditions. Where the competent authority uses that derogation, it is to put in place a number of measures, including intensive surveillance within a radius of at least 1 km around the finding. However, in very specific cases, where the emergence and presence of the specified pest can unequivocally be excluded following the assessment by the competent authority and the respective risk is considered negligible, such surveillance is not justified and thus should not be required.

• (6) In accordance with Article 8(1), fourth subparagraph, and Article 9(1), fifth subparagraph, of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095, the surveys in the buffer zone are to be based on the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests, while the survey design and sampling scheme used therein are to be able to identify with at least 95 % of confidence, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %.

• (7) Since 2022, experience with the application of that Implementing Regulation has shown the need to strengthen the level of confidence of the survey design and sampling scheme in the proximity of the places of production located in demarcated areas. It should therefore be provided for that, within the width of at least 1 km around the places of production of the host plants, the surveys design and sampling schemes should be able to identify with at least 99 % confidence level, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %. This is necessary in order to guarantee the early detection of the specified pest and to prevent potential movement of infested material within the Union territory.

• (8) 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

Amendment of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 is amended as follows:

• (1) in Article 2, point (2) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(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., Alnus spp., Betula spp., Carpinus spp., Citrus spp., Cornus spp., Corylus spp., Cotoneaster spp., Crataegus spp., Fagus spp., Lagerstroemia spp., Malus spp., Melia spp., Ostrya spp., Photinia spp., Platanus spp., Populus spp., Prunus laurocerasus, Pyrus spp., Rosa spp., Salix spp., Ulmus spp. and Vaccinium corymbosum;’;

• (2) in Article 2, point (4) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(4) “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., Alnus spp., Betula spp., Carpinus spp., Chaenomeles spp., Citrus spp., Cornus spp., Corylus spp., Cotoneaster spp., Crataegus spp., Cryptomeria spp., Fagus spp., Ficus spp., Hibiscus spp., Lagerstroemia spp., Malus spp., Melia spp., Morus spp., Ostrya spp., Parrotia spp., Photinia spp., Platanus spp., Populus spp., Prunus laurocerasus, Pyrus spp., Rosa spp., Salix spp., Ulmus spp. and Vaccinium corymbosum;’;

• (3) in Article 2, the following point is added:

• ‘(6) “demarcated area for containment” means an area, where the specified pest cannot be eradicated, listed in Annex II.’;

• (4) in Article 6(2), point (b) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(b) during at least one life cycle of the specified pest plus one additional year, and at least four consecutive years, survey a width of at least 1 km around the infested plants or the place where the specified pest was found, regularly and intensively at least during the first year and in accordance with Article 3; however that surveillance may not take place in the cases where the presence or emergence of adults of the specified pest in the plant, wood or wood packaging material can unequivocally be excluded and where the reasons for this conclusion have been communicated to the Commission in writing;’;

• (5) in Article 8(1), the fourth subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The surveys in the buffer zone shall be based on the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests, and the survey design and sampling scheme used in the buffer zone shall be able to identify with at least 95% of confidence, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %. However, within the width of at least 1 km around the places of production of the host plants, the survey design and sampling scheme used shall be able to identify with at least 99 % confidence level, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %.’;

• (6) in Article 9(1), the fifth subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The surveys in the buffer zone shall be based on the Authority’s General guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys for plant pests, and the survey design and sampling scheme used in the buffer zone shall be able to identify with at least 95 % of confidence, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %. However, within the width of at least 1 km around the places of production of the host plants, they shall be able to identify with at least 99 % confidence level, a level of presence of infested plants of 1 %.’;

• (7) Articles 10, 11 and 12 are deleted;

• (8) Annex II is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth 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, 29 September 2025.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

[^ntr1-L_202502461EN.000101-E0001]: OJ L 317, 23.11.2016, p. 4; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/2031/oj.

[^ntr2-L_202502461EN.000101-E0002]: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2095 of 28 October 2022 establishing measures to prevent the introduction into, establishment and spread within the Union territory of Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) and repealing Decision 2012/138/EU (OJ L 281, 31.10.2022, p. 53; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2022/2095/oj).

[^ntr3-L_202502461EN.000101-E0003]: 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).

[^ntr4-L_202502461EN.000101-E0004]: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1953 of 29 September 2025 amending Annexes VII, VIII, XI and XIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as regards measures against the entry into, and the presence in the Union territory of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) and Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) (OJ L, 2025/1953, 3.12.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/1953/oj).

ANNEX

‘ANNEX II

Demarcated areas for containment

Italy

’

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/2461/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)