The European Parliament and the EU Council have reached a provisional agreement to simplify and strengthen the current plant health law.
The EU regulation, which originally came into force in December 2019, seeks to prevent the entry and spread of new plant pests, referred to as ‘Union quarantine pests’, while also fighting against pest already present in the EU (‘regulated non-quarantine pests’).
In October, the European Commission tabled a “targeted revision” of the rules aiming to improve and streamline the application and enforcement.
The provisional agreement will now have to be endorsed by the full council and the parliament, before it can be formally adopted by both institutions.
Plant health law
The EU rules on plant health regulate the production, inspection, sampling, testing, import into the EU from third countries, movement and certification of plant material.
In order to be imported into the EU, all plants, including living parts of plants, need a phytosanitary certificate which confirms that they comply with EU rules on plant health.
The text provisionally agreed by the EU Parliament and European Council reflects the overall goals of the commission’s proposal.
The revised regulation will aim to:
- Improve procedures for identifying and listing high-risk plants, and for submitting and examining requests for temporary derogations from import obligations coming from non-EU countries;
- Clarify measures for pests that qualify as quarantine pests, but which have not yet been fully assessed;
- Rationalise and simplify reporting obligations, due to increased digitalisation. This will help cut red tape for the competent authorities, as well as for operators
The two institutions also added the creation of an EU “plant health emergency team” to the commission’s proposal.
The team would be made up of experts appointed by the EU Commission, based on proposals from member states.
These experts would have different specialities in the field of plant health and would be able to assist in the event of new outbreaks of pests in the EU.
They could also provide third countries bordering the EU with urgent assistance and expertise in the case of outbreaks that could affect the bloc.
Administrative burden
The co-legislators agreed to increase the duration of multiannual survey programmes, which would now have to be established for a period of five to ten years, instead of the current period of five to seven years.
They said that this will help reduce the administrative burden for the competent authorities.
However, to ensure the timely detection of pests, these programmes are to be reviewed and updated depending on the phytosanitary situation.
According to the provisionally agreed text, the EU Commission can decide which plants, plant products or other objects can travel without a plant passport physically attached to them due to their size or shape.
These plants or plant products would instead have the plant passport associated with them in a way other than that of a physical attachment.
EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides welcomed the provisional agreement struck by the parliament and the council.
“Plant diseases can have a huge impact on our harvests, causing terrible losses for farmers and disrupting our food chain. Recent experiences in fighting the Xylella outbreaks are telling.
“[This] agreement is another crucial step towards bolstering our defenses against new plant pests entering and spreading within the EU.
“By doing so, we’re ensuring better protection of our forests and landscapes as well as of our farmers’ livelihoods, and the stability of our food supply,” she said.