What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Removed:Recital 1 b (new): (1b) Adequate public funding should be ensured in order to successfully manage outbreaks of harmful pests and diseases for crop plants, as well as to stimulate research and innovation in this area. It is essential to tackle the links between plant, animal, ecosystems and public health from a One Health perspective. Thus, European plant health partnerships should be encouraged following the example of the European partnership on animal health and welfare funded through the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.

Added:(As an agreement was reached between Parliament and Council, Parliament's position corresponds to the final legislative act, Regulation (EU) 2024/3115.)

Removed:Recital 5: (5) As experience has shown during the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, it is more effective, for the purpose of co-ordination of phytosanitary policy at Union level, to notify the demarcated areas immediately after their establishment. Immediate notification of demarcated areas by a Member State to the other Member States, the Commission and the professional operators helps to become aware about the presence and spread of the pest concerned and to decide on next measures to be taken. Therefore, Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 should establish an obligation for Member States to notify the Commission and the other Member States of the demarcated areas immediately after their establishment, together with the pests concerned and the respective measures taken. Such obligation should not add any new administrative or financial burden, because the immediate notification of demarcated areas is an existing obligation set out in Annex I, point 7.1, to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/171510 and is currently practised by all Member States. Setting out that obligation in Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 will further enhance clarity about the applicable rules concerning demarcated areas, while the respective obligation in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 should be removed to avoid overlaps of the respective provisions.

Removed:Recital 6 a (new): (6a) For reasons of consistency with the amendment of Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, the notifications referred to in Article 19(2) and the abolition of the demarcated areas referred to in Article 19(4) should also be made through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of that Regulation.

Removed:Recital 6 b (new): (6b) As experience has shown, on certain occasions the Member States need the assistance of experts to allow for swift action against new outbreaks of particular pests in their territories. Therefore a Union Plant Health Emergency Team (‘the Team’) should be created, with the purpose of providing Member States, upon their request, with urgent assistance on the measures to be taken pursuant to Articles 10 to 19, 27 and 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 concerning Union quarantine pests, and the measures to be taken pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation. In order to protect the Union territory from possible outbreaks in third countries bordering the Union territory or presenting an imminent phytosanitary risk for that territory, the Team should also be available to provide third countries with urgent assistance, where necessary, concerning outbreaks in their territories of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation.

Removed:Recital 6 c (new): (6c) In order to ensure the appropriate functioning of the Team, rules should be established concerning its appointment, composition and financing by the Commission. For reasons of better co-ordination and efficiency, the members of the Team should be appointed by the Commission in consultation with the Member States or third countries concerned, from experts proposed by the Member States, and those experts should possess different specialities related to plant health.

Removed:Recital 7: (7) In accordance with Article 22(3), Article 24(2) and Article 34(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, Member States are to report to the Commission and the other Member States, by 30 April of each year, the results of the surveys, which were carried out in the preceding calendar year, concerning the presence of certain pests within the Union territory. Those are Union quarantine pests, pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Articles 29 and 30 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, priority pests and protected zone quarantine pests respectively. Moreover, and in accordance with Article 23(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, Member States are, on request, to notify their multiannual survey programmes upon their establishment to the Commission and the other Member States. In order to enhance the rationalisation and digitalisation of the reporting obligations, the Articles concerned should be amended by adding the provisions that those notifications are to be submitted through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103 of that Regulation.

Removed:Recital 8: (8) In accordance with Article 23(1), third subparagraph, the multiannual survey programmes are to be established for a period of five to seven years. In order to cope with challenges of implementing the multiannual survey programme and to reduce administrative burden for the competent authorities, that period should be extended to 10 years, while being subject to review and update.

Removed:Recital 10: (10) During the implementation of that provision, certain Member States expressed their doubts concerning the precise scope of the term ‘measures’, and in particular whether it concerns actions taken in the context of imports or internal movement of goods, in order to prevent the entry and spread of the respective pest in the Union territory. Therefore, and for reasons of legal clarity and completeness, Article 30(1) should be amended to specifically indicate that those measures may include the prohibition of the respective pest´s introduction into, movement within, or holding, multiplication or release in the Union territory, and requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within, the Union of plants, plant products and other objects, in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/829.

Removed:Recital 12: (12) However, no requirement to notify non-compliance with the respective rules exists in Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which concerns measures to prevent the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests (‘RNQPs’) on plants for planting above the specified thresholds when introduced into or moved within the Union territory.

Removed:Recital 13: (13) Consequently, Article 104 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which concerns notifications in the case of presence of pests, should also include a reference to Article 37(10) of that Regulation.

Removed:Recital 15: (15) For purposes of clarity, consistency and transparency, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts providing for such derogations. For reasons of completeness, those acts should also set out the temporary and proportional measures [which are necessary to reduce the respective phytosanitary risk to an acceptable level and which allow the appropriate time for the full assessment of all pest risks, which are not yet fully assessed in relation to the particular plants, plant products or other objects. This will allow, once the respective assessment is completed, in accordance with the principles of Section 2 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, those plants, plant products or other objects to be kept in or removed from the list of commodities in accordance with Article 40(3) or Article 41(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

Removed:Recital 19: (19) The Commission should be empowered to adopt a delegated act, supplementing this Regulation by setting out procedures to be complied with for the listing of high risk plants, plant products and other objects. That procedure should include all of the following elements: the preparation, content and submission of the respective dossiers by the third countries concerned; the actions to be taken following the reception of those dossiers; the procedures on the performance of the respective risk assessment; the handling of dossiers concerning confidentiality and data protection. This is necessary because, experience has shown that a specified procedure in respect of listing high risk plants could guarantee transparency and consistency to Member States, third countries and the professional operators concerned, and, at the same time, creates a coherent and efficient system that not only responds to phytosanitary threats, but also facilitates international collaboration and promotes an ethical and transparent conduct in global risk management.

Removed:Recital 25 a (new): (25a) Article 81(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 provides that no plant passport is to be required for the movement of plants, plant products or other objects supplied directly to a final user, including home gardeners. However that exception is not to apply to final users receiving those plants, plant products or other objects by means of sales through distance contracts.

Removed:Recital 25 b (new): (25b) As experience since the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 has shown, in certain cases it is appropriate that certain plants, plant products or other objects should not be accompanied by a plant passport, even if they are distributed through distance sales. Therefore the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts allowing it to provide that Article 81(1), point (a), is not to apply, under certain conditions, to particular plants, plants products or other objects distributed by means of sales through distance contracts.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new), Article 19 – paragraph 7 a (new): (1a) in Article 19, the following paragraph is added: / ‘7a. The notifications referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and the abolition of the demarcated areas referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be made through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103’;

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new), Article 19 a (new): (1b) The following article is inserted: / ‘Article 19a / Plant Health Emergency Team / 1. A Union Plant Health Emergency Team (‘the Team’) composed of experts shall be created with the purpose of providing Member States, upon their request, with urgent assistance on the measures to be taken pursuant to Articles 10 to 19, 27 and 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 concerning new outbreaks of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation. The Team shall partake in EU-level simulation exercises pursuant to Article 26 of that Regulation. In well-justified cases, the Team may also provide urgent assistance to third countries bordering the Union territory or presenting an imminent phytosanitary risk for that territory, upon their request, where necessary, concerning the outbreaks in their territories of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30 of that Regulation. For each case of assistance to a Member State or third country, the Commission shall appoint specific members of the Team, on the basis of their expertise, and in consultation with that Member State or the third country concerned. That assistance may include in particular: / (a) scientific, technical and managerial on-the-spot or remote assistance as regards the eradication of the pests concerned, the prevention of their spread, and other measures, in close cooperation and collaboration with the competent authorities of …

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3: The multiannual survey programmes shall be established for a period of five to 10 years. The programmes shall be reviewed and updated on the basis of the applicable rules and the phytosanitary situation of the territory concerned;

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new), Article 25 – paragraph 3: (4a) Article 25, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: / "3. Contingency plans may be combined for multiple priority pests with similar biology and range of host species. In those cases, the contingency plan shall consist of a general part common to all priority pests covered by it and of specific parts for each priority pest concerned. Similarly, Member States may co-operate to synchronise plans for certain species, where appropriate for priority pest species of similar biology and overlapping or adjoining ranges."

Removed:Co-operation increases effectiveness

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4 b (new), Article 26 – paragraph 3 a (new): (4b) In Article 26, the following paragraph is added: / “3a. Where appropriate, the Commission shall coordinate EU-level simulation exercises concerning the implementation of contingency plans for priority pests. / Those exercises shall take place with regard to all priority pests concerned within a reasonable period of time and with the involvement of the Union Plant Health Emergency Team and relevant stakeholders. / The Commission shall make available a report on the results of the EU-level simulation exercises to the Parliament.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 30 – point 1 – subparagraph 3: Those measures shall, where appropriate, implement, specifically for each of the pests concerned, one or more of the provisions referred to in points (a) to (g) of the first subparagraph of Article 28(1). They may include the prohibition of the pest´s introduction into, movement within, or holding, multiplication or release in the Union territory and/or requirements concerning the introduction into, and the movement within, the Union territory of plants, plant products and other objects in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/829;

Removed:Necessary to clarify that the prohibition on the presence of pests in the Union territory also foresees the possibility to grant derogations needed to allow relevant research or breeding activities, for instance with regard to resistances or tolerances.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 37 – paragraph 10 – subparagraph 1: In the event that plants for planting have been introduced into, or moved within, the Union territory in non-compliance with paragraph 1 of this Article, Member States shall adopt the necessary measures, as referred to in Article 66(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and shall notify that non-compliance and those measures to the Commission and other Member States through the electronic notification and reporting system referred to in Article 103.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 42 a – paragraph 2 – point a: (a) (i) the Commission has received evidence justifying the adoption of temporary derogations with equivalent or more stringent requirements than those referred to in Article 41, or / (ii) the third country concerned has submitted to the Commission a request, containing official written guarantees for the application in its territory, prior to and at the moment of making the request, of the measures which are necessary for addressing the respective phytosanitary risk; and

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 42a – paragraph 2 – point b: (b) a provisional assessment has shown that those plants, plant products or other objects pose a risk that can be reduced to an acceptable level by applying necessary measures in respect of the phytosanitary risk concerned.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 42a – paragraph 3 – point b: (b) the actions to be taken following the reception of those requests and dossiers, including the consultation and involvement of EFSA in assessing the phytosanitary risk of a requested temporary derogation, and in analysing the measures referenced in the respective request of the third countries concerned ;

Removed:In the introduction to the legislative proposal the Commission mentioned that EFSA involvement is today not always guaranteed; emergency phytosanitary interventions ought to be based on best available, robust science.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 42a – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part: By way of derogation from Article 42(2), the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, adopt temporary derogations from the acts referred to in Article 42(3), if both of the following conditions are fulfilled:

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11, Article 71 – paragraph 2: 2. The phytosanitary certificate shall specify under the heading ‘Additional Declaration’ which specific requirement is fulfilled, whenever the respective implementing act, adopted pursuant to Article 28(1) and (2), Article 30(1) and (3), Article 37(4), Article 41(2) and (3) and Article 54(2) and (3), allows for several different options for such requirements. That specification shall include the full wording of the relevant requirement and, in the case of regulated non-quarantine pests, an indication of the applicable option for the category concerned, as referred to in Article 37(7);

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11 a (new), Article 81 – paragraph 2 a (new): (11a) in Article 81, the following paragraph is added: / ‘2a. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, set out the cases where the provision referred to in paragraph 1, point (a), of this Article does not apply to particular plants, plants products or other objects distributed by means of sales through distance contracts. Those implementing acts may specify certain conditions for its application. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 107(2).’;

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 12 a (new), Article 94 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: (12a) in Article 94, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1, is replaced by the following: / 1. By way of derogation from Article 87, where a plant, plant product or other object, introduced into the Union territory from a third country which, for movement within the Union territory, requires a plant passport pursuant to Article 79(1) and Article 80(1), the passport shall be issued if the checks by means of official controls concerning its introduction have been completed satisfactorily and have led to the conclusion that the plant, plant product or other object concerned fulfils the substantive requirements for issuance of a plant passport according to Article 85 and, where appropriate, Article 86. The plant passport shall be issued no later than when the plant, plant product or other object concerned is moved for the first time by the importer within the Union to another operator. The importer of the plant, plant product or other object concerned shall be able to provide on request of the competent authority the result of the relevant official control using the Information Management System for Official Controls (IMSOC/TRACES) by the time the plant passport is issued.

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 14, Article 103 – paragraph 1: The Commission shall establish an easily accessible electronic system for the submission of notifications and reports by the Member States.;

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 15, Article 104 – paragraph 1 – introductory part – first sentence: The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, lay down specific rules concerning the submission of notifications referred to in Article 9(1) and (2), Article 11, Article 17(3), Article 18(6), Article 19(2), Article 19a, Article 28(7), Article 29(3), first subparagraph, Article 30(8), Article 33(1), Article 37(10), Article 40(4), Article 41(4), Article 46(4), Article 49(6), Article 53(4), Article 54(4), Article 62(1), Article 77(2) and Article 95(5).

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 2: Article 1, point (11), shall apply from … [12 months from the entry into force of this Regulation].

Removed:Objectives of the proposal:

Removed:Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against plant pests is applicable in its entirety since December 2019. It includes the classification and listing of regulated pests; requirements concerning the introduction/movement within the EU of certain plants, plant products and other objects; measures to eradicate pests. The Regulation also contains a number of reporting requirements on Member States. These requirements relate in particular to demarcated areas and surveys of Union quarantine pests, priority pests and protected zones quarantine pests. Together with Regulation (EU) 2017/625, which included for the first time plant health within the framework of the European regulation of official controls, Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 constitutes the basis of the current phytosanitary regime for the protection of the EU territory against the introduction and spread of plant pests.

Removed:Articles 50 and 79(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 provide for the submission by the Commission of reports on the implementation and effectiveness of import measures, as well as the experience gained by operators from the extension of the plant passport to all plants for planting. Based on these reports, presented in October 2021 and discussed with the Member States, the Commission proposes to improve different implementation measures of the EU phytosanitary policy, related to the need for:

Removed:1) Declarations in the phytosanitary certificate for regulated non-quarantine pests,

Removed:2) Notifications of non-compliance with the rules applicable to regulated non-quarantine pests in the electronic notification system (official controls information management system, SGICO),

Removed:3) Procedural rules for the submission and examination of requests for temporary exceptions to import bans submitted by non-EU countries,

Removed:4) Procedures to determine and list high-risk plants,

Removed:5) Rationalisation of the obligation to place a phytosanitary passport on certain plants.

Removed:Based on feedback from Member States and relevant stakeholders, and in line with its Communication on “Long-term competitiveness of the EU”, the Commission also proposes simplifying and digitalising some of the reporting requirements. It also proposes establishing an electronic system for the submission of notifications and reports by the Member States.

Removed:Rapporteur's position:

Removed:The Rapporteur recognises the appropriateness of the proposed technical changes, which do not modify the political orientation of the basic Regulation. However, she regrets that the Commission has delayed their presentation until October 2023, which puts time pressure on parliamentary work at the “end-of-term” period.

Removed:Besides, the Rapporteur considers it appropriate to take advantage of this proposal for amendment to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 to introduce some additional changes, or reinforce those proposed, such as:

Removed:- Inclusion of a new article 19a on Plant Health Emergency Team, similar to what already exists in the field of animal health, in order to provide assistance to the Member State or the third country that requests it in the case of pest within the scope of this Regulation.

Removed:- Establishment of a period of five to ten years for multi-year prospecting programs, subject to review and updating based on the phytosanitary situation of the territory concerned.

Removed:- Strenghtening of the provisions relating to regulated non-quarantine pests (RNQPs) in the additional declaration to the phytosanitary certificate by adding the obligation to mention the specific category concerned by the prohibition.

Removed:- Extension of the use of the electronic notification system provided by Article 103 of the Regulation.