New EU Plant Health Law
Since the 14th of December 2019, a new EU Plant Health Law is being applied, repealing Council Directive 2000/29/EC. The aims of this new legislation are to provide a better protection of the EU territory against plant pests, as well as to ensure safe trade and mitigate the impacts of climate change on plant health.
These rules are contained in the Regulation (EU) 2016/2031: LINK
Several other delegated and implementing acts have also been adopted to ensure the implementation of this new legislation:
- List of regulated Quarantine Pests, protected zone Quarantine Pests and Regulated Non-Quarantine Pests (RNQPs); measures for plants, plant products and other objects: LINK
- List of high risk plants and plant products: LINK
- List of priority pests: LINK
Under the EU Plant Health law, people travelling to the EU from third countries will not be allowed to introduce any plant or plant material into the EU unless it is accompanied by an official certificate (with exemptions for certain fruit). Videos have been prepared to explain this to the general public: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-181068
For more information, visit the European Commission website: https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/plant_health_biosecurity/legislation/new_eu_rules_en
Sources
EPPO Secretariat (2019-12).
Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament 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. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016R2031
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. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1576149221015&uri=CELEX:32019R2072
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 of 18 December 2018 establishing a provisional list of high risk plants, plant products or other objects, within the meaning of Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and a list of plants for which phytosanitary certificates are not required for introduction into the Union, within the meaning of Article 73 of that Regulation. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32018R2019
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 of 1 August 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the list of priority pests. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1570789349853&uri=CELEX:32019R1702