Skip to content
REPORT (COM(2023)661 – C90391/2023 – 2023/0378(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards multiannual survey programmes, notifications concerning the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests, temporary derogations from import prohibitions and special import requirements and establishment of procedures for granting them, temporary import requirements for high risk plants, plant products and other objects, the establishment of procedures for the listing of high risk plants, the content of phytosanitary certificates, the use of plant passports and as regards certain reporting requirements for demarcated areas and surveys of pest

A-9-2024-0035

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Clara Aguilera

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on plant health. It changes rules on surveys, notifications, import derogations, high-risk plants, phytosanitary certificates and plant passports. It creates a Union Plant Health Emergency Team to help member states and third countries with pest outbreaks, and extends multiannual survey programmes to five to ten years with review. It requires notifications through the electronic system, adds rules on regulated non-quarantine pests, and empowers the Commission to adopt implementing acts on temporary import derogations and distance sales.

Committee position. The committee proposes to amend the Commission proposal by adding a Plant Health Emergency Team, extending survey programmes to five to ten years, strengthening rules on regulated non-quarantine pests, and extending the electronic notification system.

Key points

  1. Reporting requirements should be streamlined and digitalised to reduce administrative and financial burden, and procedures harmonised.
  2. Adequate public funding should be ensured to manage pest outbreaks and stimulate research, with a One Health perspective and European plant health partnerships.
  3. Member states must notify demarcated areas immediately after establishment, and notifications and abolition of demarcated areas must go through the electronic notification system.
  4. A Union Plant Health Emergency Team is created to provide urgent assistance to member states and, in justified cases, third countries on pest outbreaks.
  5. Multiannual survey programmes are set for five to ten years, subject to review and update based on the phytosanitary situation.
  6. Measures for pests may include prohibition of introduction, movement, holding, multiplication or release, and requirements for plants and plant products in line with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/829.
  7. Member states must notify non-compliance with rules on regulated non-quarantine pests and measures taken through the electronic system.
  8. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts for temporary derogations from import prohibitions, with conditions including evidence of equivalent or stricter requirements and EFSA involvement.
  9. The Commission is empowered to adopt a delegated act on procedures for listing high-risk plants, covering dossiers, risk assessment and confidentiality.
  10. Phytosanitary certificates must specify the full wording of the requirement and, for regulated non-quarantine pests, the applicable option.
  11. The Commission may adopt implementing acts on plant passports for distance sales, and plant passports must be issued when official controls are completed satisfactorily.
  12. The Commission shall establish an easily accessible electronic system for notifications and reports, and may lay down specific rules for submissions.

Who is affected

  • Member states: must notify demarcated areas and non-compliance, and conduct surveys under new rules.
  • Third countries: may request temporary derogations and assistance from the Plant Health Emergency Team.
  • Professional operators and importers: affected by plant passport rules and distance sales provisions.
  • The Commission: empowered to adopt implementing and delegated acts, and to appoint the Team.

Figures and deadlines

  • Multiannual survey programmes established for a period of five to ten years.
  • Article 1, point (11) shall apply from 12 months from the entry into force of this Regulation.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 43(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.