The Plant Health (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

PART C Eradication measures

8.  This Part applies where an area is demarcated under paragraph 3 by an appropriate UK plant health authority.

9.  The appropriate UK plant health authority must ensure that the following measures are taken under official supervision to eradicate the plant pest—

(a) the establishment of a clear-cut zone around each susceptible plant in which the plant pest has been found to be present in accordance with paragraph 10;

(b) the felling, removal and disposal of all susceptible plants, other than any exempt plants, in a clear-cut zone, taking all necessary precautions to avoid spreading the plant pest and the vector during felling;

(c) the taking of appropriate samples from the susceptible plants felled and any residual material in the clear-cut zone;

(d) the testing of those samples for the presence of the plant pest;

(e) the carrying out of the following surveys—

(i) surveys of the susceptible plants and residual material in the demarcated area, during and outside the flight season of the vector, in accordance with paragraph 11; and

(ii) surveys of the vector itself during the flight season of the vector in accordance with paragraph 12, which must be intensive in any area affected by fire or storm;

(f) the identification of all susceptible plants in the demarcated area which are infested with the plant pest or which are dead, in poor health or affected by fire or storm;

(g) the felling, at the appropriate time, of—

(i) all susceptible plants in the demarcated area which have been found to be infested with the plant pest;

(ii) in the case of any plants in a pest free area, all susceptible plants which have been found to be infested following their sampling and testing using an appropriate sampling scheme; and

(iii) in the case of any plants in a demarcated area which is not a pest free area, all susceptible plants in the demarcated area which are dead, in poor health or affected by fire or storm;

(h) in the case of felled susceptible plants in the demarcated area in which the plant pest has not already been found to be present, the sampling and testing of those plants using an appropriate sampling scheme;

(i) the disposal of all felled susceptible plants and the resulting logging remains, taking all necessary precautions to avoid spreading the plant pest and the vector during felling, by their destruction on site or their removal and the treatment of their wood and bark in accordance with paragraph 13;

(j) in the case of any place of production of plants for planting in which the plant pest has been detected on susceptible plants grown at the place of production since the beginning of the last complete growing cycle, the removal and disposal of those plants, taking all necessary precautions to avoid spreading the plant pest and the vector;

(k) the identification of all felled susceptible plants in the buffer zone which are not subject to the preceding measures and the removal of those plants and their logging remains, taking all necessary precautions to avoid spreading the plant pest and the vector;

(l) in the case of any exempt plants, the application of alternative eradication measures to their felling, removal and disposal to prevent any possible spread of the plant pest from the plants;

(m) in the case of any clear-cut zone which has been reduced for the reasons specified in paragraph 10(a)—

(i) the inspection, during or after the flight season of the vector, of those susceptible plants which are located between 100m and 500m of an infested susceptible plant for signs or symptoms of the presence of the plant pest;

(ii) the taking of appropriate samples of any plant inspected under paragraph (i) which shows signs or symptoms of the presence of the plant pest and the testing of those samples for the presence of the plant pest;

(iii) the carrying out of intensive surveys of the vector by sampling and testing individual vectors for the presence of the plant pest in the area located between 100m and 500m of an infested susceptible plant; and

(iv) the application of alternative eradication measures to their felling, removal and disposal to prevent any possible spread of the plant pest from the susceptible plants; and

(n) the production of a hygiene protocol setting out the hygiene procedures for vehicles transporting forest products and machinery for processing forest products to ensure that the plant pest cannot be spread with those vehicles and machinery.

10.  Any clear-cut zone must be established promptly in light of the risk of transmission of the plant pest by the vector from the susceptible plant in which it was found and must have a minimum initial radius of 500 m, which may be reduced to 100 m if—

(a) the appropriate UK plant health authority concludes that the creation of a clear-cut zone with a radius of 500 m would have unacceptable social or environmental impacts; or

(b) the appropriate UK plant health authority has evidence from surveys carried out for the presence of the vector in accordance with ISPM No. 4 that the vector has not been present in the area during the preceding three years.

11.  When carrying out any survey of any susceptible plants and residual material in a demarcated area, the survey must—

(a) include the inspection, sampling and testing of those plants and that material for the presence of the plant pest;

(b) focus in particular on susceptible plants which are dead, in poor health or affected by fire or storm; and

(c) be carried out at an appropriate rate which ensures that the intensity of the survey in the area lying within a radius of 3000 m of an infested susceptible plant is at least four times higher than in the rest of the buffer zone outside that area.

12.  When carrying out any survey of the vector in a demarcated area during the flight season, the survey must include the inspection, sampling and testing of the vector for the presence of the plant pest.

13.  In the case of susceptible wood identified in the demarcated area during the flight season of the vector, the logs must either—

(a) be—

(i) stripped of their bark, treated with an insecticide known to be effective against the vector or covered with an insect net drenched with such an insecticide immediately after felling;

(ii) promptly removed to a storage place or to an authorised treatment facility; and

(iii) in the case of any logs retaining their bark, treated with an insecticide known to be effective against the vector or covered with an insect net drenched with such an insecticide immediately on arrival at the storage place or the authorised treatment facility; or

(b) where the appropriate UK plant health authority concludes that the actions described in paragraph (i) would not be effective, immediately destroyed on site and chipped into pieces less than 3 cm thick and 3 cm wide.