Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66Show full title

Article 1 Uniform frequency of official controls on professional operators authorised to issue plant passports

Competent authorities shall perform official controls at least once per year in the premises and, where applicable, in other locations used by professional operators authorised to issue plant passports in accordance with Article 84(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

Those controls shall include inspections and, in the case of suspicion of risks to plant health, the sampling and testing referred to in Article 92(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

Those controls shall be carried out at the most appropriate time with regard to the possibility of detecting the presence of relevant pests or signs or symptoms thereof.

Article 2 Increase of frequency of official controls on professional operators authorised to issue plant passports

Competent authorities may increase the frequency of the official controls referred to in Article 1, if the risk so requires, taking into account at least the following elements:

(a)

increased phytosanitary risks for the specific family, genera or species of the plants or plant products produced in those premises and, where applicable, in other locations, where more than one control is necessary due to the pest biology or the environmental conditions;

(b)

phytosanitary risks linked to the origin or provenance within the Union of particular plants, plant products or other objects;

(c)

number of production cycles in a year;

(d)

history of compliance of the professional operator with the applicable provisions of Regulations (EU) 2016/2031 and (EU) 2017/625;

(e)

available infrastructure and where the premises and, where applicable, where other locations used by the professional operator are situated.

Article 3 Reduction of frequency of official controls on professional operators authorised to issue plant passports

Competent authorities may reduce the frequency of the official controls referred to in Article 1 to at least once every two years, if the risk so allows and the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a)

the professional operator has implemented for at least two consecutive years a pest risk management plan in accordance with Article 91 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;

(b)

the competent authority has concluded that that plan has been effective in reducing relevant phytosanitary risks and that the professional operator concerned has complied with the applicable provisions of Regulations (EU) 2016/2031 and (EU) 2017/625.

Article 4 Uniform minimum frequency of official controls on plants, plant products and other objects of a particular origin or provenance within the Union

1. A premise and, where applicable, other locations used by professional operators authorised to issue plant passports in accordance with Article 84(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 shall be subject to at least one official control in addition to the one referred to in Article 1 if they are the place of origin of plants, plant products and other objects as defined in points (1), (2) and (5) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which have been grown at least part of their life or have been located in a demarcated area established in accordance with Article 18(1) of that Regulation, and which can be expected to be infested by the pest for which that demarcated area had been established. That additional official control shall be carried out as close as possible to the point in time when those plants, plant products and other objects are moved out of that demarcated area or from the infested zone to the buffer zone of that demarcated area.

2. When carrying out the official controls referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities shall assess the following elements:

(a) the risk that the plants, plant products and other objects carry the relevant pest;

(b) the risk of the presence of potential vectors of that pest, taking into account the origin or provenance within the Union of the consignments, the degree of susceptibility of the plants to infestation and the compliance by the professional operator responsible for the movement with any other measure taken to eradicate or contain that pest.

Article 5 Uniform minimum frequency of official controls on the plants referred to in the first paragraph of Article 73 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Identity checks and physical checks on the plants which are referred to in the first paragraph of Article 73 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and enter the Union shall be carried out on at least 1 % of consignments of those plants.

Article 6 Uniform frequency of official controls on professional operators authorised to apply the mark on wood packaging material

Competent authorities shall perform official controls at least once per year in the premises and, where applicable, in other locations used by professional operators authorised to apply the mark on wood packaging material referred to in Article 98(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

Those controls shall include the supervision referred to in Article 98(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

Article 7 Increase of frequency of official controls on professional operators authorised to apply the mark on wood packaging material

Competent authorities may increase the frequency of the official controls referred to in Article 6, if the risk so requires, taking into account one or more of the following elements:

(a)

increased phytosanitary risks linked to the presence of the pests in the Union territory;

(b)

wood packaging material, other plants, plant products or other objects having been subject to interceptions of pests;

(c)

history of compliance of the professional operator with the applicable provisions of Regulations (EU) 2016/2031 and (EU) 2017/625;

(d)

available infrastructure and where the premises and, where applicable, where other locations used by the professional operator are situated.

Article 8 Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 14 December 2019.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 16 January 2019.

For the Commission

The President

Jean-Claude Juncker