The Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019

PART 1 Introduction

Citation, commencement, extent and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019 and come into force on 14th January 2020.

(2) They extend to England and Wales and apply in relation to England only.

Interpretation: general

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 2005 Order” means the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005(1);

“the 2015 Order” means the Plant Health (England) Order 2015(2);

“appropriate authority” means the Secretary of State or the Forestry Commissioners, and is to be construed in accordance with regulation 6;

“commencement date” means the date on which these Regulations come into force;

“controlled consignment” means a consignment containing any plant, plant product or other object—

(a)

which may not be brought into the Union territory without a phytosanitary certificate for export or a phytosanitary certificate for re-export pursuant to—

(i)

Article 72 or 74 of the EU Plant Health Regulation;

(ii)

an EU emergency decision; or

(iii)

any other EU plant health rule, other than Article 73 of the EU Plant Health Regulation; or

(b)

which was exported from the Union territory to a third country and is returning to the Union territory following the refusal by that third country to allow its entry into the country;

“controlled plant pest” means—

(a)

a plant pest of a description specified in Annex 2, 3 or 4 to the Phytosanitary Conditions Regulation;

(b)

a plant pest of a description specified in an EU emergency decision; or

(c)

a plant pest subject to any other EU plant health rule;

“Council Directive 2000/29/EC” means Council Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community(3);

“EU emergency decision” means an instrument referred to regulation 3(1);

“EU Plant Health Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council on protective measures against pests of plants(4);

“EU plant health rule” means a rule within the meaning given in Article 1(2)(g) of the Official Controls Regulation;

“ISPM 15” means International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 of March 2002 on Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade, prepared by the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations(5);

“Official Controls Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, insofar as it applies to EU plant health rules(6);

“Phytosanitary Conditions Regulation” means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 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(7);

“plant health inspector” means an official plant health officer appointed by the Secretary of State or the Forestry Commissioners;

“plant pest” means a pest within the meaning given in Article 1(1) and (2) of the EU Plant Health Regulation;

“regulated item” means—

(a)

any plant, plant product or other object to which an EU plant health rule applies, other than any plant, plant product or other object which is part of a controlled consignment; or

(b)

a controlled plant pest.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions which are not defined in these Regulations and appear in the EU Plant Health Regulation or the Official Controls Regulation have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in EU Plant Health Regulation or the Official Controls Regulation (as the case may be).

Interpretation: EU instruments relating to plant health

3.—(1) In these Regulations—

“Commission Decision 98/109/EC” means Commission Decision 98/109/EC authorising Member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Thrips palmi Karny as regards Thailand(8);

“Commission Decision 2002/757/EC” means Commission Decision 2002/757/EC on provisional emergency phytosanitary measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Community of Phytophthora ramorum Werres, De Cock & Man in ‘t Veld sp. nov.(9);

“Commission Decision 2004/200/EC” on measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Community of Pepino mosaic virus(10);

“Commission Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU” means Commission Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU authorising Member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. as regards Egypt(11);

“Commission Implementing Decision 2012/138/EU” means Commission Implementing Decision 2012/138/EU as regards emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Anoplophora chinensis (Forster)(12);

“Commission Implementing Decision 2012/270/EU” means Commission Implementing Decision 2012/270/EU as regards emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Epitrix cucumeris (Harris), Epitrix papa sp.n., Epitrix subcrinita (Lec.) and Epitrix tuberis (Gentner)(13);

“Commission Implementing Decision 2012/535/EU” means Commission Implementing Decision 2012/535/EU on emergency measures to prevent the spread within the Union of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle et al. (the pine wood nematode)(14);

“Commission Implementing Decision 2012/697/EU” means Commission Implementing Decision 2012/697/EU as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of the genus Pomacea (Perry)(15);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/789” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/789 as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa (Wells et al.)(16);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/893 as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)(17);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/715” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/715 setting out measures in respect of certain fruits originating in certain third countries to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of the harmful organism Phyllosticta citricarpa (McAlpine) Van der Aa.(18);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/198” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/198 as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae Takikawa, Serizawa, Ichikawa, Tsuyuma & Goto(19);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/638” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/638 establishing emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of the harmful organism Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith)(20);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1503” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1503 establishing measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Aromia bungii (Faldermann)(21);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1615” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1615 establishing emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)(22);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1739” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1739 establishing emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Rose Rosette Virus(23);

“Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2032” means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2032 establishing measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O’Donnell (formerly Gibberella circinata)(24).

(2) References to the Phytosanitary Conditions Regulation and to the European Union instruments referred to in paragraph (1) are to be construed as references to those instruments as amended from time to time.

Measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of the EU Plant Health Regulation

4.—(1) Any reference in the EU Plant Health Regulation to a pest that is subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) includes the following plant pests—

(a) Epitrix cucumeris (Harris), Epitrix papa. (Orlova-Bienkowskaja), Epitrix subcrinita (Lec.) or Epitrix tuberis (Gentner);

(b) Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae Takikawa, Serizawa, Ichikawa, Tsuyuma & Goto;

(c) Rose rosette virus;

(d) Tomato brown rugose fruit virus.

Article 82 of the EU Plant Health Regulation: meaning of “close proximity”

5.—(1) For the purposes of Article 82 of the EU Plant Health Regulation, the premises of a registered operator are to be regarded as being in “close proximity” to other premises of that operator if any point on the boundary of its operative area, or of any of its operative areas, is within ten miles of any point on the boundary of the operative area, or of any of the operative areas, of the other premises.

(2) In paragraph (1), “operative area”, in relation to the premises of a registered operator, means—

(a) in the case of premises which are used entirely by the registered operator to carry out one or more of the activities mentioned in Article 65(1) of the EU Plant Health Regulation, the area comprising those premises;

(b) in the case of any other premises used by the registered operator to carry out one or more of the activities mentioned in Article 65(1) of the EU Plant Health Regulation, an area within the premises which is used by the registered operator to carry out any of those activities.

(1)

S.I. 2005/2517; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2012/2707, 2013/755 and 2018/1048.

(2)

S.I. 2015/610, amended by S.I. 2017/1220; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(3)

OJ No. L 169, 10.7.2000, p.1, as last amended by Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2019/523 (OJ No. L 86, 28.3.2019, p.41).

(4)

OJ No. L 317, 23.11.2016, p.4, amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 95, 7.4.2017, p.1).

(5)

Available from the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention, AGPP-FAO, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153, Rome, Italy and at https://www.ippc.int/int.

(6)

OJ No. L 95, 7.4.2017, p.1, amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/478 (OJ No. L 82, 25.3.2019, p.4).

(7)

OJ No. L 319, 10.12.2019, p.1.

(8)

OJ No. L 27, 3.2.1998, p.47.

(9)

OJ No. L 252, 20.9.2002, p.37, as last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1967 (OJ No. L 303, 10.11.2016, p.21).

(10)

OJ No. L 64, 2.3.2004, p.43.

(11)

OJ No. L 319, 2.12.2011, p.112.

(12)

OJ No. L 64, 3.3.2012, p.38, as amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2014/356/EU (OJ No. L 175, 14.6.2014, p.38).

(13)

OJ No. L 132, 23.5.2012, p.18, as last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/5 (OJ No. L 2, 5.1.2018, p.11).

(14)

OJ No. L 266, 2.10.2012, p.42, as last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/618 (OJ No. L 102, 23.4.2018, p.17.

(15)

OJ No. L 311, 10.11.2012, p.14.

(16)

OJ No. L 125, 21.5.2015, p.36, as last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1511 (OJ No. L 255, 11.10.2018, p.16).

(17)

OJ No. L 146, 11.6.2015, p.16.

(18)

OJ No. L 125, 13.5.2016, p.16, as last amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/449 (OJ No. L 77, 20.3.2019, p.76).

(19)

OJ No. L 31, 4.2.2017, p.29.

(20)

OJ No. L 105, 25.4.2018, p.31, as amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1598 (OJ No. L 248, 27.9.2019, p.86).

(21)

OJ No. L 254, 10.10.2018, p.9.

(22)

OJ No. L 250, 30.9.2015, p.91.

(23)

OJ No. L 265, 18.10.2019, p.12.

(24)

OJ No. L 313, 4.12.2019, p.94.