Amendments to list of Union quarantine pests

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2004 of 23 July 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as regards the listing of pests and rules on the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of plants, plant products and other objects

Update

This Regulation updates the list of Union quarantine pests that affect plant products for food. Changes include the addition of certain fruit fly species including Neoceratitis and Neotephritis spp.; and the removal of special requirements relating to Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus and Sweet potato mild mottle virus. Other changes primarily concern plants for planting and non-food commodities, including cut flowers.

Impacted Products

Plants and plant products

What is changing?

This Regulation modifies Implementing Regulation 2019/2072. Most of the changes concern plants for planting and non-food commodities, including cut flowers.

In relation to plant products for food, the most significant changes are the following:

Updating the list of Union quarantine pests

The list now includes:

• Cicadomorpha (Hemiptera) species known to vector the plant pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa
• various species of fruit flies in the family Tephritidae, including Neoceratitis asiatica, Neotephritis finalis, and Neoceratitis cyanescens.

Clarifications and legal certainty

• EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) codes are included in the groups Choristoneura spp., Cicadomorpha, Margarodidae, Tephritidae, and Citrus leprosis viruses.
• The name of the grass sharpshooter, Draeculacephala minerva Ball, is clarified.

Removal of special requirements

Requirements related to Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus and Sweet potato mild mottle virus are removed from the list of Union quarantine pests.

Why?

The EU updates its protective measures against plant pests according to the latest scientific knowledge and risk assessments. This is designed to safeguard agriculture and the environment across the European Union territory.

Timeline

Date of effect: 15 August 2024. Some transition periods are planned.

What are the major implications for exporting countries?

It is important to be aware of updates to the list of EU quarantine pests. It is crucial to monitor and prevent the presence of any quarantine pests in consignments destined for the EU. The detection of any quarantine pests will automatically result in the rejection of whole consignments.

Recommended Actions

These additions to the list of Union quarantine pests, notably fruit fly species, are particularly important as they can be present in a wide variety of plant products. Producers and National Plant Protection Organisations in countries where these species occur should monitor them closely and ensure they are not present in exports destined for the EU.

Background

The EU Plant Health Regulation 2016/2031 has been in place since 14 December 2019. It takes a proactive approach that focuses on the prevention of entry and spread of plant pests within the EU. New rules were brought in for surveillance, eradication, and imports, based on the understanding that to avoid future harm to EU agriculture or the environment, resources need to be invested at an early (preventative) stage. The overall aim is to have more effective measures for the protection of the Union territory, to ensure safe trade, and to mitigate the impacts of climate change on the health of EU crops and forests.

The new Plant Health Regulation refers to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), an intergovernmental treaty that aims to protect the world's plant resources from the spread and introduction of pests. The IPPC sets the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) and is the main global standard-setting organisation for plant health.

For more information see:

EU Plant Health Law explained

Provisional list of high risk plants explained

Provisional listing of pests, commodities and additional plant health requirements.

Resources

Sources

---

Regulation

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2004 as regards the listing of pests and rules on the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of plants, plant products and other objects

What is changing and why?

This Regulation updates the list of Union quarantine pests that affect plant products for food. Some fruit fly species are added to the list, including Neoceratitis and Neotephritis species. Special requirements relating to Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus and Sweet potato mild mottle virus have been removed.

Most other changes concern plants for planting and non-food commodities, including cut flowers.

The EU updates its measures against plant pests according to the latest scientific knowledge and risk assessments. This is designed to safeguard agriculture and the environment across the European Union territory.

Actions

These additions to the list of Union quarantine pests, notably fruit fly species, are particularly important as they can be present in a wide variety of plant products. Producers and National Plant Protection Organisations in countries where these species occur should monitor them closely and ensure they are not present in exports destined for the EU.

The detection of any quarantine pests will automatically result in the rejection of whole consignments.

Timeline

Date of effect: 15 August 2024. Some transition periods are planned.

---