Niveau juridique : Union européenne
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Question du 19-07-2018
The Commission has put together a proposed list of plant products which it will provisionally be illegal to import because they pose a health risk to European products. Under EU pest control rules, that ban will be lifted if countries of origin show that their exports do not pose any risk of contagion.
However, in its proposal, the Commission has listed only ornamental and forestry cultivation materials and failed to take into account the request of eight Member States that other high-risk products such as citrus fruits be included. In that context, it is worth remembering that a high number of consignments contaminated with diseases such as black spot are detected every season in imports from third countries.
The Commission’s decision clearly contradicts the spirit of the agreement on the Pest Control Regulation reached via the co‐decision procedure. That agreement was concluded in 2016 and stepped up preventive measures to curb the entry of third‐country pathogens into the EU.
Does the Commission plan to change its proposal to include those Member States’ request?
Why has the Commission decided to exclude those sectors?
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REPONSE du 12-09-2018 de Mr Andriukaitis au nom de la commission européenne
The Commission services have presented a draft Implementing Regulation on this issue to Member States. This draft Implementing Regulation includes a list of plant commodities which will be temporarily banned on the basis of a preliminary assessment showing a risk of an unacceptable level, as well as a second list of plant commodities for which a phytosanitary certificate will not be required.
This draft Implementing Regulation is published for stakeholders’ feedback on the Better Regulation Portal(1). All comments received will be considered in the decision-making process.
The Commission recognises and safeguards the importance of the fruit/vegetable sector. Protective measures are implemented through a number of legislative actions aimed at mitigating the phytosanitary risks connected with the import of fruits. For example, in the recent amendment of the annexes to Directive 2000/29/EC, which applies from January 2018(2), a number of import requirements for fruits have been newly introduced or strengthened, in particular for citrus fruits. Furthermore, emergency measures for the import of citrus fruits already exist in connection to citrus black spot(3). Finally, new import requirements for fruits will be proposed for inclusion in the upcoming amendment of the annexes to Directive 2000/29/EC which is currently under discussion with the Member States and which will also be submitted for stakeholders’ feedback.
(1) ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2018-3819666_en
(2) Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2017/1279 of 14 July 2017 amending Annexes I to V to 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, OJ L 184, 15.7.2017, p. 33‐62.
(3) Decision (EU) 2016/715, as amended by Commission Implementing Decision 2017/801 and Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/85.
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LIEN : ICI