Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/887 of 26 June 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66 as regards post-import checks of plants for planting
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/887of 26 June 2020amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66 as regards post-import checks of plants for plantingTHE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 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, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC (Official Controls Regulation)OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1., and in particular Article 22(3) thereof,Whereas:(1)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66 of 16 January 2019 on rules on uniform practical arrangements for the performance of official controls on plants, plant products and other objects in order to verify compliance with Union rules on protective measures against pests of plants applicable to those goods (OJ L 15, 17.1.2019, p. 1). establishes rules on uniform practical arrangements for the performance of official controls on plants, plant products and other objects. Those rules include checks at the premises of professional operators at the places of production of plants for planting.(2)Dormant plants for planting other than seeds may present uniform hazards and risks to plant health, because at the time of their checking at the Border Control Posts, or at control points, it might not be possible to identify the presence or symptoms of pests. Nevertheless, immediately after those checks, those plants for planting are released for free circulation, accompanied by a plant passport for movement within the Union territory.(3)Therefore, and for the purpose of responding to those risks, it is appropriate, after import, to carry out physical checks at the operators’ premises at least during the first growing season, in order to detect with a higher degree of certainty the presence of a Union quarantine pest, a protected zone quarantine pest or a pest subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament of the Council of 26 October 2016 on protective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC (OJ L 317, 23.11.2016, p. 4).. In order for the competent authorities to carry out those checks in the most efficient and proportionate manner, they should determine the frequencies of those checks, as well as the plants for planting to be subject to those checks, on the basis of a control plan, which shall be established in accordance with certain criteria.(4)In order to make the checks more efficient and targeted on the highest plant health risks, it is appropriate to base them on the history of interceptions of the relevant pests with regards to the relevant third countries of origin, the presence of priority pests in those countries and the available information in the Information Management System for Official Controls (IMSOC). The Member States may collect fees for those controls, as set out in Article 80 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.(5)When those checks demonstrate that a quarantine pest or a pest subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 is found, competent authorities should record the results of the checks in IMSOC into the corresponding finalised CHED as referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, whenever it is possible to trace back the infested plant to the imported consignment.(6)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: