EU to set a plant health emergency team against pest threats

The EU Council and the European Parliament agreed on Tuesday (5 March) evening on a revision of the bloc’s plant health law, simplifying rules and setting up an EU task force to combat new pests.

“This targeted improvement (…) will ensure we continue to be well-equipped to face phytosanitary threats,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister David Clarinval, who chairs the Council on agriculture, said in a press release.

The plant health law sets out rules to protect the bloc against the entry and spread of new plant pests – known as “quarantine pests” – and to combat pests already present in the EU – “regulated non-quarantine pests”. 

Lawmakers agreed to set up a Union Plant Health Emergency Team to help EU countries prevent the emergence of pathogens, as proposed by the European Parliament’s agriculture committee. 

The team will be made up of experts appointed by the Commission, based on proposals from member states. They would have “different specialities” in the field of plant health and support countries to eradicate harmful organisms.

The task force could also provide assistance to third countries bordering the EU at the request of one or more member states, in the event of pest outbreaks that could affect the bloc.

The EU has updated its plant health legislation several times since the 2000s. Following calls for action from farmers’ organisations and MEPs, the Commission tabled a proposal last October to simplify the rules and make them more effective. 

The EU’s list of the most dangerous organisms includes the plant bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, the Japanese beetle, the Asian long-horned beetle, the citrus greening bacterium, and the citrus black spot fungus.

These are becoming increasingly widespread due to global trade and climate change and may have significant social, environmental and economic impacts.

Main elements

The revised version of the plant health law aims to strengthen procedures for high-risk plants, simplify reporting requirements and increase digitalisation. 

The agreement provides for better use of the electronic system for the submission of notifications and reports by EU countries and stipulates that an electronic phytosanitary certificate may be used to accompany the movement of plants before a plant passport, required for trade in plants in the EU, is issued.

The co-legislators also agreed to extend the duration of multiannual risk survey programmes to cut red tape and reduce the administrative burden for the competent authorities and operators.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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