REGULATIONS

EURL DESIGNATION

The consortium between ANSES Entomology and Invasive Plant Unit and AGES Institute for Sustainable Plant Production has been designated by the European Commission (EC)  as the European Reference Laboratory (EURL) for insects and mites in the Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/530 of 27 March 2019.

The roles and activities of EURLs are regulated by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of 15 Mach 2017 (Regulation on Official Controls - OCR) , supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/631 of 7 February 2018. Commission Notice 2022/C 467/02 is intended to assist national authorities in the application of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

EURLs' main function is to support EC activities and to ensure high-quality laboratory analysis, as well as to support and coordinate EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) network in the field of insects and mites identification.

 

EU PLANT HEALTH LEGISLATION

Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2017/1279 and Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2019/523 have amended Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community.

On 14th December 2019, Directive 2000/29/EC was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 (also known as “Plant Health Law") of the European Parliament and of the Council, concerning protective measures against pests of plants. These rules constitute the new EU Plant Health Regime.

According to Article 5(2) of the Plant Health Law, the Commission establishes the ‘list of Union quarantine pests’, which is included in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019, now amended by the Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2021/2285 and (EU) 2024/2004. This core permanent regulation list is moreover supplemented by temporary measures (e.g. (EU) 2022/2041 provisionnally regulating five more lepidopteran species). More information on the currently enforced regulations and their amendments can be found here.

Article 6(2) of the Plant Health Law empowers the Commission to establish a list of the priority pests. Published in the Official Journal on 11 October 2019, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 lists 20 quarantine pests as priority pests.