(1)

Commission Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU (3) authorises Member States to temporarily take emergency measures against the dissemination of Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. emend. Safni et al. (‘the specified pest’) as regards the import of tubers of Solanum tuberosum L., other than those intended for planting, originating in Egypt (‘the specified plants’). That Implementing Decision was adopted on the basis of Article 16(3) of Council Directive 2000/29/EC (4).

(2)

Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 has replaced Directive 2000/29/EC, while Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (5) has replaced Annexes I to V to that Directive.

(3)

The specified pest is listed in Part B of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as a pest known to occur in the Union. The introduction into the Union territory of the specified plants is subject to the special requirement of point 21 of Annex VII to that Regulation with regard to the specified pest and other species of Ralstonia.

(4)

There is evidence justifying the adoption of requirements more stringent than the ones referred to in point 21 of Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 and the requirements of Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU, with respect to the specified pest. That evidence is based on the experience gained from the application of that Decision, the increased number of interceptions of the specified pest during the two last import seasons of the specified plants and an audit carried out by the Commission in Egypt in January 2024.

(5)

Further assessment by the Commission has shown that the specified plants pose a risk that can be reduced to an acceptable level by applying measures which are necessary to address the phytosanitary risk concerned. That assessment took into account, inter alia, the technical developments in the fields in Egypt, the testing schemes based on the new diagnostic protocols developed for the specified pest by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) and the experience of Member States with the import controls of the specified plants.

(6)

In order to ensure the reduction to an acceptable level of the phytosanitary risk from the introduction into the Union territory of the specified plants, it is necessary to establish specific requirements for the production, packaging and inspections of the specified plants in Egypt.

(7)

Due to the nature of the specified pest, it is necessary, for the phytosanitary protection of the Union territory, to provide that the specified plants introduced into the Union territory have to be grown in production sites officially declared by the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of Egypt to be free from the specified pest, in accordance with the relevant International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures. For the same reason, it should be ensured that in those sites, during the year of production and the three previous years, no specified plants or other vegetative parts of potato plants, and no other cultivated or wild solanaceous host plants capable to host the specified pest have been found infected by the specified pest, and no related water sources have been found contaminated by the specified pest. Moreover, it is necessary to provide that no specified plants originating from those production sites have been found positive after testing for the presence of the specified pest by the NPPO of Egypt or Member States, after leaving those production sites.

(8)

Those requirements should ensure the production of the specified plants in areas free from the specified pest, and in areas where actions have been taken to prevent the presence of that pest. They should further ensure that the specified plants are grown from plants that fulfil certain requirements concerning their freedom from the specified pest.

(9)

The phytosanitary certificate for introduction into the Union of the specified plants should include, under the heading ‘Additional declaration’, certain elements to ensure transparent information and clarity about the origin of the specified plants and fulfilment of the respective requirements. Those elements should include the statement ‘In accordance with European Union requirements laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1289’, the lot number corresponding to each exported lot of the specified plants, the code of the production site of origin of each lot of the specified plants, and the name and the identification number of the officially approved packing station(s) and exporter(s).

(10)

Rules should be established for the inspections, sampling and testing to be carried out by Member States concerning the import of the specified plants, in order to ensure the protection of the Union territory from the specified pest. Testing should be carried out, in the Union, in accordance with the test scheme of Annex I to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1193 (6), as that scheme is based on the applicable international standards and has proven to be effective for the detection of the specified pest.

(11)

A system should be established whereby the NPPO of Egypt effectively controls the production sites, exporters and packing stations of the specified plants, by approving and listing them for that purpose. In the case of presence, or suspected presence, of the specified pest in the specified plants, and in order to prevent the entry into the Union territory of specified plants infected by the specified pest, those lists should be updated and the respective production sites’ codes, exporters and packing stations’ names should be removed from them, if needed.

(12)

Rules should be set out concerning the disposal of waste from the specified plants in the Union, in order to prevent any spread of the specified pest resulting from a possible latent infection.

(13)

As the phytosanitary risk from the introduction of the specified plants into the Union territory, subject to the new requirements of this Regulation, is not yet fully assessed, it needs to be further assessed through the application of those requirements in practice. It is in particular necessary to assess the phytosanitary risk following the application of the new requirements for the production of the specified plants in Egypt, the application of the testing scheme on those plants, and the rules on inspection, sampling and testing of the specified plants in the Union, as well as the rules concerning their labelling and waste management in the Union.

(14)

Implementing Decision 2011/787/EU should be repealed and replaced by this Regulation, in order to align its provisions with the relevant terms and requirements set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 concerning the introduction into the Union territory of plants, plant products and other objects from third countries.

(15)

The requirement for the specified plants to have been grown in production sites, where during the year of production and the three years preceding it, certain additional requirements had to be met, should apply from 1 December 2028, in order to grant time for the specified plants to comply with those requirements.

(16)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

(1)

‘specified pest’ means Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. emend. Safni et al.;

(2)

‘specified plants’ means tubers of Solanum tuberosum L., other than those intended for planting, originating in Egypt and destined for export to the Union;

(3)

‘pest free area’ means an area established by the national plant protection organisation (‘NPPO’) of Egypt as being free from the specified pest, in accordance with the relevant International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (7) , (8);

(4)

‘production site’ means a site of production that is managed as a separate unit for phytosanitary purposes, identified by its individual official code number and located in a pest free area.

(a)

the specific requirements set out in Part A of Annex I have been fulfilled;

(b)

in the case of suspicion of the presence or confirmed presence of the specified pest in production sites and water sources in Egypt, the requirements set out in Part B of Annex I have been fulfilled;

(c)

the requirements of Article 6(1) have been fulfilled;

(d)

where applicable, the measures as set out in Article 7 have been taken.

(a)

the statement ‘In accordance with European Union requirements laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1289’;

(b)

the lot number corresponding to each exported lot of the specified plants;

(c)

the code of the production site of origin of each lot of the specified plants as listed in accordance with Article 6(1), point (a);

(d)

the name and the identification number of the officially approved packing station(s) and exporter(s) as listed in accordance with Article 6(1), points (b) and (c).

(a)

appropriate treatment of all water resulting from the washing and processing of the specified plants, before it is being discharged into surface or irrigation water; and

(b)

preventive actions for the spread on agricultural land of untreated adherent soil, potato waste and rejected potatoes.