(1)

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) (‘the specified pest’) is currently not listed as a Union quarantine pest, or as a Union regulated non-quarantine pest, in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (3). However it fulfils the criteria set out in Subsection 2 of Section 3 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 for a preliminary assessment to identify pests which provisionally qualify as a Union quarantine pest requiring temporary measures as referred to in Article 30(1) of that Regulation.

(2)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 (4) established measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of the specified pest. That Regulation is to expire on 31 May 2023.

(3)

After the adoption of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191, more recent scientific information has been collected on the spread of the specified pest and on testing methods and the audits carried out by the Commission services provided feedback on the implementation of the provisions and on their impact on the protection against the spread of the disease. That justifies the need for the adoption of a new act with more detailed measures than those provided for in that Regulation.

(4)

In order to ensure the most proactive approach concerning phytosanitary protection, measures should be established for situations where any person within the Union territory suspects or becomes aware of the presence of the specified pest, and with regards to the corresponding notification to the competent authority, and the actions to be taken by it.

(5)

Where the presence of the specified pest is officially confirmed in the territory of a Member State, the competent authority of the Member State concerned should establish a demarcated area to ensure the eradication of that pest and the prevention of its spread to the rest of the Union territory. In order to ensure the most appropriate and proportionate approach, different rules for the demarcation should be adopted for the case where the presence of the specified pest is confirmed in production sites with physical protection, because of the reduced phytosanitary risk resulting from that protection.

(6)

In order to ensure a more proactive approach for the protection of the Union territory from the specified pest, Member States should conduct annual surveys for the presence of the specified pest in their territory.

(7)

Rules should be established for the movement within the Union of seeds of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof, and of Capsicum spp. (‘specified seeds’), and of plants for planting, other than specified seeds, of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof and of Capsicum spp. (‘specified plants for planting’), because those seeds and other plants for planting are most likely to host and spread the specified pest.

(8)

Those rules should include, as appropriate for the type of plant and its production, pest freedom in the production site, visual inspection, sampling and testing, appropriate handling of lots, and measures on mother plants. Such an approach is necessary in order to adapt to the technical circumstances of each case of production and movement of the specified seeds and specified plants.

(9)

In particular, all lots of specified seeds should undergo sampling and testing by the competent authority in order to detect the presence of the specified pest. Those specified seeds should also be tested by the competent authority or professional operator, as applicable, prior to further processing, and have been found, according to those tests, to be free from the specified pest. This is necessary for the protection of the Union territory from the specified pest, as the specified seeds are the starting material for the production of all respective plants.

(10)

In order to protect the Union territory from the specified pest, requirements should be set out for the introduction into the Union of specified seeds and specified plants for planting from third countries. Those requirements should be similar to the ones concerning the movement of the specified seeds and specified plants for planting within the Union, in order to ensure a non-discriminatory approach.

(11)

It is proportionate to except from those requirements specified seeds and specified plants belonging to varieties which are known to be resistant to the specified pest, because the respective phytosanitary risk is reduced to an acceptable level in the case of those plants. Members States should notify to the Commission and to the other Members States a list of those resistant varieties, regularly updated.

(12)

In order to ensure effective official controls against the entry of the specified pest into the Union, at least 20 % of the consignments of specified seeds and of specified plants for planting should be sampled and tested by the competent authority at the border control posts of first arrival into the Union, or at a control point as referred to in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2123 (5). For consignments of specified seeds and specified plants for planting originating in Israel and China, that sampling and testing rate should be 50 % and 100 %, respectively, due to the higher number of interceptions of the specified pest in commodities originating from those third countries.

(13)

In order to allow sufficient time for the third countries, the competent authorities and the professional operators to adapt to the provisions of this Regulation, it should apply from 1 September 2023. For this reason, and in order to avoid any legal gap, the expiration of the application of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 should be extended from 31 May 2023 to 31 August 2023.

(14)

The full assessment of the specified pest is still pending, in order to determine its risk for the Union territory. For this reason, this Regulation should apply until 31 December 2024, in order to allow time for that assessment to happen by then.

(15)

In order to swiftly address the phytosanitary risk of the specified pest, the rules of this Regulation should become applicable after the shortest possible delay. Therefore, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication.

(16)

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

(a)

‘specified pest’ means Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV);

(b)

‘specified plants’ means plants of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof, and of Capsicum spp., other than specified seeds and specified fruits;

(c)

‘specified plants for planting’ means plants for planting of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof and of Capsicum spp., other than specified seeds;

(d)

‘specified seeds’ means seeds of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof, and of Capsicum spp.;

(e)

‘specified fruits’ means fruits of Solanum lycopersicum L. and hybrids thereof, and of Capsicum spp.