EU rules for the marketing of fruit plants

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2008/90/EC — marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

It updates and improves EU rules to ensure that purchasers receive propagating material* and fruit plants which are healthy and of good quality.
It improves and streamlines the system of rules in which businesses operate, reflecting scientific and technical progress and setting out clear conditions that have to be met to satisfy new consumer and industry needs.
The directive is a recast and replaces Council Directive 92/34/EEC.

KEY POINTS

Scope

It applies to the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production within the EU.
Annex 1 provides a list of the genera and species (as well as their hybrids*) which are included.
The directive also applies to rootstocks* and other parts of plants of other genera or species (and hybrids) not listed in Annex 1, if material of genera or species listed in Annex I or their hybrids is grafted* or is to be grafted onto them.
It does not apply to propagating material or fruit plants intended for export to non-EU countries, provided they are identified as such and kept sufficiently isolated.

The directive covers:

requirements for propagating material and fruit plants — includes general requirements for being placed on the market and specific requirements for each genus and species mentioned in Annex 1;
requirements to be met by suppliers — including the rules for registration of suppliers and specific requirements related to the responsibility of suppliers in the production and reproduction process of all propagating material and fruit plants;
variety identification and labelling — propagating material and fruit plants must be marketed with a reference to the variety to which they belong. If the material does not belong to a variety, as may be the case for rootstocks, the species or interspecific hybrid must be mentioned;
exemptions — small producers whose production and sales of propagating material and fruit plants is intended for final use by persons on the local market who are not professionally involved in plant production may be exempted from the labelling rules and checks and official inspections;
- propagating material and fruit plants produced in non-EU countries — until 31 December 2022 EU countries may assess if propagating material and fruit plants produced in a non-EU country is equivalent in all aspects to material produced in the EU;
control measures — covering:
- official inspections by EU countries — by a body officially appointed by the EU country and notified to the European Commission;
- EU monitoring — the Commission may inspect trials carried out by EU countries to check that material conforms with the directive’s requirements and conditions;
- checks — the Commission may organise on-the-spot checks;
- follow-up action — if a material is found not to meet the requirements, appropriate measures must be taken by the EU country including a ban on marketing of the materials.

FROM WHEN DOES THE DIRECTIVE APPLY?

Directive 2008/90/EC revised and replaced Directive 92/34/EEC (and its subsequent amendments) and EU countries had to apply the new rules of Directive 2008/90/EC by 30 September 2012.

BACKGROUND

The directive is the final step in establishing common EU rules for the marketing of propagating material.
The directive has been amended on 3 occasions including by Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 on EU spending on information about food and animal feed.
For more information, see:
- EU marketing requirements (European Commission).

KEY TERMS

Propagating material: seeds, parts of plants and all plant material, including rootstocks, intended for the propagation and production of fruit plants.

Hybrid: plant obtained by grafting the upper part of one plant onto a rootstock of another plant to combine the best characteristics of the two plants.

Rootstock: a healthy root system and some portion of the stem which is used as the lower plant portion in grafting.

Grafting: the process whereby the upper part of one plant is attached to the root system (rootstock) of another plant so that they appear to be a single plant.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Directive 2008/90/EC of 29 September 2008 on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production (Recast version) (OJ L 267, 8.10.2008, pp. 8-22)

Successive amendments to Directive 2008/90/EC have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.