EN   EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, XXX  
SANTE/12012/2020 Rev. 1 
(POOL/G1/2020/12012/12012R1 -
EN.docx)  
[…](2020) XXX  draft  
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 on measures to prevent the 
introduction into and the spread within the Union of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus 
(ToBRFV)   EN 1  EN COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 on measures to prevent the 
introduction into and the spread within the Union of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus 
(ToBRFV)  
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , 
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031  of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 26 October 2016 on protective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations 
(EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EE C, 
98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC1, and in particular Article  30, 
Having regard to  Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the 
application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant  
protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 
1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and 
(EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (E C) No 
1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 
2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 
882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/60 8/EEC, 
89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council 
Decision 92/438/EEC2, and in particular Article 22(3) and Article  52 thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/11913 entered into force on 15 
August  2020. Since that date, certain Member States and professional operators have 
interpreted and applied the term ‘storage’, contained in paragraph 2 of Article 7 of that 
Regulation,  in a diverging manner.  
(2) For practical reasons and as the seeds of Solanum lyc opersicum L. and Capsicum spp. 
(‘the specified seeds’)  that have been harvested before 15 August 2020 cannot fulfil 
the requirement for their mother plants to be produced in a production site where the 
specified pest is known not to occur, on the basis of official inspections carried out at 
the appropriate time to detect the specified pest , such seeds  should be exempted from 
the condition  under Article 7 (1)(a)  of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 . 
                                                 
1 OJ L 317, 23.11.2016, p. 4 . 
2 OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1. 
3 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 of 11 August 2020 establishing measures to 
prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus 
(ToBRFV) and repealing Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1615  (OJ L 262, 12.8.2020, p. 6).  
 EN 2  EN (3) Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191 should be 
amended to clarify that the specified seeds  that have been harvested prior to 15 August 
2020 should be sampled and tested for the presence of the specified pest by the 
competent authority or by profession al operators under official supervision of the 
competent authority before their first movement within the Union. Such  derogation 
from paragraph 2 of Article 7  of that Regulation  should  allow seeds already 
accompanied by a plant passport to circulate in the Union territory without being 
further tested.   
(4) The specified seeds moved for the first time within the Union from 1 April 2021 
onwards , and which  have been tested before 30 September  2020  with the ELISA 
method , should  be tested again with a testing method , other than ELISA , as referred to 
in point 3 of the Annex.  
(5) As t he specified seeds , originating from third countries  and harvested before 15 
August 2020 cannot fulfil the condition for their mother plants to be produced in a 
production site where the specified pest is known not to occur, on the basis of official 
inspections carried out at the appropriate time to detect the specified pest , such seeds 
to be  introduced into the  Union , should be exempted from th e requirement  under  
point (a) (i) of Article 9(1) .  
(6) The Commission was informed by the seed industry sector and by the Member States 
that the requirement to include the name of the registered production site in the 
phytosanitary cer tificate in accordance with Article 9 of Implementing Regulation 
(EU) 2020/1191 is causing delays and practical difficulties to the exporters, as for 
them it is difficult to identify the concrete production site. For the purpose of 
facilitating the identif ication of the registered production site by the competent 
authorities and professional operators of third countries, that requirement should be 
replaced by a requirement for submitting information on the traceability of the 
production site of the mother p lants.  
(7) The specified seeds originating from third countries  should be tested using the 
sampling and testing methods as referred in the Annex of Implementing Regulation 
(EU) 2020/1191.  To take into account that some  specified  seeds may have been  tested 
months before they are actually certified for export, it is proportionate  from 1 April 
2021 onwards  to require carrying out of  mandatory molecular testing , and give third 
countries time to adapt to this requirement.  
(8) In order to avoid unnecessary trade rest rictions for the specif ied seeds harvested before 
15 August 2020, this Regulation should become applicable within the shortest possible 
time. Therefore, this Regulation should enter into force on the third day following that 
of its publication.  
(9) The measur es provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,  
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : 
Article 1  
Amendment of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1191  
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/ 1191 is amended as  follow s: 
(1) Article 7 is amended as follows:  
(a) in paragraph 1 , the following subparagraph is added:  EN 3  EN ‘Specified seeds that have been harvested before 15 August 2020 shall be 
exempted from the condition  under  point ( a).’; 
(b) paragraph  2 of Article 7 is replaced by the following:  
‘2. By way of derogation from  point (a) and from the first subparagraph of 
point b) of  paragraph 1, specified seeds that have been  harvested prior to 15 
August 2020 shall have been sampled and tested for  the specified pest by the 
competent authority or by professional operators under official supervision of 
the competent authority  and found free from that pest , before their first 
movement within the Union.  
The specified seeds  moved for the first time wit hin the Union from  1 April 
2021  on, and which  have been tested before 30 September  2020  with Elisa 
method , shall be tested again with a testing method,  other than ELISA, as 
referred to  in point 3 of the Annex .’;  
(2) Article 9 is amended as follow s: 
(a) in paragraph 1, point (a), the text of point (ii) is replaced by the following:  
‘the specified seed s concerned or their mother plants have undergone official 
sampling and testing for the specified pest as set out in the Annex  and have 
been found, according to those tests, to be free from the specified pest ;’;  
(b) in paragraph 1, point (b) is replaced by the following:  
‘information ensuring the traceability of the produc tion site of the mother 
plants.’;   
(c) the following paragraph 3 is added:  
‘3. By way of derogati on from  point (a) (i) of paragraph 1, for the specified 
seeds, which have been harvested prior to 15 August 2020, the Additional 
Declaration shall only state the fulfilment of the condition under point (a)(ii) of 
paragraph 1 and shall include the statement:  “The seeds have been harvested 
before 15 August 2020. ’; 
(d) the following paragraph 4 is added:  
‘4. In phytosanitary certificates issued after 31 March  2021, the Additional 
Declaration shall confirm that specified seeds  originating from third countries  
have b een tested under one of the  testing method s, other than ELISA, as 
referred to in point 3  of the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 
2020/119 1.’ 
Article 2 
Entry into force  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third  day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  EN 4  EN Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission  
 The Presiden t 
 Ursula VON DER LEYEN