G/SPS/GEN/1639  
 
14 September 2018  
(18-5666) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
INFORMATION SESSION ON THE EU PLANT HEAL TH IMPORT REGIME  
28 SEPTEMBER 2018 - BRUSSELS  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE EUROPEAN UNION  
The following communication, received on 1 3 September 2018, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of  the European Union . 
 
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As announced at the SPS Committee meeting of last July, the European Union would like to invite 
WTO Members to an information session on the planned changes in the EU 's plant health import 
regime.  
The meeting will take place on 28 September 2018  between 10:00 and 13:00 in the Centre 
Borschette (rue Froissart 36, 1040 Brussels); interpretation will be provided in English, French and 
Spanish.  
For access to the conference building registration of participants is compulsory.  
Please re gister via the following website : 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_food -safety/dyna/meetings/form.cfm?id=926  
Deadline for registration : 25 September 2018 . 
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Background  
1. Regulation (EU) No 2016/2031 on protective measures against pests of plants1 ("Plant 
Health Law") was adopted on 26 October 2016 and entered into force on 13 December 2016. 
It constitutes a new EU legal framework for plant health providing co mprehensive and clear 
rules for the prevention of entry into, and spread within, the EU territory of pests injurious 
to plant health. These new rules will apply from 14 December 2019.  
2. Article 42 of the Regulation introduced the concept of "high risk plants , plant products and 
other objects", commodities whose import will be prohibited into the E uropean Union until a 
full risk assessment confirms their phytosanitary status. This list will take into account the 
specific criteria in Annex III to the Regulation . 
3. According to the Regulation, all plants (namely living plant material such as plants for 
planting, fruits, vegetables or cut flowers) can only be imported into the European Union if 
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. This is important to ensure an appropriate level 
of phytosanitary protection as well as an effective overview of the import of plants into the 
European Union and the risks thereof.  
                                                
1 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/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC, OJ L317, 
23 November 2016, p. 4 -104. G/SPS/GEN/1639  
 
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  4. A number of well specified plants, which are considered low risk, will be exempted from the 
requirement  for a phytosanitary certificate. The listing of those plants will take into account 
the criteria of Annex VI to this Regulation.  
5. The Commission is under legal obligation to identify both high risk and low risk plants and 
adopt an Implementing Regulation b y 14 December 2018.  
6. As announced at the last meeting of the SPS Committee, the European Union is acting in full 
transparency on these regulatory developments. In addition to the above information 
session, a 4 -week long public consultation on the draft legal act was conducted in July and 
August. Also as announced, an SPS notification will be submitted during the last week of 
September with a 60 -day comment period, giving  the European Union 's trade partners a 
second possibility to comment on the draft act . 
 
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