Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1433 of 3 July 2026 amending Annexes II, VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as regards measures to prevent the entry into, and the presence, establishment and spread within, the Union territory of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield
Date: 2026-07-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Subjects: import (EU), import restriction, originating product, pest, plant disease, plant health control, protection of plant life, rice, surveillance concerning imports




L_202601433EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2026/1433


6.7.2026







            COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2026/1433
of 3 July 2026
         
amending Annexes II, VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as regards measures to prevent the entry into, and the presence, establishment and spread within, the Union territory of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield


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/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC (1), and in particular Article 5(3) and Article 41(3),

Whereas:







(1)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (2) establishes a list of Union quarantine pests, protected zone quarantine pests and Union regulated non-quarantine pests (‘RNQPs’). It further sets out requirements for the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of certain plants, plant products and other objects, in order to prevent the entry, presence, establishment and spread of those pests in the Union territory.












(2)


More specifically, Part B of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 establishes a list of Union quarantine pests known to occur in the Union territory. Annex VII to that Regulation establishes a list of plants, plant products and other objects, originating in third countries, and the corresponding special requirements for their introduction into the Union territory. Annex VIII to that Regulation sets out a list of plants, plant products and other objects, originating in the Union territory, and the corresponding special requirements for their movement within the Union territory.












(3)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1372 (3) established temporary measures to prevent the entry into, the movement and spread within, the multiplication and release in the Union territory of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield (‘the specified pest’). It included requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within, the Union territory of certain plants for planting.












(4)


It was repealed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1432 (4) establishing measures concerning the establishment, spread, eradication and containment of the specified pest within the Union territory.












(5)


The specified pest caused significant damage to plants of Oryza sativa L. in the areas of the Union territory where it is present. In addition, a risk assessment carried out by Italy in 2018 (5) concluded that it fulfilled the relevant criteria set out in Subsection 2 of Section 3 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031. There is evidence that the specified pest may spread to further areas if no appropriate measures are adopted. In addition, surveys performed in the demarcated areas, where the specified pest is present, indicate that it can no longer be eradicated from certain of those areas.












(6)


Therefore, the specified pest fulfils the relevant criteria set out in Section 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and qualifies as Union quarantine pest which is known to be present in the Union. It should therefore be added to Part B of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072.












(7)


Furthermore, the application of the measures established under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1372 concerning the introduction into and movement within the Union territory of plants for planting with roots of Oryza sativa L., that have been grown in soil (‘the specified plants’), has proved effective in reducing the risk of that pest to an acceptable level.












(8)


It is therefore appropriate, for reasons of consistency and legal certainty, to include those measures, which have been proven effective to prevent the entry into, and spread within, the Union territory of the specified pest, where necessary in an updated form, in Annexes VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, as requirements concerning the introduction into, and movement within the Union, of the specified plants.












(9)


Annex VI to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 sets out the list of plants, plant products and other objects whose introduction into the Union from certain third countries is prohibited. In accordance with point 14 of that Annex, the introduction of plants for planting belonging to specific subfamilies and genera of the family Poaceae from a group of third countries and specific areas of third countries is prohibited. This prohibition includes plants for planting of the genus Oryza, to which the specified plants belong to.












(10)


Accordingly, special requirements in relation to the specified pest should only apply to third countries from which the introduction into the Union territory of plants for planting belonging to the family Poaceae, as specified in point 14 of Annex VI to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, is allowed. The specified plants originating from these third countries should only be introduced into the Union territory where they originate in a pest-free country or pest-free areas or pest-free production sites established in accordance with the relevant International Standards for Phytosanitary measures. Therefore, appropriate special requirements should be added to Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 concerning the specified plants.












(11)


Pest-free production sites may be located in close proximity to infested areas, and are therefore more at risk of being infested by the specified pest. Moreover, the specified pest is difficult to detect and determine in its natural habitat. Therefore, official inspections of pest-free production sites and their immediate vicinity, carried out at the most appropriate time for detection of the specified pest, are necessary to warrant the pest-freedom of production sites. Accordingly, appropriate special requirements should be added to Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 concerning the specified plants.












(12)


There is no risk that seeds in international trade are contaminated by soil or debris. Therefore, no special requirements are needed for seeds of Oryza sativa L.












(13)


Moreover, new special requirements should be added in Annex VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 concerning the specified plants. This is necessary to ensure that the movement of those plants, from areas which are in immediate vicinity to areas where the specified pest is present, namely the buffer zone of the respective demarcated areas, to the rest of the Union, does not present an unacceptable phytosanitary risk.












(14)


Those requirements should be equivalent to the requirements for pest-free areas and pest-free production sites laid down in Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, as the risk of spread of the specified pest to those areas is equivalent, due to the biology of the pest.












(15)


Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 should therefore be amended accordingly.












(16)


The measures 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
Annexes II, VII and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth 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.
Done at Brussels, 3 July 2026.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 317, 23.11.2016, p. 4, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/2031/oj.

(2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards protective measures against pests of plants, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 690/2008 and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (OJ L 319, 10.12.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2019/2072/oj).

(3)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1372 of 5 August 2022 as regards temporary measures to prevent the entry into, the movement and spread within, the multiplication and release in the Union of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield (OJ L 206, 8.8.2022, p. 16, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2022/1372/oj).

(4)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1432 of 3 July 2026 on measures to prevent the establishment and the spread within the Union territory of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield and for the eradication and containment of that pest within certain demarcated areas and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1372 (OJ L, 2026/1432, 6.7.2026, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/1432/oj).

(5)  Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (2018), ‘Pest risk analysis on Meloidogyne graminicola (Golden & Birchfield)’, https://pra.eppo.int/pra/68ea888e-6c58-4010-b17a-d0d96b0ac4a7.




ANNEX
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 is amended as follows:






(1)


in Part B of Annex II, entry ‘5. Nematodes’, the following point is added:






‘6.



Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield [MELGGC]’;














(2)


in Annex VII, the following point is inserted between points 6 and 7:









‘6.1


Plants for planting with roots of Oryza sativa L. that have been grown in soil


ex 0602 90 50


Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canary Islands, Egypt, Faeroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia (only the following parts: Central Federal District (Tsentralny federalny okrug), Northwestern Federal District (Severo- Zapadny federalny okrug), Southern Federal District (Yuzhny federalny okrug), North Caucasian Federal District (Severo- Kavkazsky federalny okrug) and Volga Federal District (Privolzhsky federalny okrug)), San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom (*1)









1.


Official statement that the plants:






(a)


originate in a country recognised as being free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield, in accordance with the relevant International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures;
or










(b)


originate in an area established by the national plant protection organisation in the country of origin as being free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield, in accordance with the relevant International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures;
or










(c)


have been grown in a production site established as free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield, in accordance with the relevant International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures:






(i)


which has been registered and supervised by the national plant protection organisation in the country of origin; and










(ii)


which has been officially inspected, at the most appropriate time, for detecting symptoms of infestation in known host plants of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield, and where appropriate in the soil during the last complete cycle of vegetation prior to the export, and found free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield; and










(iii)


where official inspections were carried out at the most appropriate time for detecting symptoms of infestation in known host plants of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield and, where appropriate, in the soil, during the last complete cycle of vegetation prior to the export, in a zone with a width of at least 100 m surrounding the production site, and that zone has been found free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield.


















2.


Where point 1(b) applies, the pest free area concerned shall be mentioned on the phytosanitary certificate under the rubric ‘‘place of origin’’.









(*1)  In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 5(4) of the Windsor Framework (see Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 24 March 2023 (OJ L 102, 17.4.2023, p. 87)) in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Framework, for the purposes of this Annex, references to the United Kingdom do not include Northern Ireland.’














(3)


in Annex VIII, the following point is inserted between points 14 and 15:







‘14.1


Plants for planting with roots of Oryza sativa L. that have been grown in soil


Official statement that:






(a)


the plants originate in an area known to be free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield;
or










(b)


the plants have been grown in a pr7oduction site in the buffer zone of a demarcated area established pursuant to Article 4 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1432 (*2) established as free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield in accordance with relevant International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures:






(i)


which is registered and supervised by the competent authorities;
and










(ii)


which was officially inspected, at the most appropriate time, for detecting symptoms of infestation in known host plants of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield, and where appropriate in the soil, during the last complete cycle of vegetation prior to the movement, and found free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield;
and










(iii)


where official inspections were carried out at the most appropriate time for detecting symptoms of infestation in known host plants of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield and, where appropriate, in the soil, during the last complete cycle of vegetation prior to the movement, in a zone with a width of at least 100 m surrounding the production site, and that zone has been found free from Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield.













(*2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1432 of 3 July 2026 on measures to prevent the establishment and the spread within the Union territory of Meloidogyne graminicola Golden & Birchfield and for the eradication and containment of that pest within certain demarcated areas and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1372 (OJ L, 2026/1432, 6.7.2026, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/1432/oj).’











ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/1433/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)