Regulation (EU) 2024/3115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 as regards multiannual survey programmes, notifications concerning the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests, temporary derogations from import prohibitions and special import requirements and establishment of procedures for granting them, temporary import requirements for high-risk plants, plant products and other objects, the establishment of procedures for the listing of high-risk plants, the content of phytosanitary certificates and the use of plant passports, and as regards certain reporting requirements for demarcated areas and surveys of pests and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625 as regards certain notifications of non-compliance

‘8 The finding of a presence of the pest concerned in the buffer zone referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and the abolition of the demarcated areas referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be notified through the electronic notification system referred to in Article 103.’

1 A Union Plant Health Emergency Team (“the Team”), composed of experts, shall be created with the purpose of providing Member States, upon their request, with urgent assistance in relation to the measures to be taken pursuant to Articles 10 to 19, 27 and 28 concerning new outbreaks of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30. In justified cases, the Team may also provide urgent assistance to third countries bordering the Union territory or presenting an imminent phytosanitary risk for that territory, upon the request of one or more Member States and the third country concerned, in relation to the outbreaks in their territories of Union quarantine pests and pests subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30. For each case of assistance, the Commission shall appoint specific members of the Team, on the basis of their expertise, and in consultation with the Member State or third country concerned. That assistance may include in particular: (a) scientific, technical and managerial on-the-spot or remote assistance as regards the eradication of the pests concerned, the prevention of their spread and other measures, in close collaboration with the competent authorities of the Member State or third country concerned by outbreaks of pests or suspicion thereof; (b) specific scientific advice on the suitable diagnostic methods, as appropriate, in coordination with the relevant European Union reference laboratory referred to in Article 94 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and other reference laboratories; (c) specific assistance, as appropriate, to support coordination among the competent authorities of the Member States or third countries and with those laboratories. The content, conditions and timing of that assistance shall be determined by the Commission in agreement with the Member State or third country concerned and with the respective Member States providing the experts.

2 Member States may submit to the Commission the list of experts that they propose for designation as members of the Team and keep it updated. On that occasion, Member States shall provide all relevant information on the professional profile and the field of expertise of each expert proposed.

3 Members of the Team shall be entitled to an indemnity for their participation in the Team’s on-the-spot activities and, where applicable, for serving as team leaders or rapporteurs on a specific assistance mission. That indemnity, and the reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs, shall be paid by the Commission in accordance with the rules for the reimbursement of travel, subsistence and other expenses for experts.’

1 By way of derogation from Article 40(1) and Article 41(1), the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, adopt temporary derogations from the prohibition provided for in Article 40(1), and from the special and equivalent requirements referred to in Article 41(2), concerning the introduction into the Union territory of specific plants, plant products and other objects originating from one or more third countries that present a phytosanitary risk which is not yet fully assessed. Those implementing acts shall: (a) set out temporary measures concerning the introduction of those plants, plant products and other objects into the Union territory, in accordance with the principles set out in Section 2 of Annex II; and (b) amend the relevant parts of the implementing acts referred to in Article 40(2) and Article 41(2) by inserting a reference to the derogation concerning the plant, plant product or other object concerned.

2 The temporary derogations referred to in paragraph 1 may be adopted only if the following conditions have been fulfilled: (a) (i) the Commission has received evidence justifying the adoption of temporary derogations with requirements equivalent to, or more stringent than, those referred to in Article 41; or (ii) the third country concerned has submitted to the Commission a request containing official written guarantees for the application in its territory, prior to and at the moment of making the request, of the measures which are necessary for addressing the phytosanitary risk concerned; and (b) an assessment has shown that those plants, plant products or other objects pose a risk that can be reduced to an acceptable level by applying the measures which are necessary to address the phytosanitary risk concerned.

3 The Commission is empowered to adopt a delegated act, in accordance with Article 105, supplementing this Regulation as regards the procedure to be followed in order to grant the temporary derogations referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. That delegated act shall provide for the following elements of the procedure: (a) the preparation, content and submission of the requests and dossiers by the third countries concerned; (b) the actions to be taken following the reception of those requests and dossiers, including, where appropriate, the consultation of scientific bodies or the consideration of scientific opinions or studies; (c) handling of the requests and dossiers concerning confidentiality and data protection.

4 By way of derogation from Article 42(2), the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, adopt temporary derogations from the acts referred to in Article 42(3) if all of the following conditions are fulfilled: (a) the phytosanitary risk of the high-risk plants, plant products or other objects concerned is not yet fully assessed; (b) a provisional assessment has shown that those plants, plant products or other objects pose a risk that can be reduced to an acceptable level by applying the measures which are necessary to address the phytosanitary risk concerned; (c) no implementing act pursuant to Article 42(4) has yet been adopted as regards the plants, plant products or other objects concerned. Those implementing acts shall set out temporary measures which concern the introduction of those plants, plant products and other objects into the Union and are necessary to reduce the respective phytosanitary risk to an acceptable level.

5 The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 4 shall provide for yearly reporting from the third country concerned about the application of the respective temporary measures. In the event that a report leads to the conclusion that the risk concerned is not appropriately addressed by the measures reported on, the act providing for those measures shall be immediately repealed or amended as necessary.

6 The application period of the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be longer than five years. However, that period may be renewed, and the derogation concerned may be subject to amended requirements, if so justified on the basis of an updated assessment.

7 The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 4 shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 107(2).’

‘5a Plants, plant products or other objects subject to the measures referred to in Article 1(2), point (g), which enter the Union as part of passengers’ personal luggage or through postal services intended for personal consumption or use, shall be exempted from the notification obligation set out in paragraph 5 of this Article, if the non-compliance concerns the absence of the phytosanitary certificate or other official attestation as referred to in Article 99(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031. The competent authorities shall keep a record of those cases of non-compliance and shall, on an annual basis, provide the Commission and the competent authorities of the other Member States with a report containing a summary of those records. That report shall be submitted via the IMSOC.’.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Article 1, point (14), shall apply from 6 July 2026.