EU sets procedure to list high-risk plants barred from entry

The European Commission has laid down the procedure for listing plants, plant products and other objects as “high-risk”, whose introduction into the European Union is prohibited pending a risk assessment. The rules are set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1195, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series) on 14 August 2026.

The delegated regulation, adopted in Brussels on 5 June 2026 and signed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, supplements Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council on protective measures against pests of plants, and in particular Article 42(1a) thereof. Under that framework, high-risk plants, plant products and other objects are provisionally listed in the annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019, and their entry into the Union is prohibited until the phytosanitary risk they pose has been assessed.

A procedure built on scientific evidence

Member States that wish to have plants, plant products or other objects listed as high-risk must submit a request to the Commission accompanied by a technical dossier. The Commission checks whether the dossier is complete, may ask for additional information or clarifications, and verifies any requests for confidentiality before forwarding it to the assessment group.

The technical dossier must contain at least the following evidence:

• data on the import, or interest for the import, of the items concerned into the Union from third countries;
• data on interceptions of those items due to the presence of pests associated with them;
• data on Union production of the items concerned and of other host plants that may be affected by the pests they host;
• information on the pests hosted by the items concerned;
• data demonstrating that the items may present a pest risk of an unacceptable level for the Union territory, in particular where that risk is not addressed by the requirements of Annex VII to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072;
• the contact details of the competent authority and the natural person responsible for liaising with the Commission, and any request to treat evidence as confidential.

The Commission may also act on its own initiative where it considers it necessary to address a phytosanitary risk, preparing a technical dossier containing the same evidence and submitting it directly to the assessment group.

A joint preliminary assessment group

Article 5 of the regulation establishes a preliminary assessment group made up of experts designated by the Member States, experts from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and experts from the Commission. The group may ask the requesting Member State or the Commission for additional information or clarifications, assesses the phytosanitary risk of the items concerned and completes its preliminary assessment within a reasonable period.

The Commission makes the assessment available to the Member States and, on that basis, adds or decides not to add the respective plants, plant products or other objects to the list set out in the annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019.

Confidentiality safeguards

Because the dossiers may contain commercially sensitive data, the members of the preliminary assessment group are barred from disclosing confidential information, without prejudice to national rules on protection of confidential information. Protected pieces of information include:

• the manufacturing or production process, including the method and technical and industrial specifications inherent to it, except for information relevant to the assessment of safety;
• commercial links between a producer or importer and the person requesting confidential treatment;
• commercial information revealing sourcing, market shares or business strategy.

The regulation enters into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal, that is, on 3 September 2026, and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. For importers and the European agricultural sector, the new procedure determines how swiftly a commodity under suspicion can be listed — and therefore kept out of the Union — until the scientific evidence shows whether the pests it may carry represent an unacceptable risk.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 14 August 2026 (official reference: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1195, CELEX L_202601195).