2454 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

Evaluation of the Community Plant Health Regime: Final Report
DG SANCO Evaluation Framework Contract Lot 3 (Food Chain)
5.5 Functioning of the internal market: Plant Passport system
Measures of the intra-EU plant health regime have aimed to guarantee the functioning of the
internal market (through the plant passport system), as well as establishing the possibility of
maintaining the quarantine status of certain HOs even though these had been introduced or
established in some areas within the EU (through the concept of Protected Zones).
The limitations of these tools have been highlighted in the evaluation of the CPHR to date,
and therefore there is need to understand what changes would be needed in order to ensure the
proper functioning and the achievement of objectives.
5.5.1 Background
As concluded in section 3.5, the current plant passport system was set up at the time of the
introduction of the EU Single Market, with the dual objective of ensuring plant health and
facilitating trade within the EU, but its implementation during the last 15 years appears to
have often created a contradiction between these objectives.
The evaluation identified a number of weaknesses in the implementation of the current system
for the EU as a whole. In several MS, significant evidence of interceptions of HOs on intra-
EU trade raises questions on the credibility of the system. Within this overall conclusion, it is
noted that the implementation of the system as such is not uniform across the EU. Although in
some cases (MS/regions/sectors) the system appears to work sufficiently well and significant
effort has been put to this since its introduction in 1993, in other cases implementation
continues to face serious shortcomings (inadequate compliance, sanctions/penalties not
imposed). The lack of harmonisation in implementation is particularly serious in the case of
the plant passport system as this is the backbone of internal EU controls.
These shortcomings point to the need for revision with a view to improving harmonisation
and ensuring that objectives are being met.
Moving forward, all MS clearly want to continue with the plant passport system, but are
strongly in favour of revising it (Q4.7 f). The options for which MS CAs are, as a strong
majority, in favour include tightening rules and inspections, harmonising the plant passport
document, and setting up an EU wide electronic database of plant passport information for
consultation and information exchange by MS CAs. The improvement of staff/resources for
the implementation of the requirements is considered a necessary condition in all cases.
Food Chain Evaluation Consortium 351