Official Register of Professional Operators (RUOP)

Entry in this register is mandatory for several categories identified in Article 65 of Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, namely for all those Professional Operators (POs) who:

• introduce into the Union plants, plant products and other objects for which a phytosanitary certificate is required;
• move plants, plant products and other objects for which a plant passport is required into the Union
• issue a plant passport in accordance with Article 89 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;
• apply to the competent authority to issue phytosanitary certificates for export, re-export and/or pre-export;
• are authorised to apply the ISPM15 mark in accordance with Article 96 or to repair wood packaging material in accordance with Article 97 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031;
• are authorised to issue any other attestation referred to in Article 99 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, which provides information pursuant to Article 45 or 55 of that Regulation, or whose activities concern the relevant plants in the demarcated areas.

In addition to the aforementioned entities provided for in Article 65 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, Official Technical Document No. 4 issued by the Servizio Fitosanitario Nazionale provides for registration with the RUOP for:

• the Professional Operators who exclusively supply plants, plant products and other objects to end users by means of direct sales carried out at agricultural markets or other markets that take place outside the territory under the competence of the Regional Plant Protection Service where the operator is based;
• Professional Operators selling through distance contracts;
• seed companies identified in accordance with Legislative Decree No 2021 of 2 February 2021;
• producers of ware potatoes (excluding those selling directly to end users), as well as collective collection and dispatch centres located in their production areas;
• producers of fruit of Citrus L., Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf. and their hybrids marketed in bulk;
• turfgrass producers;
• greenskeepers" that reside/sell plants to professional operators and/or in protected areas (in the latter case even if sold directly to end users), or sell plants to end users by means of distance contracts;
• fruit and forestry plant service companies that sell plants or propagation material to POs, that use distance contracts for sales, or that handle plants destined for protected zones (ZP).

Subject to submission of a special application, each PO is registered only once by the Plant Protection Service responsible for its registered office.

On the other hand, POs are exempt from registration with the RUOP if they

• supply exclusively and directly to end users small quantities of plants, plant products and other objects, by means other than distance selling contracts;
• supply exclusively and directly to end users small quantities of seeds, excluding those requiring a phytosanitary certificate in the case of introduction into the EU;
• exercise a professional activity concerning plants, plant products and other objects that is limited to their transport on behalf of another professional operator;
• engage exclusively in the transport of objects of all kinds with the use of wooden packaging material.

When submitting an application, the Professional Operators described above must meet the following requirements

• have their registered office in the province of Trento
• be in possession of a VAT number
• be registered in the Register of Companies at the competent CCIAA;
• meet the requirements of Ministerial Decree 333987 of 27/07/2022 "Requirements, equipment and fulfilments of Professional Operators registered with the RUOP pursuant to Chapter VII of Legislative Decree No. 19 of 2 February 2021
• there must be no grounds for disqualification, suspension or prohibition pursuant to Article 67 of Legislative Decree 159/2001.

OBLIGATIONS. The Professional Operator registered with the RUOP, according to the regulations in force, is required to comply with the following obligations

• display the RUOP code on all the administrative documentation of his company (letterhead, invoices, delivery notes, stamps, etc.);
• allow the staff of the Provincial Plant Protection Service (hereinafter SFR) access to the production sites for control activities at the agreed times;
• keep, and exhibit upon request of the staff in charge of controls, a copy of a valid document of availability of land and/or facilities, as well as a copy of any supply, service or multiplication agreements for carrying out the activity
• update their personal and contact details within 30 days of the change;
• inform by 30 April each year of any changes regarding the production sites and genera/species concerned, the type of activity carried out, the type of goods produced/marketed and any other relevant changes in the phytosanitary field
• inform the Provincial Plant Protection Service if it suspects the presence of a quarantine pest.

The PO registered with the RUOP that carries out nursery activities also ensures compliance with the following obligations

• uniquely identify the plants in production to allow the recognition of species, variety (if any) and lot (e.g. by applying coded labels)
• separate production areas from marketing areas, in order to render any phytosanitary risk negligible;
• keep the productions of the various categories (fruit, vine, ornamental, vegetable, forestry) separate, identifying them by lot, species and variety, in order to reduce phytosanitary risks and avoid any possibility of mixing
• ensure proper management of weed and non weed plants, both within the nursery and in the immediate vicinity.

TRACEABILITY. The Professional Operator must guarantee the total traceability of the materials produced by the company, of the plant materials purchased from other Professional Operators and of the plant materials transferred for any reason to other Professional Operators.

The PO ensures the conservation of all information for at least THREE YEARS through the archiving of data that make it possible to identify, for each unit of sale (and/or lot), the POs from which the propagating material was produced and the POs to which the unit was supplied, as well as any other information deemed necessary for the purpose described above.