Plant Passport

The plant passport consists of anofficial label that must therefore be affixed to the minimum sales unit before it is moved off the farm or to plant material that a company moves between two farm centres or production sites located in different provinces.

The PP is made on any media suitable for printing, as long as it is not perishable, easily visible and clearly legible, and the information on it must be unalterable and durable. Finally, it must be distinguishable from any other information or label that may appear on the same packaging or container.

PPs issued must conform to the models in the Annex (Part A and Part B) of Reg. (EU) 2017/2313.

The PP must not be affixed to sales lots if the marketing is directed to end users, i.e. to persons (natural or legal) who, not acting for commercial or professional purposes, purchase plants or plant products for personal use (e.g. hobbyists, accommodation facilities, municipalities, condominiums, etc.).

AUTHORISATION TO USE THE PLANT PASSPORT. The Provincial Plant Protection Service authorises the Professional Operator (PO) to issue plant passports at farm centres or production sites located in the Province of Trento only if the applicant

• possesses the knowledge necessary to carry out the investigations regarding quarantine and regulated non-quarantine NGOs of relevance to the Union, which may affect plants, plant products and other objects, as well as the symptoms associated with them and the means to prevent their presence and spread
• has systems and procedures in place to comply with traceability requirements (registration and retention for at least three years of purchase, sale, movement data of each sales unit).

The operator authorised to issue the PP guarantees that the plants

• are free from EU-relevant quarantine pests (Annex II - Part A and B of Reg. (EU) 2019/2072);
• comply with the provisions regarding the presence of regulated non-quarantine pests (ONRQ) of relevance to the EU in nurseries (Annexes IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2019/2072);
• comply with any additional EU movement requirements laid down by the competent authority.

REPLACEMENT OF THE PLANT PASSPORT. The original PP may be replaced by a new PP if it is necessary to split the sales unit (receipt) into two or more new sales units. In this case, the PO may, for each new sales unit resulting from the division, replace the original PP with a new plant passport, provided that the following conditions are met

• the original phytosanitary characteristics of the goods are maintained;
• the traceability of the process is maintained (data recording of the supplier PO and storage of the replaced PP or its content for at least three years).

SELF-MONITORING OF PRODUCTION. The authorised PO, in order to issue the PP, must in particular

• subject plants, plant products and other passport items to thorough visual inspections to ensure the absence of harmful organisms (quarantine and regulated non-quarantine POs). This surveillance must be carried out at appropriate times and taking into account the phytosanitary risks associated with their activity;
• in the event of the suspected presence of a quarantine organism, immediately inform the Provincial Plant Protection Service and, if appropriate, immediately take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the harmful organism in question (separation/isolation of the material)
• in the presence of symptoms referable to regulated non-quarantine pests, prepare, if necessary, samples to be sent to an approved laboratory for self-monitoring for the relevant analyses. In case of confirmed presence, this material may not be passported and marketed.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE OP AUTHORISED TO ISSUE THE PLANT PASSPORT. The company issuing the PP must

• ensure adequate training for personnel (if any) involved in the investigation.
• identify and control the critical points of the production and marketing process.

In addition, the PO undertakes to fulfil all the obligations provided for by the legislation in force as well as the prescriptions issued by the competent SFR for the territory and to maintain the technical competence necessary to detect the signs of the presence of all the NGOs identified by the phytosanitary regulations in force, as well as to prevent their presence and spread.