Description
The purpose of establishing a protected zone is to prevent the introduction of a harmful organism, which is more or less widespread in the rest of the European Union, but which may nevertheless cause serious socio-economic and/or environmental damage in a limited area where it is still absent.
Quarantine pests relevant to protected zones and the respective protected zones in which they are considered to be such are listed in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 - Annex III.
Therefore, it is prohibited in the protected zones to introduce and move plants and plant products of any origin that may harbour the specific NWO, as highlighted in Annex IX of the same Regulation.
ZP PASSPORT According to Article 80 of Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, in order to introduce and move plants and plant products banned from certain protected zones, it is necessary for the Professional Operator (previously authorised) to apply the ZP Passport specific to the specific NWO. Its issue may:
1) not be subject to any particular requirements, in which case the Authorised Operator only issues the ZP Passport if the visual examinations (and sample analyses, if any) he has carried out on the plants during their production process rule out the presence of the NWOs listed in Annex III of Reg. (EU) 2019/2072;
2) be subject to special requirements, in which case the authorised operator issues the ZP passport if the plants comply with the phytosanitary requirements set out in Annex X of Reg. (EU) 2019/2072.
In contrast to the ordinary plant passport (hereinafter PP), in accordance with Article 81 of Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, the ZP passport must be issued and accompany the plants also in the case of direct sale to the end user, i.e. to "natural or legal persons who, not acting for commercial or professional purposes, purchase plants or plant products for personal use" (e.g. accommodation facilities, municipalities, apartment blocks, etc.).
Similarly to the PP, it consists of an official label, which must be affixed to the smallest sales unit before it is moved, and is made on any media suitable for printing as long as it is not perishable, easily visible and clearly legible; moreover, the information on it must be unalterable and durable.
Finally, it must be distinguishable from any other information or labels that may appear on the same packaging or container.
The plant passports issued must conform to the models in Part B and Part D of the Annex to Reg. (EU) 2017/2313. Like the PP, the ZP passport may also be integrated into the certification label, if required.
It is emphasised that in a ZP passport, the following elements may not be omitted: the name or EPPO code of the harmful organism to which the ZP passport relates and the traceability code (referred to in C), whether alphanumeric or a QRcode.
If the need arises to issue a replacement plant passport, the words 'ZP' and the botanical names/ EPPO codes of the quarantine pests relevant to the protected zone may not be added unless they were present on the original ZP plant passport.
The original ZP plant passports must be kept on file for 3 years as documentation associated with the replacement plant passport.
Please note that the original ZP passport may only be replaced if it is necessary to split the sales unit (receipt) into two or more new sales units.
It is clear that the new replacement ZP passport must fulfil all the conditions initially required for its issue, i.e:
- the original phytosanitary characteristics of the lot are preserved;
- it is guaranteed that the plants have not been in contact with the specified harmful organism; and
- traceability of the process is maintained.
OBLIGATIONS OF THE PROFESSIONAL OPERATOR issuing the ZP passport. In addition to the obligations of the PO issuing ordinary plant passports, the authorisation to issue plant passports must be amended/supplemented.
Subsequently, the PO intending to issue a ZP passport must notify the competent SFR annually of both the intention to produce plants or plants for protected zones and the location of nurseries and processing and storage facilities for host plants of quarantine organisms relevant to protected zones.
The communication must be received prior to the planting of the host species and, in particular for those NAOs that are subject to phytosanitary requirements, in sufficient time to allow official surveillance and the performance of the necessary controls.
This communication must be made through official channels (by pec to serv.agricoltura@pec.provincia.tn.it) in any case no later than 30 April of each calendar year.