New EU emergency measures against Xylella fastidiosa

To help protect EU Member States against the introduction of Xylella fastidiosa, EU emergency legislation has been introduced, which includes requirements to protect against introductions from non-EU countries, as well as from those parts of the EU where it is has been detected.

New requirements for imports of non-EU plants have been introduced and movements of ‘specified plants’ (which includes the confirmed hosts of Xylella fastidiosa in the EU and further afield) are only possible from areas in the EU where the pathogen is present if stringent conditions are met.

The plant health authorities in the UK and elsewhere are also carrying out surveillance for the pathogen.

The EU Plant Health Standing Committee has recently updated the emergency measures against this pathogen, to reflect the evolving situation in Italy and France, and to improve preparedness within the EU more generally.

EU Decision 2015/789 from May 2015 regarding measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa has been amended by Decision 2015/2417 which came into force on 19 December 2015.

Source: UK Government