Plant passport

8.11.2019

Question for written answer E-003753/2019
to the Commission
Rule 138
Jan Huitema (Renew)

The European plant passport (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2313) is a measure which will enter into force in the European Union on 14 December 2019.

Each plant will have to be accompanied by a plant passport of the new model in order to support measures to protect against plant pests (Regulation (EU) 2016/2031). The aim of the Regulation is to make every plant traceable so that it will be easier to trace the source of plant pests and/or diseases. Plants and other ornamental horticulture products are the Netherlands’ most valuabe export product, the figure for 2018 being EUR 9.2 billion [1] . However, the impact on smaller plant breeders working with a diverse range of plants will be enormous. Coding each plant will entail a very high cost and heavy administrative burden for small producers cultivating a wide variety of plants.

Various Member States have not yet reached a clear agreement on the implementation of this Regulation. How will the Commission prevent unfair competition from arising between countries that apply the rules on the plant passport correctly and the rest?

In the view of the Commission, how much will the implementation costs amount to for SME plant growers in the Netherlands and, more generally, in all the Member States? Has an impact assessment been carried out concerning this aspect, focusing on the increase in costs?

Why has a system been chosen that involves affixing a physical sticker rather than a similar digital coding system?

• [1] https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2019/03/landbouwexport-ruim-90-miljard-euro-in-2018