On Monday 21 April, the Council of Ministers is set to adopt the regulation resulting from an inter-institutional compromise on forest reproductive material (FRM), which, once in force, will replace Directive 1999/105/EC (see EUROPE 13768/10).
The regulation aims to ensure the traceability of forest reproductive material harvested from registered parent trees (basic material) and to certify FRM in order to ensure the high quality of the material.
The new regulation introduces an appropriate and effective control system for FRM. Member States will have to designate competent authorities with adequate resources and powers, including access to operators’ premises and relevant documentation, to carry out these checks, according to an EU Council draft statement (https://aeur.eu/f/lin ).
National contingency plans will remain optional. Member States will have to include approved basic material in their national registers, with a corresponding EU-wide list to ensure traceability.
As regards FRM imports from third countries, participation in the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme will no longer be compulsory, but may be taken into account by the Commission when assessing the equivalence of the requirements applicable to such FRM. By way of derogation, the Commission may temporarily authorise the import of FRM from a third country that does not meet these requirements, in cases where a proven shortage of species exists within Member States following exceptional events and cannot be resolved by other Member States or by third countries for which equivalence has been established.
The text: https://aeur.eu/f/lj6 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)