The main objective of EU plant health legislation is to protect the safety
of food derived from plants and to secure the
health and quality status of crops in all member
states.
It also regulates the
trade of plants and plant products within the EU
as well as imports from the rest of the world in
accordance with international plant health
standards and obligations.
The EU supervises the
sale and use of plant protection products, or
pesticides and sets standards to monitor and
control pesticide residues. It implements
preventative measures to guard against the
introduction and spread of organisms harmful to
plants or plant products within the EU. It also
ensures quality conditions for the sale of seeds
and propagating material within the EU.
EU legislation also
covers the intellectual property rights granted
to plant varieties, as well as the conservation
and use of genetic resources.
A new Community plant health strategy is being developed. The first step is the launching of an evaluation of the current
Common plant health strategy (June 2009 - June 2010).