1. Competent authorities shall perform official controls at least once per year in the premises and, where applicable, in other locations used by professional operators authorised to issue plant passports in accordance with Article 84(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

2. Those controls shall include inspections and, in the case of suspicion of risks to plant health, the sampling and testing referred to in Article 92(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

3. Those controls shall be carried out at the most appropriate time with regard to the possibility of detecting the presence of relevant pests or signs or symptoms thereof.

4. In addition to the controls referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3, the competent authorities shall carry out physical checks on plants for planting other than seeds, including tubers, bulbs and rhizomes, that have been introduced into the Union at a dormant stage. The competent authorities shall carry out those checks during the first growing season after import on certain of those plants identified on the basis of the control plan referred to in paragraph 5.

5. The competent authorities shall determine the frequencies of the checks mentioned in paragraph 4, on the basis of a control plan, which shall be established in accordance with at least all of the following criteria:

the history and the level of Union quarantine pests intercepted and notified by the Member States in accordance with Article 11(c) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, found present on imported plants, plant products and other objects;

the occurrence of a priority pest, within the meaning of Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, in the relevant third country of origin, according to the available technical and scientific information;

information made available via the Information Management System for Official Controls (IMSOC) or any other official warning;

the biology of the host and the pests, and other relevant conditions for the efficient detection of a quarantine pest or a pest subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

6. When those checks mentioned in paragraph 4 demonstrate the presence of a quarantine pest or a pest subject to the measures adopted pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, competent authorities shall record the results of the checks in IMSOC into the corresponding finalised Common Health Entry Document (CHED) as referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, whenever it is possible to trace back the infested plant to the imported consignment.’

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/887 of 26 June 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/66 as regards post-import checks of plants for planting