Marking of wood and wood packaging material in accordance with International Standard for PhytosanitaryMeasures No 15 — issued under the International Plant Protection Convention done in Rome on 6 December1951.

The draft Regulation of the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development amending the Regulation on therequirements to be satisfied by operators authorised to apply marks on wood packaging material, wood orother items

The draft Regulation amends the Regulation of the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development of 25November 2020 on the requirements to be satisfied by operators authorised to apply marks on woodpackaging material, wood or other items in order to facilitate the activity consisting in subjecting woodpackaging material to phytosanitary treatment and marking in accordance with the ISPM-15.

The International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 — Regulation of wood packaging material ininternational trade (ISPM-15), adopted on the basis of the International Plant Protection Convention done atRome on 6 December 1951, sets out the rules for international trade in wood packaging material.
The ISPM-15 aims to prevent pests and pathogens endangering forests from spreading with wood packagingmaterial.
The phytosanitary treatments and marks specified in the ISPM-15 are referred to in Article 96 and Article 98(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 onprotective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and(EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC (OJ L 317,23.11.2016, p. 4, as amended), hereinafter referred to as ‘Regulation 2016/2031’. In accordance with thoseprovisions, the authorisation to carry out the phytosanitary treatments and marks referred to in ISPM-15requires appropriate knowledge and technical infrastructure. The requirements in this regard are set out in theamended Regulation, including:
1) requirements regarding qualifications of persons carrying out phytosanitary treatments before markapplication;
2) organisational and technical requirements to be satisfied by these operators;
3) manner of carrying out treatments of wood packaging material, wood, or other items before applying a markon them.
The draft Regulation shall amend the requirements to be satisfied by operators authorised to apply the markreferred to in ISPM-15 on wood packaging material, wood or other items, including:
1) introduce the possibility of checking the required knowledge the scope of which is set out in the Annex to thedraft Regulation during examinations prior to granting the authorisation — this shall enable operators with therequired knowledge to obtain authorisation without having any subject-related education;
2) expand the catalogue of lines of education providing entitlement to authorisation;
3) specify the organisational and technical requirements for the carrying out of treatments — with regard toassure permanent location for the chambers, devices, and rooms where heat treatment or fumigation shall beperformed;
4) correct the manner of carrying out treatments of wood packaging material, wood, or other items prior tomarking application (with regard to the intervals at which temperature is to be measured during heattreatment).
The Draft complies with the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15.
The provisions of the amended Regulation laying down qualification requirements shall ensure the mutualrecognition of qualifications obtained in other Member States of the European Union.