Decision (EU) 2024/3244 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 amending Council Decision 2008/971/EC as regards the forest reproductive material of the ‘tested’ category, its labelling and the names of the authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production

Amendments to Decision 2008/971/EC

Article 1

Decision 2008/971/EC is amended as follows: (1) in Article 1, the first paragraph is replaced by the following: ‘This Decision determines the conditions under which forest reproductive material of the “source identified”, “selected”, “qualified” and “tested” categories produced in a third country listed in Annex I is to be imported into the Union.’ ; (2) in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2.   Seed and planting stock of the “source identified”, “selected”, “qualified” and “tested” categories of species and artificial hybrids thereof listed in Annex I to Directive 1999/105/EC, produced in the third countries listed in Annex I to this Decision and officially certified by the third country authorities listed in that Annex, shall be considered equivalent to seed and planting stock complying with Directive 1999/105/EC, provided that the conditions laid down in Annex II to this Decision are met.’ ; (3) the Annexes are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.

Entry into force and application

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . It shall apply from 1 January 2025.

ANNEXSupplementary provisions

ANNEX The Annexes to Decision 2008/971/EC are amended as follows: (1) Annex I is replaced by the following: ‘ANNEX I Countries and authorities Country  ( 1 ) Authority responsible for the approval and control of production CA Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service Atlantic Forestry Centre 1350 Regent Street Fredericton NB E3C 2G6 CH Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (UVEK) Forest Division Federal Plant Protection Service Monbijoustrasse 40 CH-3003 Bern GB  ( 2 ) Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Eastbrook Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8DR NO Norwegian Forest Seed Center c/o Øyvind Meland Edvardsen Box 118, N-2301 Hamar RS Group for Forest Reproductive Material and Genetic Resources Directorate for Forest Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Ministry of AFW – Directorate for Forest Omladinskih brigada 1 Novi Beograd TR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Directorate of Forestry Forest Tree Seeds and Tree Breeding Research Institute Directorate Sogutozu 06560 Ankara US United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Cooperative Forestry National Seed Laboratory 5675 Riggins Mill Road Dry Branch, Georgia 31020 OFFICIAL STATE CERTIFICATION AUTHORITIES (Authorised to issue OECD certificates through cooperative agreement with USDA Forest Service) Washington State Crop Improvement Association, Inc. 2575 NE Hopkins Ct. Pullman, Washington 99163 (2) in Annex II, Section C is replaced by the following: ‘C. Additional conditions relating to the “qualified” and “tested” categories of seed and planting stock produced in third countries As regards seed or planting stock of the “qualified” and “tested” categories, the OECD label and the supplier’s label or document shall state whether genetic modification has been used in the production of the basic material.’; (3) the following annex is added: ‘ANNEX III Categories under which forest reproductive material from the different types of basic material may be imported into the Union Basic material Category of forest reproductive material Source-identified Selected Qualified Tested Seed source x       Stand x x   x Seed orchard     x x Parents of family(ies)     x x Clone     x x Clonal mixture     x x’ ( 1 )   CA – Canada, CH – Switzerland, GB – United Kingdom, NO – Norway, RS – Serbia, TR – Türkiye, US – United States. ( 2 )   In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 5(4) of the Windsor Framework (see Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 24 March 2023 ( OJ L 102, 17.4.2023, p. 87 )) in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Framework, for the purposes of this Annex, references to the United Kingdom do not include Northern Ireland.’