Surveys of the Union territory in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031
Article 2
1. Member States shall conduct risk-based surveys for the presence of the specified pest annually in the areas of their territories where it is not known to occur. 2. The design and sampling scheme of those surveys shall allow to detect, within the Member State concerned, with a sufficiently high level of confidence, a low level of presence of the specified pest on the infested plants. They shall be based on the European Food Safety Authority’s (‘the Authority’) Guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys of Agrilus planipennis and shall take into account the risk of natural spread of the specified pest. 3. The surveys shall be carried out: (a) in open-air, natural and urban areas, stops along the major roads, railways and other transport pathways, as well as in nurseries, garden centres, trading centres for specified plants, wood and bark, hardwood sawmills, and other relevant sites, as appropriate; (b) at appropriate times of the year with regard to the possibility to detect the specified pest, taking into account the biology of that pest, the presence and biology of the specified plants, and the scientific and technical information referred to in the Authority’s Pest Survey Card on Agrilus planipennis ( 4 ) . 4. The surveys shall consist of: (a) trapping of the specified pest, which may include use of trapping trees; (b) where appropriate, visual examination of the specified plants; (c) in case of suspicion, sampling and testing of the specified plants and the specified wood, including cut branches, and wood packaging material; and (d) where appropriate, use of specifically trained sniffer dogs.