Eight Acer species have been cleared for import after EFSA finds parasitic pest risk manageable
April 10th, 2026 – A new Implementing Regulation amends the annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019, which lists plants, plant products, and other objects classified as high-risk for import into the EU pending full pest risk assessment. The amendment has removed eight maple species originating from Ukraine from that high-risk list, replacing the blanket prohibition with access under the standard phytosanitary requirements applicable to third-country plant imports.
The species authorized under the new list are Acer griseum, Acer platanoides, Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum, Acer saccharum, Acer tataricum, Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala, and Acer × freemanii. This change applies to two specific categories of planting stock originating from Ukraine, that being bare-root, dormant, leafless plants of up to four years of age with a maximum height of up to 4 meters; and plants of up to two years of age, dormant and leafless, grown in cultivation medium with a maximum height of 3 metres. Plants outside these descriptions, including older or larger stock, remain subject to the general high-risk classification for the Acer genus.
The removal follows a commodity risk assessment, published by the European Food Safety Authority on June 25th, 2025, which identified three pests associated with these plants, Cryphonectria parasitica (a chestnut blight fungus), Entoleuca mammata (a canker-causing fungus) and Lopholeucaspis japonica (a scale insect). All three are listed as EU quarantine pests.
EFSA has assessed that the phytosanitary risks posed from the specified planting material has been reduced to an acceptable level, provided the special requirements of Annex VII of Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 are met.
The original request was submitted by Ukraine in June 2023, with the genus having been subject to provisional high-risk classification since 2018. The new regulation also supports a political objective, as facilitating agricultural and horticultural trade with Ukraine has been a stated EU objective since 2022.
