Decree no. 338 of 2022 on Protection Measures against the Importation and Spread of Organisms Harmful to Plants and Plant Products (Emergency Plan for Harmful Organisms).

This Decree, implementing provisions of article 24 of the Law no. 147/I of 2003 on Protection Measures Against the Importation and Spread of Organisms Harmful to Plants and Plant Products, provides for the elaboration of an emergency plan for harmful organisms entering or spreading on the territory of the Republic, and concerns: any species, strain or biotype of pathogen, animal or parasitic plant which is harmful to plants or plant products. According to the Decree, the competent authority prepares the emergency plan, monitors its implementation and provides for its revision, on the basis of new scientific or other data collected; the authority also informs the general public, either by announcements or by any other appropriate means, on the risk of the spread of harmful organisms. The emergency plan includes: measures to prevent or reduce the real risk of the harmful organisms specified in the Annex; information on the biology of the pest; control procedures to confirm the absence or to limit the spread of harmful organisms; definition, where necessary, of demarcated areas to eliminate or limit the spread of organisms; phytosanitary requirements and frequency of controls; cooperation procedures with any other competent authority, to limit the spread or combat harmful organisms or to prohibit access to the affected area.