Plants & Plant Products (Production – Import – Export – Store)

Any physical person or legal entity may register in the Official Plant Health and Propagating Material Register.

The “Application for Registration in the Official Plant Health Register” can be submitted either through the PSC Cyprus or by contacting directly the competent authority:

Plant Health and Marketing Standards of Agricultural Products Sector
Department of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment
1412 Nicosia
Tel.: +357 22408626, +357 22408628, +357 22408629
Fax: +357 22408679
E-mail: inspection@da.moa.gov.cy
Website: http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/da/da.nsf

1. The application should be accompanied by a copy of the company’s certificate of incorporation.

   On-site inspections are carried out by authorized officers in order to ensure that all the prerequisites are met.

There are no fees applicable.

Administrative Action Against a Competent Authority’s Decision

Any person may file an Administrative Action at the Administrative court against a decision, act or omission of any competent authority or body.

Pursuant to Article 146 of the Constitution, an Administrative Action may be lodged within 75 days from the date of the decision or act or omission or from the day when such decision or act or omission was notified to the applicant.

The Administrative Court acts as a cassation Court and not as a substantive Court. In other words, the Administrative Court may:
I. Dismiss the Administrative Action
II. Annul wholly or partially the contested decision or act
III. Compel the relevant authority or body to take a certain action

After a decision is annulled, the authority and/or public body must reverse things back to the state prior to when the concerned decision and/or act was executed and reexamine.

Appeal Information

An Appeal may be filed against the Administrative Court’s first-instance decision within a period of 42 days from the date such decision was given.

At the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal Section) hearing, the contested issue of the appeal remains the legality of the decision or act already adjudicated for. However, such revision of the legality of the decision or act is solely examined on the matters and the extent that the two parties have limited the reasons in the relevant notice of appeal.

The decision adopted by the Supreme Court is considered final in relation to the matter that has been judged.

• The Protective Measures against Introduction and Spread of Organisms Harmful to Plants and Plant Products Law of 2003 (147 (I) / 2003)
• Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

Registered producers/exporters/ importers of plants and plant products are obliged to comply with the provisions of Protective Measures Against the Introduction and Spread of Organisms Harmful to Plants and Plant Products and other Objects and based on Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and the Regulations issued by it to:

• maintain an updated plan of the premises on which plants, plant products or other objects are grown, produces, stored, kept or used by the producer or collective warehouses or dispatching centre;
• keep records of plants and plant products purchased for storage or planting on the premises, under production, or dispatched to others, and to keep related documents for at least one year;
• be available personally or to designate another person technically experienced in plant production and related plant health matters and to liaise with the competent authority;
• carry out visual observations as necessary and at appropriate times, and in a manner laid down in guideline instructions given by the competent authority;
• ensure access for persons entitled to act for the competent authority, in particular for inspection and/or sampling, and to relevant records or other related documents and to otherwise cooperate with the competent authority;
• notify the presence of any harmful organisms;
• inform the competent authority on any changes regarding the application data;
• Inform the Authority in the case of termination of services.

Additionally, the Director of the Department of Agriculture has the right to examine, after a report by authorized agriculture officers, if someone contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of the relevant law and set out penalties according to the nature of the offence committed.

In case non-conformities are observed, during the above-mentioned inspections, the competent authority notifies the service provider and a deadline of thirty (30) days is given to him/her in order to state his/her views in writing about the issue. Any decision of the competent authority for the cancellation of the approval of the license is made after the applicant’s submission of his/her views.