Protected zones and the PZ plant passport
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A protected zone is an area of the EU kept free of a quarantine pest found elsewhere in the Union. Certain plants brought into or moved within one, such as an apple tree going into a zone protected against fire blight, need a plant passport marked "PZ", with the pest's name or code under the title.
What is a protected zone?
- A protected zone is a Member State, or part of one, where a quarantine pest found elsewhere in the EU is not present. The Commission can recognise one at that Member State's request, which comes with maps of the boundaries and at least three years of surveys showing the pest is absent (Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, Art. 32(1) and (4)).
- The pest must not be brought into the zone, moved within it, or held, multiplied or released there (Art. 32(2)).
- The Commission can also recognise a temporary protected zone, on at least one year of surveys. It lasts no longer than three years and then expires automatically (Art. 32(6)).
- The list of protected zones, their pests and a code for each pest is Annex III of Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072 (Art. 32(3)). Each Member State also publishes the boundaries of its protected zones, with maps, on the official website of its plant health authority (Art. 32(7)).
The European Commission's own overview: Protected zones, on the Commission's plant health pages
When do you need a PZ passport?
- When certain plants, plant products or other objects are brought into, or moved within, certain protected zones: they then need a plant passport (Art. 80). Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072 lists them in Annex XIV, and that passport bears the designation "PZ" (Art. 14).
- Annex X of the same Regulation pairs those plants with the protected zones concerned and the special requirements they have to meet there, such as coming from an area found free of the pest.
- Whether a passport needs "PZ" therefore depends both on the plant and on where it is going: an apple tree going into a zone protected against fire blight needs one, while the same tree going anywhere else does not.
- Plants supplied directly to a final user, such as a home gardener, normally need no plant passport. That exception does not apply to plants that need a PZ passport (Art. 81(1)(b)), nor to plants sold at a distance, such as online (Art. 81(1)(a)).
What changes on a PZ label?
Three things, while the EU flag and the four elements stay as on any other plant passport (Reg. (EU) 2016/2031, Annex VII, Part B; Impl. Reg. (EU) 2017/2313, Annex, Part B):
- The title in the top right corner reads "Plant Passport – PZ", in English. It may also appear in one other EU language, written first and separated by a slash: "Passaporto delle piante – PZ / Plant Passport – PZ".
- Immediately underneath the title comes the scientific name of the protected-zone quarantine pest, or the code Annex III gives it, such as ERWIAM for Erwinia amylovora. Where several pests apply, each is listed.
- D still gives the country of origin. Only when a PZ passport replaces an earlier one does D also carry the registration number of whoever issued the original (Art. 93).
The codes in Annex III are EPPO codes, which you can look up: ERWIAM in the EPPO Global Database
What A, B, C and D mean, and the other versions of the label: Reading the label, part by part
Which protected zones matter to growers in Italy?
Three entries from Annex III of Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072, consolidated text of 15 October 2026, with each pest named exactly as the Annex writes it:
- Erwinia amylovora (Burrill) Winslow et al. (ERWIAM): Italy has its own protected zones for this bacterium, which causes fire blight: Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Lazio, Molise, Sardinia and Umbria, and Campania, Lombardy, Marche, Sicily, Tuscany and Veneto except for the provinces and municipalities the Annex lists. Estonia, Latvia and Finland are protected zones for it too, as are Spain and Lithuania with exceptions. Plants and live pollen for pollination of Amelanchier, Chaenomeles, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Cydonia, Eriobotrya, Malus, Mespilus, Photinia davidiana, Pyracantha, Pyrus and Sorbus, other than fruit and seeds (Annex X, point 9).
- Paysandisia archon (Burmeister) (PAYSAR): Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland). Palms for planting with a stem diameter at the base of over 5 cm, of Brahea, Butia, Chamaerops, Jubaea, Livistona, Phoenix, Sabal, Syagrus, Trachycarpus, Trithrinax and Washingtonia (Annex X, point 30).
- Viteus vitifoliae (Fitch) (VITEVI): Cyprus. Plants of Vitis, other than fruit and seeds (Annex X, point 10).
The Regulation is amended often and Annex III goes down to single municipalities, so check the current version, and the boundaries your plant health service publishes, before relying on one. Impl. Reg. (EU) 2019/2072, consolidated text of 15 October 2026, on EUR-Lex
Issuing PZ passports
FloraPass prints PZ passports: add the protected-zone pest by scientific name or EPPO code, and it goes on the line under "Plant Passport – PZ", as PDF or on thermal label printers.
PZ passports and other labels in FloraPass
Received plants and unsure about their passport? Checking a passport you received