THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC (Official Controls Regulation), and in particular Article 18(8), point (b), thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/627 lays down uniform practical arrangements for the performance of official controls and actions in relation to the production of products of animal origin intended for human consumption, including specific requirements for the classification of production and relaying areas for live bivalve molluscs.
(2) Article 56 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/627 lays down rules on the sanitary survey to be carried out by the competent authorities before classifying a production or relaying area. Pursuant to Article 56(2) of that Regulation, the competent authorities are to carry out a sanitary survey fulfilling the requirements of that Article in all classified production and relaying areas, unless such a survey was carried out previously.
(3) Experience has shown that carrying out a sanitary survey is not necessary in areas classified before the entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/627, which are subject to a monitoring programme in accordance with Article 57 of that Regulation, unless data from the monitoring show material changes which may persistently affect the classification of the area concerned.
(4) Therefore, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/627 should be amended accordingly.
(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1
Article 56 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/627 is amended as follows:
(1) in paragraph 1, the introductory sentence is replaced by the following:
‘The competent authorities shall carry out a sanitary survey:
— before classifying a new production or relaying area not yet classified;
— where monitoring data collected in accordance with Article 59, or any other information, may indicate to the competent Authorities material changes in the environmental conditions of the already classified production and relaying areas, which may significantly and persistently affect the results of the previous sanitary survey.
The sanitary survey shall include:’;
(2) paragraph 2 is deleted.

Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 26 June 2026.

For the Commission
The President
Ursula VON DER LEYEN