WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.98.42
2February 1998
ORGANIZATION
(98-0359)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofAgriculture, Nature Management andFisheries
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National Enquiry Point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable):
(a) Propagating material ofthefollowing vegetable crops: shallot (Allium
ascalonicum L.),leafmustard (Brassica juncea (L.)Czern, etCoss.),
turnip (Brassica napus L.),garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.),parsnip
(Pastinaca sativa L.),purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.),rhubarb (Rheum
rhabarberum L.),sweet corn(Zeamays L.);
(b) propagating material ofspice crops, medicinal andaromatic herbs;
(c) propagating material ofthefollowing flower seedcrops: allherbaceous
crops which aregrown only ormainly fordecorative purposes and,
insofar astheyaremultiplied fromseed, withtheexception ofcyclamen,
thevarieties ofvegetable crops listed under AofArticle 1ofthe
N.A.K.G. Affiliation Decree which aregrown only ormainly for
decorative purposes, aswellasthevarieties ofthecrops listed under (b)
which aregrown onlyorexclusively fordecorative purposes.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Decree Amending the
Decree ontheTrade inPropagating Material Under Vegetable andFlower Crops
(Article 2)(4pages, available inEnglish)
./.G/TBT/Notif.98.42
Page2
6. Description ofcontent: TheSeeds andPlanting Materials Actcontains theRegulation of
theDutch plant production right andrules fortheproduction andtrade inpropagating
material. Propagating material shallbedefined asplants andparts ofplants which are
intended forthepropagation ofcrops bymeans ofplanting out,sowing oranyother
way. Theproducers ofpropagating material forVegetable andFlower Crops are
required toaffiliate with acertification service (Dutch designation: theN.A.K.G.).
Traders mayonlyintroduce propagating material ofvegetable andflower crops ontothe
market which, insofar asgrown intheNetherlands, meets therequirements laiddown in
theN.A.K.G. certification rules. Thetrade inpropagating material ofvegetable and
flower crops haslargely been harmonized bymeans ofDirectives 70/458/EEC
(OJEC L225), 91/682/EEC (OJEC L376)and92/33/EEC (OJEC L157).
These Directives have been implemented intheN.A.K.G. certification rules.
Thepresent notification pertains tothequality regulations ofpropagating material of
non-harmonized vegetable andflower crops, referred tounder point 4.
7. Objective andrationale, including thenature ofurgent problems where applicable: By
prescribing requirements which thepropagating material ofthecrops listed under point 4
shallmeet, itisintended toguarantee thequality ofpropagating material ofthese crops
produced intheNetherlands. Thispromotes thetransparency ofthetrade andisinthe
interest ofthebuyers ofthepropagating material.
8. Relevant documents:
- Article 91Seeds andPlanting Materials Act;
- N.A.K.G. Affiliation Decree;
- Certification rules oftheDutch General Certification Service for
Vegetable andFlower Seeds (N.A.K.G) (seeforrequirements regarding
vegetable crops listed under point 4;
- Article 4,paragraph 3oftheGeneral Rules; seefortherequirements
regarding flower crops listed under point 4;
- Articles 4and8oftheCertification Rules onFlower SeedCrops; and
- Articles IIandIIIoftheGeneral Flower SeedCrops Scheme) Directives
70/458/EEC (OJEC L225), 91/682/EEC (OJEC L376)and92/33/EEC
(OJEC L157).
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 1April 1998
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 1May1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 15March 1998
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress, e-mail andtelefax number
ofother body: