EN    EN EN 
SANCO/3247/2008 rev 8  
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels,  
C(2008) 
Draft 
COMMISSION DIRECTIVE ../…/EC 
of […] 
amending Annex IV to Council Directive 2000/ 29/EC on protective measures against the 
introduction into the Community of organisms  harmful to plants or plant products and 
against their spread within the Community 
(Memorandum from Ms A. Vassiliou)  
EN 2   EN Draft 
COMMISSION DIRECTIVE ../…/EC 
of […] 
amending Annex IV to Council Directive 2000/ 29/EC on protective measures against the 
introduction into the Community of organisms  harmful to plants or plant products and 
against their spread within the Community 
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty esta blishing the European Community, 
Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC  of 8 May 2000 on protective measures 
against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products 
and against their spread within the Community1, and in particular point (d) of the second 
paragraph of Article 14 thereof,  
Whereas: (1) Special requirements for wood packaging ma terial and wood used to wedge or support 
non-wood cargo introduced into the Community are set out in  Annex IV to Directive 
2000/29/EC. They are based on the FAO Inte rnational Standard for Phytosanitary 
Measures (ISPM) No 15 on ‘Guidelines fo r regulating wood packaging material in 
international trade’
2.  
(2) In addition to the requirements approved unde r ISPM No 15, Annex IV to Directive 
2000/29/EC includes a requirement that im ported wood packaging material be made 
from debarked wood. The application of that debarking requirement has been 
postponed twice.  
(3) The Community has requested that ISPM No 15 be reviewed to include a requirement 
addressing the Community's concern about the risk posed by the presence of bark on 
such wood packaging material in international trade. 
(4) The Technical Panel on Forest Quarantine (T PFQ), established under the auspices of 
the International Plant Prot ection Convention (IPPC) and co mposed of internationally 
recognised forestry experts, has now anal ysed the available re search data on the 
phytosanitary risk posed by ba rk on wood packaging mate rial. The TPFQ concluded 
that there is technical just ification to require that wood packaging material in 
international trade should be free from bark with a precisely defined tolerance level for 
the presence of small pieces of bark ensuring that the phytosanitary risk is kept to an 
                                                 
1 OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. 
2 ISPM No 15, March 2002, FAO, Rome.  
EN 3   EN acceptable level and that such requirement s hould be included in the revised ISPM No 
15. 
(5) In order to protect the terri tory of the Community from  the introduction of harmful 
organisms the Community requirements for the presence of bark on wood packaging 
material and dunnage should be brought in line with the TPFQ t echnical conclusions 
without waiting for the adop tion of a revised ISPM No 15 by the IPPC Commission on 
Phytosanitary Measures. 
(6) It is therefore appropriate to adapt the debarking requirement to that technically 
justified tolerance level for the presence of bark. 
(7) Annex IV to Directive 2000/29/EC shoul d therefore be amended accordingly.  
(8) The requirement that wood packaging materi al be made from debarked round wood 
introduced by Commission Directive 2006/14/EC3 amending Annex IV to Directive 
2000/29/EC will apply from 1 January 2009. It is therefore ne cessary that the 
measures provided for in this Directive al so apply from 1 January 2009. However, in 
order to allow third countries to make the necessary adaptations it is appropriate to 
provide that the bark requiremen t should apply as from 1 July 2009. 
(9) The measures provided for in this Directiv e are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Standing Committee on Plant Health, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:  
Article 1 
Annex IV to Directive 2000/29/EC is amended in  accordance with the te xt in the Annex to 
this Directive. 
Article 2 
1. Member States shall adopt and publish, by 31 December 2008 at the latest, the laws, 
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. 
They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions 
and a correlation table between thos e provisions and this Directive. 
 They shall apply those provisions from 1 January 2009.  
When Member States adopt those provisions,  they shall contain a reference to this 
Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such a reference is to be made. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions 
of national law which they adopt in th e field covered by this Directive.  
                                                
 
3 OJ 34, 7.2.2006, p. 24.  
EN 4   EN Article 3 
This Directive shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
Article 4 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 Androulla VASSILIOU  Member of the Commission  
EN 5   EN ANNEX  
In Annex IV, Part A, Section I to Dir ective 2000/29/EC is amended as follows: 
(1) point 2 is replaced by the following: 
2. Wood packaging material, in the form of packing cases, 
boxes, crates, drums and similar packings, pallets, box 
pallets and other load boards, pallet collars, actually in use in the transport of object s of all kinds, except raw 
wood of 6 mm thickness or less, and processed wood 
produced by glue, heat and pressure, or a combination thereof, coming from third countries, except 
Switzerland. The wood packaging material shall: 
 
- be free from bark with the exception of any number of 
individual pieces of bark if they are either less than 3 
centimetres in width (regardless of the length) or, if greater 
than 3 centimetres in width, of not more than 50 square centimetres in area, and 
- be subject to one of the approved treatments as specified in 
Annex I to FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood 
packaging material in international trade , and 
- display a mark as specified in Annex II to FAO 
International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on 
Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in 
international trade,  indicating that th e wood packaging 
material has been subjected to an approved phytosanitary 
treatment.  
The first indent shall only apply from 1 July 2009. 
 
 
(2) point 8 is replaced by the following: 
8. Wood used to wedge or support non-wood cargo, 
including that which has not kept its natural round 
surface, except raw wood of 6 mm thickness or less and processed wood produced by glue, heat and pressure, or 
a combination thereof, co ming from third countries, 
except Switzerland. The wood shall: 
 
- be free from bark with the exception of any number of 
individual pieces of bark if they are either less than 3 
centimetres in width (regardless of the length) or, if greater 
than 3 centimetres in width, of not more than 50 square centimetres in area, and 
- be subject to one of the approved treatments as specified in 
Annex I to FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood 
packaging material in international trade , and 
- display a mark as specified in Annex II to FAO 
International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on 
Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in 
international trade,  indicating that the wood has been 
subjected to an approved  phytosanitary treatment. 
The first indent shall only apply from 1 July 2009.