1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONDECISION
of19July1993
authorizing Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Direc-
tive 77/93/EEC, in respect of oak (QuercusL.) logs with barkattached, originating in Canadaor
theUnitedStatesofAmerica
(93/467/EEC)
(OJ L 217, 27.8.1993, p. 49)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionDecision94/812/EC of 15 December 1994 L 332 71 22.12.1994
►M2CommissionDecision96/724/EC of 29 November 1996 L 329 47 19.12.1996
►M3CommissionDecision98/661/EC of 16 November 1998 L 314 18 24.11.1998
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COMMISSIONDECISION
of19July1993
authorizingMemberStatestoprovideforderogationsfromcertain
provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC, in respect of oak(QuercusL.)logswithbarkattached,originating inCanadaor the
UnitedStatesofAmerica
(93/467/EEC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21 December 1976
on protective measures against the introduction into the Community oforganisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spreadwithinthe Commun ity(
1), as last amended by Directive 93/19/EEC(2),
and in particular Article 14 (3) thereof,
Having regard to the requests made by Belgium, Denmark, Germany,
Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Nether-
lands,
Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC, oak (Quercus
L.) logs with bark attached, originating in Canada or the United Statesof America, may, in principle, not be introduced into the Communitybecause of the risk of introducing Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz)
Hunt., the cause of oak wilt;
Whereas the Commissionhas established, onthe basis of the in forma-
tion available at present, that, in respect of both Canada and the United
Statets of America, the risk of spreading Cetocystis fagacearum (Bretz)
Hunt is obviated provided that special conditions are satisfied;
Whereas, however the seasonal shipment facilities for oak wood
belonging to the white oak group are justified only in those parts ofthe Community where potential vectors of Ceratocystis fagacearum
(Bretz) Hunt have little or no activity during the winter, i.e. in areas
north of 45º latitude;
Whereas the Commission will ensure that Canada and the United States
of America make available all technical information necessary to
monitor the functioning of the protective measures required under theaforementioned technical conditions;
Whereas the measures provided for inDecisionare inaccordan ce with
the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. Member States are hereby authorized, with effect from 1 June
1993, to provide, under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, forderogations from Article 5 (1) and the third indent of Article 12 (1)(a) of Directive 77/93/EEC, with regard to the requirements referred
to in Part A, Section I, item 3 of Annex IV for oak (Quercus L.) logs
with bark attached, originating in Canada or the United States ofAmerica.1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ No L 96, 22. 4. 1993, p. 33.
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2. The following conditions shall be satisfied:
(a) each log shall,
(i) where it originates in Canada, either
— be fumigated and so identified in accordance with the
provisions laid down in Annex I, or
— be marked, in the area of origin and under the supervision
of officials of ‘Agriculture Canada’, with a sign which is
suitable to ensure the Canadian origin of the log, and hasbeenapproved by ‘Agriculture Can ada’;
(ii) where it originates in the United States of America, be fumi-
gated and so identified in accordance with the provisions laiddown in Annex I; in the case of logs originating in the UnitedStates of America, but to be dispatched via Canadian ports ofshipment, all or part of the measures to be undertaken underAnnex I by the official plant protection organization concerned
may be carried out by ‘Agriculture Canada’;
(b) without prejudice to the provisions laid down in (c), the logs may
be imported into the Community only via the following ports ofunloading:
— Amsterdam,
— Anwerp,— Århus,
— Bilbao,
— Bremen,— Bremerhaven,
— Copenhagen,
— Hamburg,— Lauterborg,
— Leghorn,
— Le Havre,— Lisbon,
— Marseilles,
— Naples,
— Nordenham,
— Oporto,— Piraeus,
— Ravenna,
— Rostock,— Rotterdam,
— Salerno,
— Stralsund,— Valencia,
— Vigo,
— Wismar,— Zeebrugge.
Upon notification by the Member States concerned, changes to the
list of ports of unloading can be made by the Commission, after
consultation with the other Member States;
(c) the inspections required pursuant to Article 12 of Directive 77/93/
EEC shall be made by officials specially instructed or trained forthe purposes of this Decisionwith the assistan ce of the experts
referred to inArticle 19a of Directive 77/93/EEC un der the proce-
dure laid down therein, either in the ports mentioned in (b) or atthe first place of storage referred to in(e); should the port ofunloading and the first place of storage be located in differentMember States, the conditions for information related to the arrival1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 3
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of the consignment and the place where the inspections are carried
out shall be determined in agreement between the responsible offi-cial bodies referred to inthe said Directive of the relevan t Member
States;
(d) the inspections referred to in (c) shall comprise at least:
— a thorough examination of each phytosanitary certificate,
— an identity check consisting of comparing the marking on each
log and the number of logs with the information given in therelated phytosanitary certificate,
— a fumigation colour reaction test as specified in Annex II, on an
appropriate number of the logs selected at random from eachconsignment.
Where the inspections referred to in (c) do not give full evidence
for compliance with the conditions laid down in (a), the wholeconsignment shall be rejected and removed from the Community,and the said responsible official bodies of all other Member States
and the Commission shall immediately be informed by telefax of
the details of the consignment concerned;
(e) the logs shall be stored only at places which have been notified to
and approved by the said responsible official bodies and whichhave appropriate and approved wet storage facilities, available atleast for the period specified in(f);
(f) the logs shall be subject to continuous wet storage, starting at the
latest at the time of flushing in the neighbouring oak stands;
(g) the neighbouring oak stands shall be regularly inspected for symp-
toms of Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt at appropriate times
by the said responsible official bodies. Where symptoms whichmay have beencaused by Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt
are found on inspection, further official testing shall be carried outin accordance with appropriate methods to confirm whether or not
this fungus is present; where its presence is confirmed, the
Commissionshall immediately be in formed thereof by telefax;
(h) the logs shall be processed only at plants which have been notified
to and approved by the said responsible official bodies. The barkand other waste arising from processing shall immediately bedestroyed at the place of processing;
(i) fumigated logs may be exempted from the conditions laid down in
(e), as far as the west storage facilities are concerned, and in (f)and (h), second sentence;
(j) prior to import, the importer shall notify each instance of importa-
tion sufficiently in advance to responsible official bodies of the
Member State of the envisaged first place of storage, indicating:
— the quantity of logs,
— the country of origin,— the port of shipment,
— the port or ports of unloading,
— the place or places of storage,— the place or places where processing will be carried out;
(k) the importer shall be officially informed, prior to import, of the
conditions laid down in this Decision; copies of the aforementioned
information shall be conveyed officially to the official authoritiescompetent in respect of the port of unloading.
Article 2
Member States, other than Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, may
exempt logs of Quercus species belonging to the white oak group
from the fumigationcon ditionlaid downinArticle 1 (2) (a), providedthat the following conditions are satisfied;
(a) the logs are in consignments composed solely of logs belonging to
species of the white oak group, and are so identified in accordancewith the provisions laid down in Annex III;1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 4
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(b) the logs shall have been dispatched from the ports of shipment not
earlier than15 October an d ►M2reach the places of final storage
not later than 30 April ◄provided that wet storage referred to in
Article 1 (2) (f) is ensured by that latter day at the latest, subject to
certain tolerances which may be granted by the plant protectionorganization of the Member State concerned, for reasons for unfor-eseeable delays inarrival;
(c) the logs shall not be permitted to be introduced into or through
areas south of 45º latitude; however, Marseilles may be used asport of unloading, provided that it is ensured that the consignmentis moved immediately to areas north of 45º latitude;
(d) the inspections referred to in Article 1 (2) (c) and (d) shall
comprise, inplace of the fumigationcolour reactiontest, a whiteoak log identification colour test as specified in Annex III, on atleast 10 % of the logs selected at random from each consignment.
Article 3
This Decisionshall expire on ►
M331 December 2000 ◄. It shall be
revoked if it is established that the conditions laid down therein are notsufficient to prevent the introduction of Ceratocystis fagacearum
(Bretz) Hunt or have not been complied with.
Article 4
The Member States shall notify the Commission and the other Member
States of the provisions under which they make use of the authorization
granted in Article 1.
Article 5
This Decisionis addressed to the Member States.1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 5
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ANNEX I
PROVISIONSINRESPECTOFFUMIGATIONANDRELATEDIDENTI-
FICATION
1. The logs shall be piled under a gas-proof cover in such a way and to such a
height as to ensure effective gas dispersal through the logs.
2. The pile shall undergo fumigation with pure methyl bromide which is carried
out at a minimum rate of 240 g/m3of total volume under cover for 72 hours
and at an initial temperature of the logs of + 5 ºC at least, and which meets
any additional requirement set up by the official plant protection organization
of either Canada (i.e. ‘Agricultural Canada’) or the United States of America
(i.e. ‘Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’ — APHIS). After 24 hours
of treatment, an addition of gas shall be made to regain the aforementioned
concentration; the temperature of the logs shall be maintained at + 3 ºC, at
least, throughout the procedure. It may be decided, based onscien tific
evidence and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16a of
Directive 77/93/EEC, that other schedules shall or may be used.
3. The fumigationprocedures as described in1 an d 2 shall be carried out by
officially licensed fumigation operatives, using proper fumigation facilities
and qualified staff to requisite standards.
The operatives shall be informed of the details of the procedures required for
log fumigation.
The lists of licensed fumigation operatives and their changes shall be notified
to the Commission. The Commission reserves the right to declare that indivi-
dual licensed fumigation operatives can no longer be accepted for the
purpose of this Decision.
The sales at which the licensed operatives shall carry out the fumigation
procedures shall preferably be located at the ports of shipment to the
Community, but selected inland sites may be approved by the official plant
protection organization concerned.
4. A fumigation batch identification mark (digits and/or letters) shall be placed
in a non-removable manner on the base end of each log of the pile under-
going fumigation. The fumigation batch identification mark shall be
reserved to the shipper. It shall not have been used for logs of other batches.
Records of the identification marks shall be kept by the licensed fumigation
operatives.
5. The individual fumigation procedure including the marking referred to in 4
shall systematically be supervised at the fumigationsites, directly by officials
of the official plant protection organization concerned or by cooperating
State/province officials in such a way as to guarantee compliance with the
requirements laid down in 1, 2, 3 and 4.
6. The official phytosanitary certificate required pursuant to Article 12 (1) (b)
of Directive 77/93/EEC shall be issued by the official plant protection orga-
nization concerned after finalization of the fumigation, and be based on the
actions mentioned in 5 and the examination carried out in accordance with
Article 6 of the said Directive relating to the conditions laid down in Article
6 (1) (a) of that Directive and in this Annex.
7. This certificate shall indicate the botanical name of the genus or the species,
the number of logs in the consignment and the fumigation batch identifica-
tionmarks referred to in4, without prejudice to the in formationrequired
under the section related to disinfestation and/or disinfection treatment.
In all cases, the certificate shall bear the following ‘Additional Declaration’:
‘It is hereby certified that the logs shipped under this certificate have been
fumigated by … (licensed fumigation operative) … at … (fumigation site)
… in accordance with the provisions laid down in Annex I of EEC Commis-
sionDecision ►M398/661/EC ◄.’1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 6
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ANNEX II
PROVISIONSFORAFUMIGATIONCOLOURREACTIONTEST
The fumigation colour reaction test referred to in Article 1 (2) (d) third indent
shall be performed as follows:
Samples of the entire sapwood thickness shall be taken with an increment borer
from areas with intact bark at least one metre from the log ends and soaked in a
freshly prepared (less than one day old) 1 % solution of 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-
tetrazolium chloride (TTC) made with distilled water. Samples which show no
red coloration after three days soaking are considered as having been adequately
fumigated.1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 7
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ANNEX III
PROVISIONSINRESPECTOFWHITEOAKLOGIDENTIFICATION
1. Officials of the official plant protection organization concerned shall have
identified each log as belonging to the white oak group either by visual
means, as far as possible, or by carrying out white oak log identification
colour tests as specified in2. This iden tificationcolour test shall be
performed on at least 10 % of the logs per consignment.
2. The white oak log identification colour test shall be carried out by means of
spraying or painting 10 % sodium nitrite solution to an area of clean super-
ficially dried heartwood at least five centimetres in diameter. Evaluation of
the test shall be done within 20 to 60 minutes of application. At temperatures
below − 2,5 ºC, 20 % ethylene glycol can be added to the solution as an anti-
freeze agent. Samples of logs in which the natural colour initially turns
reddish brown becoming black to grey blue in later stages are considered as
belonging to the white oak group.
3. Each log shall be marked ‘WO’, under the supervision of the official plant
protection organization concerned or cooperating State/province officials.
4. The official phytosanitary certificate required pursuant to Article 12 (1) (b)
of Directive 77/93/EEC shall be issued by the official plant protection orga-
nization concerned, and be based on the actions mentioned in 1, 2 and 3. The
certificate shall indicate the botanical name of the genus or the species and
the number of logs in the consignment. It shall bear the following ‘Addi-
tional Declaration’:
‘It is hereby certified that the logs shipped under this certificate belong solely
to species of the white oak group.’1993D0467 — EN — 17.11.1998 — 003.001 — 8