23,7 90 Officialjournal of the European Communities ^oC1^21 
Opinion on the proposal foraCouncil Regulation (EEC) on the marketing of ornamental plant 
propagating material and ornamental plants 
(90^C 1^2^07) 
On 26 Eehruaryl990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 19^ofthe^freatyestablishingthe European Community,on the abo^ementioned proposal. 
I^he Section for Agriculture and Eisheries,^hich^as responsible for preparing the Committees 
^ork on the subject, adopted its opinion on l^Mayl990.^fhe rapporteur ^as Mr Strauss. 
Atits277thplenarysession (meeting of30 May 1990) theEconomicandSocialCommitteeadopted 
the following opinion unanimously. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. ^Phe many changing national rules controlling the 
qualityand health standards of young plants andplant 
propagating material could constitute barriers to trade 
between Member States, 
1.2. ^ith the objective of harmonising regulations as 
required for the completion of the internal market the 
Commission has found it necessary to extend the existing 
Poirective70B^^BEEC relating to the marketing of seeds to 
cover young plants and propagating material and has 
published three proposals for regulations covering veget 
able, ornamental, and fruit material, 
1.3. Becauseof timeconstraints the Commissionhas 
had little time for prior consultation with Member State 
authorities,^Phe Commission may thus not be fully aware 
of the range of differences in national legislation, and has 
therefore onlydrawnupaframework in which Member 
States may operate, many of the details having still to be 
determined. 
2. Ceneral observations 
2.1, .Phis proposal forms part ofawiderstrategyon 
planthealth and must be considered in the content of other 
proposalsnotablyCOM(^)170final,COM(^9)^6final 
and COM(^9) 6^7 final amending the plant health 
Poirective 77^93^EEC, ^Phese harmonization measures 
provide the framework within which COM(^9) 6^0 final 
must be operativc^Phese other measures must be adopted 
before the marketing regulation is introduced, ^Phis would 
ensure thatthere is no breakdown in control ofplant health 
standards and that adequate safeguard facilities are 
provided for whereby unilateral action may be taken, 
2.2, Hie Committee agrees that it is necessary to 
introduce Community legislations order to harmonise 
quality and plant health standards as required for the 
completion of the internal market, 
2.3, ^Phe Committee notes that basically the same 
regulation is being proposed for ornamental plants as for young vegetable plants and propagating material, ^ot 
sufficient account is taken of the very different nature of 
trading in this sector,The different nature of the trade is 
due tomaterialbeing sold in smaller consignments, and 
sometimes mi^ed lots are required. Moreover this 
R.egulationcoversallornamentalplants,notonly those 
intended for propagation, 
2mA Considering the extremely wide range of material 
concerned and the particular nature of the trade the 
proposal is inappropriate and impracticable as it stands, 
2Bo, ^Phe proposal will needconsiderable clarification 
and modification before its adoption. In the proposal much 
of the detailed administration of the proposed measures is 
left to the ]oint Standing Committee and will not be 
referred to Council, It is difficult to give a precise and 
constructiveopiniononaproposal which leaves so much of 
the final form of the regulation to officials whowill no 
have to refer the matter back to Council of Ministers and 
other Community institutions. 
3, Specific observations 
3,1, M^r^^o^^r^^^o^^^^ 
3.1.1, .Phe list in Article 1(2) should be re-examined. It 
should be limited to plants of economic importance, thus 
making it possible to operatethel^egulationbefore the 
deadline of the completion of the internal market,^Phe list 
should as soon as possible be expected to include R.oses, 
rhododendrons, ^arcissae, Azaleas, tmdips and Euchsias, 
3.1.2, ^Phe regulation should apply to propagating 
material intended for e^port,^Phe derogation provided in 
Article2couldleadto the situation whereby material is 
circulated in the Community which is of lower quality and 
health standards and which could transfer disease to other 
plants or themselves enter the internal market. 
No C 182/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 7. 90 
3.2. Supplier requirements 
3.2.1. The requirements imposed under Article 5 and 
Annex I will impose extra cost on small and medium scale 
enterprises in particular, many of whom do not already 
have the necessary record-keeping facilities. The Commit­
tee would like the Commission to examine whether 
recognized Producer and Trade Organizations should play 
a role in reducing growers' administrative costs. 
3.2.2. The derogation referred to in Annex I 4 (third 
indent) must be clarified. The Committee does not believe 
that a derogation should be based on area as this would be 
impractical. It is however agreed that a derogation should 
apply to very small sales, provided that this does not 
invalidate the aim of the legislation. 
3.2.3. The requirement for keeping a detailed plan of the 
premises showing the location of each genus and species 
should be dropped as it would be impossible to adhere to 
considering that propagating material and plants are 
regularly moved around during their production. 
3.3. Inspectorate resources 
3.3.1. The inspection required to enforce the regulation 
will impose an extra burden on already limited inspectorate 
resources. To ensure that suppliers are meeting the 
requirements laid out in Annex I, extra EC resources will be 
required especially if the Regulation is to be applied 
uniformly throughout the Community. 
3.3.2. Similarly, inspectorate resources will have to be 
greatly enhanced in order to meet the conditions referred to 
in Article 6. 
3.4. Marketing arrangements 
3.4.1. There is no definition of 'lot' (Article 12) and 
there should be a precise definition of 'sufficiently 
homogenous'. For example some indication should be 
given of percentage tolerances acceptable. However, 
considering the range of material concerned it would be 
impossible to keep lots separate and in particular with 
regard to ornamentals, mixed lots, i.e. consignments 
containing different species and varieties, are often 
specifically demanded by customers. 
3.4.2. The requirement for homogeneity [Article 12(1)] 
will reduce the flexibility which exists in the sector. 
Customers may have very different requirements for size 
and vigour for plants grown as one lot. The present 
demand-led nature of the sector meets best the require­
ments of individual growers. This should not be com­promised by excessive legislation. Therefore, homogeneity 
should apply to purity of variety and not to other quality 
criteria. 
3.4.3. The requirement for individually marking each 
ornamental plant [Article 12(1)] is excessive and should 
only be imposed where practicable. 
3.4.4. Official sealing or sealing under official super­
vision and labelling [Article 12(2) and (3)] again appears 
impracticable. If the intention is to widen the definition of 
'official', to include producers or officially recognized 
producer and trade organizations for example, then there 
must be provision to ensure that the privilege is not abused. 
Adequate EC funding must be made available in order to 
train new inspectors and to operate the scheme. 
3.5. Temporary difficulties 
3.5.1. Article 13 provides for less stringent measures to 
be adopted should 'temporary difficulties' in supply arise. 
This provision should not be invoked by a Member State 
wishing to abrogate its responsibilities under the proposed 
Regulation. 
3.5.2. The marketing restrictions imposed under Ar­
ticle 18 may in themselves constitute a temporary difficulty 
in supply and therefore invoke Article 13. Clarification of 
this terminology is required. The statement 'without 
derogations' should be added to Article 18(2). 
3.6. More stringent requirements 
3.6.1. Under Article 15 a Member State could insist on 
higher quality and health standards and provide the 
necessary inspectorate. The Committee is not opposed to 
the unilateral raising of standards, but can only agree to 
this if the Commission ensures that this is not associated 
with state aids. 
3.7. Comparative trials 
3.7.1. Ornamental plants produced in third countries 
should be subject to the same trials. 
Done at Brussels, 30 May 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE