Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive on the control of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith` () (97/C 206/10)

On 14 February 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 3 April 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Stokkers.

At its 345th plenary session (meeting of 23 April 1997) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 125 votes in favour and five abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Commission proposal specifies the measures to be taken by the Member States to combat the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith, which is the cause of potato brown rot and bacterial wilt in tomatoes. The aim is to locate the pathogen, prevent its occurrence and spread, and take the measures required to eradicate it.

1.2. The pathogen was known until fairly recently to cause problems in areas with a warm temperature. In the 1990s, however, there have been outbreaks of potato brown rot in various northern as well as southern Member States and these outbreaks have caused extensive rotting of potato tubers.

1.3. The Commission proposal makes provision for measures to combat this dangerous bacterium systematically throughout the Community. The measures will cover official laboratory testing for detecting the presence of the organism and rules governing inspection, sampling and testing procedures. The testing must encompass not only potatoes and tomatoes but also other host plants, surface water used for the irrigation and spraying of plants, and liquid waste discharges from firms which handle potatoes and tomatoes.

1.4. The proposal is based on Article 43 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

2. General comments

2.1. The bacterium, which causes potato brown rot and bacterial wilt in tomatoes, presents a real threat to these crops in the Community. Protective measures have been laid down in Council Directive 77/93/EEC to stop this harmful organism entering the Community and spreading. However, nothing has been done so far to ensure, in the event of the pathogen occurring in one or the other Member State, that the bacterium is combated everywhere in the same manner and prevented from spreading.

2.1.1. This is an unsatisfactory situation and a serious shortcoming in an area where there are no internal borders. The aim of the proposal is to remedy this shortcoming. The Committee thinks that the proposed approach serves this objective adequately, and therefore endorses the Commission proposal subject to the following comments.

2.2. Not enough is known at present about the biology and epidemiology of the organism. The Commission therefore provides for the adjustment of the proposed measures after a number of years in the light of further knowledge and experience. It proposes that the measures can be amended under Article 16(1) of Directive 77/93/EEC on the basis of scientific or technical knowledge and after consulting the Standing Committee on Plant Health.

2.3. This, too, is approved by the Committee.

2.4. The Committee is aware that if the organism is to be properly combated, it is necessary to strictly monitor all material in which it may be located and which can help it spread. Despite this, the Committee thinks that it is necessary to make allowance in practice for the fact that in recent years the pathogen has occurred more frequently and caused more problems in potatoes than in tomatoes.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Article 7

3.1.1. The Committee thinks it is important that, when seed potatoes are tested, plants obtained by clonal propagation and in-vitro propagation are to be treated equally.

3.2. The Committee has no comments to make on Article 4(3) of Annex VI.

Brussels, 23 April 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() OJ No C 124, 21. 4. 1997, p. 12.