WRITTEN QUESTION No. 659/96 by Klaus LUKAS to the Commission. Plant health checks on imports of firewood
Date: 1996-03-15
Institutions: European Parliament, LUKAS
Subjects: Austria, fuel wood, import, parasitology, plant disease, plant health control, plant health legislation, protection of plant life













EUR-Lex - 91996E0659 - EN






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91996E0659

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 659/96 by Klaus LUKAS to the Commission. Plant health checks on imports of firewood  


Official Journal C 280 , 25/09/1996 P. 0056 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0659/96 by Klaus Lukas (NI) to the Commission (15 March 1996)Subject: Plant health checks on imports of firewoodFor some time direct suppliers in Austria's eastern neighbours have been selling cheap firewood direct to private households and small firms on a massive scale, delivering direct using small trucks. After the changes in the law following membership of the EU there have been no plant health inspections at the border, although the logs are then stored in the private households until the following spring, which allows infested timber to spread pests and plant diseases unchecked. Commercial timber importers are by contrast obliged at least to carry out plant health checks on their premises and to obey the relevant instructions, so that some minimum protection of the local flora may be assumed.Is the Commission aware that for some time operators in Austria's eastern neighbours have been supplying private households and small undertakings in Austria with cheap firewood on which there have been no plant health checks?Does this problem exist in other EU Member States?What is the Commission's opinion on the dangers to our plant life of these direct imports of infested timber?What action will the Commission take to prevent the spread of pests and plant diseases by these imports?What avenues are open to Member States affected by these imports, and Austria in particular?Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (29 April 1996)The Commission has no knowledge of the developments referred to by the Honourable Member, as regards the sale of cheap firewood from Central European countries direct to customers in certain Member States without any plant health checks.The Commission recognizes the risks posed by such imports into the Community in the absence of plant health checks. Protective measures against the introduction into the Member States of organisms harmful to plants or plant products, and the spread of such organisms in the Community, are provided for in Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21 December 1976, ((OJ L 26, 31.1.1977. )) as amended, particularly Annexes IV and V (which covers plants, plant products, and other objects subject to plant health inspections).Whilst certain derogations are provided for in Council Directive 94/13/EC of 29 March 1994, ((OJ L 92, 9.4.1994. )) firewood imports are generally required to undergo plant health inspections in the consignor country if the wood in question is covered by Council Directive 77/93/EEC, and a plant health certificate issued by that country must be produced with the goods. Member States are required to check compliance with the rules when the goods enter the Community.The Commission has noted the developments referred to by the Honourable Member, and has asked the Office for Veterinary and Plant-Health Inspection and Control to investigate.