98/83/EC: Commission Decision of 8 January 1998 recognising certain third countries and certain areas of third countries as being free of Xanthomonas campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora angolensis Carv. et Mendes and Guignardia citricarpa Kiely (all strains pathogenic to Citrus)
Date: 1998-01-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: citrus fruit, import, parasitology, plant health control, plant health legislation, third country

21. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 15/41

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 8 January 1998

recognising certain third countries and certain areas of third countries as being
free of Xanthomonas campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora
angolensis Carv. et Mendes and Guignardia citricarpa Kiely (all strains patho-
genic to Citrus)

(98/83/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21
December 1976 on protective measures against the intro-
duction into the Community of organisms harmful to
plants or plant products and against their spread within
the Community (1), as last amended by Commission
Directive 97/14/EC (2), and in particular Annex IV, Part
A, Section I, points 16.2, 16.3 and 16.3(a) thereof,

Whereas Annex IV, Part A, Section I, points 16.2, 16.3
and 16.3(a) contain a reference to fruits of Citrus L.,
Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf., and their hybrids,
originating in third countries where Xanthomonas
campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora
angolensis Carv. et Mendes or Guignardia citricarpa
Kiely (all strains pathogenic to Citrus) are known to
occur;

Whereas these provisions should be reinforced; whereas
one way of doing so is to determine the third countries
which are recognised as being free of Xanthomonas
campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora
angolensis Carv. et Mendes and Guignardia citricarpa
Kiely (all strains pathogenic to Citrus) and to determine
the areas free of those harmful organisms in the third
countries where they are known to occur;

Considering the information provided by the European
and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation and the
‘Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International';

Whereas this Decision is without prejudice to any subse-
quent discovery that one or more of
the respective
harmful organisms occur in the third countries or areas
of third countries concerned;

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 87, 2. 4. 1997, p. 17.

Whereas the Commission will ensure that
the third
countries concerned provide all the technical information
necessary for monitoring the situation;

Whereas the measure provided for in this Decision is in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on Plant Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

It is hereby declared that the following third countries are
recognized as being free of all strains of Xanthomonas
campestris pathogenic to Citrus:

 all citrus-growing countries

in the Euro-Mediter-
ranean region,
including Europe, Algeria, Cyprus,
Egypt, Israel, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and
Turkey,

 in Africa: South Africa, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,

Kenya, Sudan, Swaziland and Zimbabwe,

 in Central and South America and the Caribbean: the
Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru,
the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, El Salvador,
Surinam and Venezuela.

Article 2

It is hereby declared that the following areas are recog-
strains of Xanthomonas
nized as being free of all
campestris pathogenic to Citrus:

 in Argentina: Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán,
 in Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, South

Australia and Victoria,

 in Brazil: São Paulo, with the exception of Presidente

Prudente,

L 15/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 1. 98

 in the United States: Arizona, California, Florida (with
the exception of Dade County and Manatee County),
Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Texas and the United
States Virgin Islands,

 all areas of Uruguay, with the exception of

the
Departments Salto, Rivera and Paysandu  north of
River Chapicuy.

 all citrus-growing third countries in Asia, with the
exception of Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Philippines
and Taiwan,

 all citrus-growing third countries in Africa, with the
exception of South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique,
Zambia and Zimbabwe,

 all citrus-growing third countries in Oceania, with the
exception of Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu.

Article 3

Article 5

It is hereby declared that the following third countries are
recognized as being free of Cercospora angolensis Carv.
et Mendes:

 all citrus-growing third countries in North, Central
and South America, the Caribbean, Asia (with the
exception of Yemen), Europe and Oceania,

 all citrus-growing third countries in Africa, with the
exception of Angola, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon,
Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Article 4

It is hereby declared that the following third countries are
recognized as being free of all strains of Guignardia
citricarpa Kiely pathogenic to Citrus:

 all citrus-growing third countries in North, Central
and South America, the Caribbean and Europe,

It is hereby declared that the following areas are recog-
nized as being free of all strains of Guignardia citricarpa
Kiely pathogenic to Citrus:

 in South Africa: Western Cape,
 in Australia: South Australia, Western Australia and

Northern Territory,

 in China: all areas with the exception of Sichuan,

Yunnan, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 8 January 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission