98/92/EC: Commission Decision of 12 January 1998 authorising certain Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of seed potatoes originating in Canada (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic)
Date: 1998-01-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Canada, derogation from EU law, import policy, plant health control, potato, seedling

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Official Journal of the European Communities

23. 1. 98

COMMISSION DECISION

of 12 January 1998

authorising certain Member States to provide for derogations from certain
seed potatoes
provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of

originating in Canada

(Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic)

(98/92/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),
amended by Directive
last
97/14/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,

as

Having regard to the request made by Italy and Portugal,

to the provisions of Directive
Whereas, pursuant
77/93/EEC,
in the
American continent may not, in principle, be introduced
into the Community;

seed potato tubers originating

Whereas, however, Directive 77/93/EEC permits deroga-
tions from that rule, provided that it is established that
there is no risk of spreading harmful organisms;

Whereas in Italy and Portugal the planting and growing
of seed potatoes of certain North American varieties for
ware potato production has been an established practice;
whereas part of the supply of seed potatoes of these vari-
eties has been ensured by imports from Canada;

Whereas, by Decisions 96/6/EC (3) and 97/89/EC (4), the
Commission approved derogations based on the concept
of ‘area freedom’, subject to certain technical conditions
the risk of harmful organisms spreading;
to prevent
whereas that approval expired on 31 March 1997; whereas
the Commission also provided that
those derogations
would provide for the opportunity to seek confirmation of
the proper functioning of the concept of ‘area freedom’;

Whereas it is known that Canada is still not completely
free from potato spindle tuber viroid or from Clavibacter

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 87, 2. 4. 1997, p. 17.
(3) OJ L 2, 4. 1. 1996, p. 24.
(4) OJ L 27, 30. 1. 1997, p. 45.

michiganensis
(Spieckermann et Kotthoff) Davis et al.;

(Smith) Davis

et al.

ssp.

sepedonicus

Whereas information supplied by Canada has shown that
Canada has further developed its programme to eradicate
these harmful organisms in the provinces of New Bruns-
wick and Prince Edward Island; whereas there are good
reasons to believe that the programme to eradicate potato
spindle tuber viroid has become fully effective in those
provinces, and that the programme to eradicate Clavi-
bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus has become largely
effective in certain areas of Prince Edward Island; whereas
there had been no confirmed findings of the disease on
samples drawn from seed potatoes originating in Prince
Edward Island and introduced pursuant
to Decision
97/89/EC; whereas therefore it has not been established
that there are sufficient elements which would militate
the aforementioned
against
concept of ‘area freedom’ in Prince Edward Island and
therefore against the recognition of the provisions imple-
mented there as equivalent to the Community provisions
on combating Clavibacter michiganensis spp. sepedo-
nicus;

the proper functioning of

Whereas, however, Italy informed the Commission on 14
March 1996 that a sample drawn from seed potatoes
imported pursuant to Decision 96/6/EC and originating
in New Brunswick was identified as infected by Clavi-
bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus; whereas, as the
source of
infection could not be identified, and as a
precaution, the recognition of the ‘area freedom’ concept
in the province of New Brunswick was
temporarily
suspended, resulting in a temporary prohibition of the
import of seed potatoes from this province, in order to
enable the Canadian authorities to complete their invest-
igation in respect of the source of the said infection;

Whereas, the Canadian authorities officially informed the
Commission that Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus had not been found in potatoes in an extensive
traceback and testing procedure linked to the farm which
had been placed under suspicion as a result of the finding
of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus in the said

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sample on an imported lot; moreover Canada confirmed
that administrative measures had been strengthened to
control sampling, labelling and sealing procedures for all
seed potato lots destined for the EU; whereas therefore
in the
the ‘area freedom’ concept
the recognition of
province of New Brunswick has been reinstated;

Whereas, moreover, as a result of inspections carried out
in 1997 by the Food and Veterinary Office in the im-
porting Member State, it became apparent that the tech-
nical conditions imposed on the importing Member State
should not be modified;

Whereas it can therefore be established that there is no
risk of
the harmful organisms in question spreading,
provided that the seed potatoes originate in areas declared,
on scientific evidence, free from both potato spindle tuber
viroid and from Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus, and that certain special technical conditions are
complied with;

Whereas the Commission will ensure that Canada makes
all technical information available which is necessary to
monitor
the protective measures
required under the aforementioned technical conditions
and to assess the functioning of
the aforementioned
concept of ‘area freedom’;

the functioning of

Whereas, the risk of establishing and spreading Clavi-
bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus is high in wet and
cold regions; consequently the derogation should not
apply to Member States which are particularly exposed to
i.e. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
such risks,
France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Sweden and the United Kingdom; whereas, therefore, the
authorisation should not apply to the abovementioned
Member States, taking into account the differences in
agricultural and ecological conditions;

Whereas, therefore, derogations should be authorised for
the next seed-potato marketing season, provided that they
include the aforementioned conditions and without preju-
dice to Council Directive 66/403/EEC (1), as last amended
by Directive 97/90/EC (2), and to Council Directive
70/457/EEC (3), as last amended by the Act of Accession
of Austria, Finland and Sweden;

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

1.
The Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the
Italian Republic and the Portuguese Republic are hereby

authorised to provide, under the conditions laid down in
paragraph 2, for derogations from Article 4(1) of Directive
77/93/EEC, with regard to Annex III(A)(10) and from
Article 5(1) and the third indent of Article 12(1)(a) of that
Directive as regards the requirements referred to in part
A, Section I, points 25.2 and 25.3 of Annex IV thereto, for
seed potatoes
‘Donna’,
‘Kennebec’,
‘Sebago’ and ‘Shepody’
originating in Canada.

the
‘Russet Burbank’,

‘Atlantic’,

varieties

of

In addition to the requirements

2.
laid down in
Annexes I, II and IV to Directive 77/93/EEC in relation
to potatoes the following conditions shall be satisfied:

(a) the seed potatoes shall have been produced in fields
located in areas of Prince Edward Island or New
Brunswick which have been officially declared, by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency,
free from both
potato spindle tuber viroid and from Clavibacter
michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus and which satisfy the
following conditions, irrespective of whether the fields
are operated by producers inside or outside the area:

(i) the areas either,

— consist of fields owned or rented by at least

three distinct potato producers, or

— cover an area of at least four km2, surrounded
entirely by water or by fields where the or-
ganisms concerned have not been found
within the previous three years, and

‘Elite I’,

(ii) all potatoes produced in the area are the first
direct progeny of seed potatoes of the category
‘Pre-elite’,
‘Elite II’ or ‘Elite III’ which
were produced in establishments qualified to
produce seed potatoes of the ‘Pre-elite’ or ‘Elite I’
categories and which are either official establish-
ments or officially designated and controlled for
that purpose, and

(iii) the surface used for the production of potatoes
which are not finally certified as seed potatoes
does not exceed one-fifth of that used for the
production of potatoes certified as seed potatoes,
and

(iv) systematic

least

and representative

surveys
annual
which have been carried out over at
the
previous five years under appropriate conditions
for the detection of the organisms concerned, on
all potato fields located in the area and on pota-
toes harvested there, including appropriate labor-
atory testing, did not show any positive finding, or
any other element which could militate against
the recognition as disease-free, and

(1) OJ 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2320/66.
(2) OJ L 27, 30. 1. 1997, p. 49.
(3) OJ L 225, 12. 10. 1970, p. 1.

(v)

legislative, administrative or other arrangements
have been made to ensure that:

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— no potatoes originating in areas of Canada
other than those declared disease-free, or in
countries where the organisms concerned are
known to occur, can be introduced into such
areas, and

— neither potatoes originating in such areas nor
any containers, packaging material, vehicles
and handling, grading and preparation equip-
ment used there can be brought into contact
with potatoes originating, or material or equip-
ment as specified used,
in areas other than
those declared disease-free.

This provision shall also apply to cases where
fields located inside the areas declared disease-free
are operated by establishments outside such areas
or where establishments inside such areas operate
fields located outside them,

(vi) the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shall
provide the Commission with a complete list of
the areas declared as free, supported by a map
the provinces concerned,
updated each year of
showing through appropriate marks
the geo-
graphical distribution of the areas;

(b) the seed potatoes shall be certified officially as seed
potatoes meeting at least the conditions laid down for
the ‘Foundation’ category;

(c) samples shall be taken officially in respect of each lot
intended for export to the Community; a lot shall
consist only of tubers of one single variety and class
which have been produced on one single farm and
with the same reference number. The samples shall be
examined by official laboratories in order to detect any
presence of potato spindle tuber viroid or Clavibacter
michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus; the samples for the
detection of potato spindle tuber viroid shall be tubers,
or leaves taken from the crop which produced the lot;
for the detection of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp.
sepedonicus a sample of at least 200 tubers per lot of
25 tonnes or less shall be taken; examinations shall be
carried out on the entire sample, using the following
methods:

— as regards potato spindle tuber viroid: the ‘reverse-
page’ method, or c-DNA hybridisation procedure,
and

— as regards Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus: at least that set out in the method for the
detection and diagnosis of the ring rot bacterium
in batches of potato tubers as laid down in Council
Directive 93/85/EEC (1);

(1) OJ L 259, 18. 10. 1993, p. 1.

(d) legislative, administrative or other arrangements shall

have been made to ensure:

— a direct supervision and control by the certification
the Canadian Food Inspection
authority (i.e.
Agency) of the sampling process,
i.e. collection,
tagging and sealing, and in the labelling system
through appropriate
accountability pro-
label
cedures, to ensure that for each seed lot within
each consignment shipped to the Community a
numbered label is used and stitched on the bags
separately from the certification labels, as well as
the relevant colour code corresponding to a speci-
fied importer in the importing Member State, and

— that at the time of loading the vessel, two sealed
shipped to the
bags of potatoes of each lot
Community are kept aside and stored under the
jurisdiction of
the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency, at least until the results of the examina-
tions referred to in (i) are completed,

— that the lots shall be kept separate in all operations
including transport, at least until delivery to the
premises of the importers referred to in (f);

(e) the phytosanitary certificate required shall be made
out separately for each consignment and only if it has
been established by the scientists involved that the
examinations referred to in (c) did not give rise to
suspicions or to the detection of the presence of potato
spindle tuber viroid or Clavibacter michiganensis ssp.
sepedonicus in the consignment and that, in particular,
the IF-testing was shown to be negative.

It shall state, under ‘Additional declaration’, that the
conditions laid down in (a),
(b) and (c) have been
complied with, and shall give the name of the estab-
lishment or establishments which have produced the
seed potato lots and the relevant seed potato certifica-
tion lot numbers, as well as the name of the area
referred to in (a), of the establishment referred to in
(a) (ii) and the number of bags. It shall give under
‘Distinguishing marks’, the colour code corresponding
to a specified importer in the importing Member State
as well as the details of the numbered label used for
each seed lot within each consignment. Documents
attached to the said phytosanitary certificate as an in-
tegral part of the certificate shall relate precisely to
that certificate in both description and quantity of
commodity;

(f) prior

the
to introduction into the Community,
importer shall notify each introduction sufficiently in
in the
advance to the responsible official bodies
Member State concerned, and that Member State shall
then, without delay, convey the details of the notifica-
tion to the Commission, indicating:

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— the variety,

— the quantity,

— the declared date of import,

— the names and addresses of the premises of the
importers of the potatoes, and those listed in ac-
cordance with the provisions of Commission Dir-
ective 93/50/EEC (1).

Modifications in respect of the above details which
occur after the said advance notification shall be,
without delay, conveyed by the relevant Member State
to the Commission.

At the moment of import the importer shall provide
confirmation of
the aforementioned
advance notification to the responsible official bodies
in the Member State concerned;

the details of

(g) the potatoes may be introduced into the Community

only via the following ports of unloading:

— Aveiro
— Lisbon
— Porto;

— Genova
— La Spezia
— Livorno
— Napoli
— Ravenna
— Salerno
— Savona

with the Community established method for
the
detection and diagnosis of Clavibacter michiganensis
ssp. sepedonicus; the lots shall remain separate under
official control and may not be marketed or used until
it has been established that the presence of Clavi-
bacter michiganensis
sepedonicus was not
ssp.
suspected or detected in those examinations; the total
lots imported shall not exceed an amount which is
adequate for the abovementioned examinations, taking
into account the facilities available for that purpose;
sub-samples shall be kept available for subsequent
examination by other Member States and the res-
ponsible official bodies referred to in the said Direc-
tive of the importing Member State shall by 15 April
1998 inform the Commission, with a view to organ-
ising that examination and the recording thereof;

(j)

the potatoes shall be planted only at premises in the
Member State of import, for which it is possible to
trace the names and addresses; this provision shall not
apply in the case of final users planting the imported
seed potatoes or for users who will sell only onto the
local market;

(k) in the growing period following introduction,

a
suitable proportion of the plants shall be inspected by
the said responsible official bodies, at appropriate
times, at the premises listed in accordance with the
provisions of Directive 93/50/EEC or referred to in (j);

(l) potatoes

grown from seed potatoes

introduced
pursuant to this Decision shall not be certified as seed
potatoes, and shall be used only as potatoes
for
consumption.

(h) the inspections required pursuant

to Article 12 of
Directive 77/93/EEC shall be made by responsible
official bodies
referred to in the said Directive.
Without prejudice to the monitoring referred to in
the
Article 19a(3)
first possibility,
second indent,
Commission shall determine to which extent
the
inspections referred to in Article 19a(3) second indent,
second possibility of the said Directive shall be in-
tegrated into the inspection programme in accordance
with Article 19a(5)(c) of that Directive. The said official
bodies and, as appropriate, the experts referred to in
Article 19a(3) shall check the importers’ premises to
confirm details of the quantities of potatoes imported
from Canada, the colour coding, the numbered labels
and those destinations for planting at premises listed
under Directive 93/50/EEC;

(i) the responsible official bodies of

the importing
Member States shall take a sample of at least 200
tubers per lot of 25 tonnes or less from each of the
non-bulk lots intended to be imported pursuant to this
Decision for official examination in respect of Clavi-
bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus in accordance

(1) OJ L 205, 17. 8. 1993, p. 22.

For the premises referred to in under (j) the potatoes
grown from such seed potatoes shall be packaged and
labelled accordingly and shall bear the number of the
premises listed in accordance with the provisions of
Directive 93/50/EEC, as well as the Canadian origin of
the seed potatoes used. Such potatoes may be moved
within the Member States, only after approval by the
said responsible official bodies taking into account the
results of the inspection referred to in (k).

Article 2

Member States shall inform the other Member States and
the Commission by means of the notification referred to
in Article 1(2)(f), first sentence of any use of the author-
isation. The importing Member States shall provide the
Commission and the other Member States, before 1 June
1998, with information on the
imported
pursuant to this Decision and with a detailed technical
report on the official examination referred to in Article
1(2)(i); in those cases where Member States have made
official examinations on sub-samples as referred to in

amounts

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Article 1(2)(i), the detailed technical reports thereof shall
also be submitted to the Commission before 1 June 1998;
copies of each phytosanitary certificate shall be trans-
mitted to the Commission.

Article 3

The authorisation granted in Article 1 shall apply from 15
January 1998 until 31 March 1998. It shall be revoked
prior to 31 March 1998 if it is found that the conditions
laid down in Article 1(2) have been insufficient to prevent
the introduction of the harmful organisms in question or
have not been complied with. It may be revoked prior to
that date if it is found that there are elements which
would militate against the proper functioning of the ‘area
freedom’ concept in Canada.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic, the
Kingdom of Spain, the Italian Republic and the Portu-
guese Republic.

Done at Brussels, 12 January 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission