98/187/EC: Commission Decision of 27 February 1998 authorising the Member States exceptionally to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Latvia
Date: 1998-02-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Latvia, derogation from EU law, fruit, import policy, originating product, plant health control

L 70/26

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Official Journal of the European Communities

10. 3. 98

COMMISSION DECISION

of 27 February 1998

authorising the Member States exceptionally to provide for derogations from
certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of plants of VitisL.,
other than fruits, originating in Latvia

(98/187/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

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 98/2/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1)
thereof,

Article 1

The Member States are hereby authorised to provide,
1.
under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, for excep-
tions from Article 4(1) of Directive 77/93/EEC, with
regard to the prohibitions referred to in Part A, point 15
of Annex III thereto for plants of Vitis L., other than
fruits, originating in Latvia.

Having regard to the requests made by Finland and
Sweden,

2.

The following specific conditions shall be satisfied;

Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC,
plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in third
countries, may in principle not be introduced into the
Community;

Whereas, in respect of the said imports into the Com-
munity of the said plants, on the basis of the information
supplied by the relevant Member State, it appears that in
Latvia, plants of Vitis L. can be grown under adequate
health conditions and that there are no sources for the
introduction of exotic diseases affecting plants of Vitis L.;

Whereas, since the plants are not intended for commer-
cial growing but for private gardens for ornamental use
only, Council Directive 68/193/EEC (3), as last amended
by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden is
not applicable;

Whereas by Decision 97/111/EC (4)
the Commission
authorised Member States to provide for derogations in
respect of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating
in Latvia under specified conditions in the 1997 season;

Whereas the circumstances justifying a further authorisa-
tion still obtain;

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

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 15, 21. 1. 1998, p. 34.
(3) OJ L 93, 17. 4. 1968, p. 15.
(4) OJ L 40, 11. 2. 1997, p. 19.

(a) the plants shall be Labrusca-hybrids of Vitis, belong-
ing to one or more of the following varieties bred in
Latvia: Sukribe, Supaga, Veldze and Zilga;

(b) the plants shall be one year old bare-rooted cuttings,
unrooted woody cuttings, or planted in pots with peat,
not grafted and intended to be grown on without
further multiplication for one or two years before
selling, at the premises referred to in (g);

(c) the plants intended for

the Community shall be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in
Latvia in accordance with Article 7 of Directive
77/93/EEC, on the basis of the examination laid down
in Article 6 thereof related to the conditions laid
down therein,
in particular freedom from the fol-
lowing harmful organisms:

— Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch),

— Xylophilus ampelinus (Panagopoulos) Willems et

al.,

— Grapevine Flavescence dor(cid:130)e MLO.

The certificate shall state under ‘Additional declara-
tion’,
the indication ‘this consignment meets the
conditions laid down in Decision 98/187/EC’;

(d) the inspections required pursuant

to Article 12 of
Directive 77/93/EEC shall be made by the responsible
official bodies, referred to in the said Directive, of the
Member States making use of this derogation, and
where appropriate, in cooperation with the said bodies
the Member State in which the plants will be
of
planted. Without prejudice to the monitoring referred
to in Article 19a(3) second indent, first possibility, the
the
Commission shall determine to which extent

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 70/27

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;

(j)

the plants shall be intended for ornamental use and
for sale to final consumers not involved in profes-
sional plant production and there shall be evidence by
their packaging that they are intended for such sales.

(e) the plants shall be introduced through points of entry
situated within the territory of a Member State making
use of this derogation and designated for the purpose
of this derogation by that Member State;

(f) prior

the
to introduction into the Community,
importer shall notify each introduction sufficiently in
advance to the responsible official bodies in the
Member State of introduction and that Member State
shall without delay convey the details of the notifica-
tion to the Commission, indicating:
— the type of material,
— the quantity,
— the declared date of introduction and confirmation

of the point of entry,

— the names and addresses of the premises referred
to in (g) where the plants will be planted.

import
the details of

At
the time of
the importer shall provide
the aforementioned
confirmation of
advance notification. The importer shall be officially
informed, prior to the introduction, of the conditions
laid down in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j).

(g) the plants shall be planted or grown on prior to
selling only at premises the names and addresses of
which have been notified by the person who intends
to plant or grow on the plants imported pursuant to
this Decision, to the said responsible official bodies of
the Member State in which the premises are situated;
in those cases where the place of planting or growing
on is situated in a Member State other than the
Member State making use of this derogation, the said
responsible official bodes of the Member State making
use of this derogation, at the moment of receipt of the
aforementioned
from the
notification
importer, shall
inform the said responsible official
bodies of the Member States in which the plants will
be planted or grown on giving the name and addresses
of the premises where the plants will be planted;

advance

(h) the premises referred to in (g) shall not be situated

adjacent to nurseries selling Vitis L. plants;

(i)

in the growing period(s) following importation, the
plants shall be inspected before selling by the said
responsible official bodies of the Member State in
which the plants are planted or grown on, at appro-
priate times, at the premises referred to in (g);

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. They shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, before 1 December 1998, with the infor-
mation on amounts imported pursuant to this Decision
the official
and with a detailed technical
examination referred to in Article 1(2)(h). Furthermore
any other Member State in which the plants are planted,
immediately after
the import, shall also provide the
Commission and the other Member States, before 1
December 1998, with a detailed technical report of the
official examination referred to in Article 1(2)(h).

report of

Article 3

Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Article
14(3) of Directive 77/93/EEC,
the Member States
concerned shall notify the Commission and the other
Member States of all cases of consignments introduced
pursuant to this Decision which do not comply with the
conditions laid down herein.

Article 4

This Decision shall apply during the period between 15
March 1998 and 31 October 1998. It shall be revoked if it
is established that the conditions laid down in Article 1(2)
are not sufficient to prevent the introduction of harmful
organisms or have not been complied with.

Article 5

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 27 February 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission