98/688/EC: Commission Decision of 19 November 1998 authorising the Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in South Africa (notified under document number C(1998) 3540)
Date: 1998-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: South Africa, derogation from EU law, import, labelling, plant health control, potato

2. 12. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 324/37

COMMISSION DECISION

of 19 November 1998

authorising the Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions
of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of potatoes, other than potatoes
intended for planting, originating in South Africa

(notified under document number C(1998) 3540)

(98/688/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 98/2/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1)
thereof,

spindle tuber viroid, as well as the results of the said
examination and testing;

Whereas the circumstances justifying the authorisation
still obtain;

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

Having regard to the request made by the United
Kingdom,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

than potatoes

Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC,
potatoes, other
intended for planting,
originating in South Africa may in principle not be intro-
duced into the Community because of the risk of intro-
ducing exotic potato diseases unknown in the Com-
munity;

the Commission

Whereas by Decisions 93/159/EEC (3), 95/95/EC (4) and
96/112/EC (5)
certain
Member States to provide for derogations in respect of
potatoes for human consumption originating in South
Africa, under specified conditions in the 1993, 1995 and
1996 seasons respectively;

authorised

Whereas there were no confirmed findings of diseases
and pests on samples drawn from potatoes imported
pursuant to Decisions 93/159/EEC and 96/112/EC and
whereas due to technical reasons there were no imports
made under Decision 95/95/EC;

Whereas it is expected that South Africa makes available
all technical information necessary to assess in the future,
the phytosanitary status of potato production in South
Africa, in particular details on the regular monitoring of
seed and ware potatoes imported into, and marketed
within, South Africa by means of examination and testing
of
representative samples by scientifically recognised
methods for Clavibacter michiganensis (Smith) Davis et
al. ssp. sapedonicus (Spieckermann et Kotthoff) Davis et
al., Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Smith and potato

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 15, 21. 1. 1998, p. 34.
(3) OJ L 67, 19. 3. 1993, p. 24.
(4) OJ L 79, 4. 4. 1995, p. 19.
(5) OJ L 27, 3. 2. 1996, p. 26.

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 12
of Annex III thereto for potatoes, other than potatoes
intended for planting, originating in South Africa.

In addition to the requirements

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

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

the potatoes shall be potatoes other than potatoes
intended for planting;

they shall have been grown in South Africa directly
from seed potatoes certified in the South African seed
potato certification scheme or from seed potatoes
certified in one of the Member States and imported
into South Africa exclusively from the Member
States, or from seed potatoes certified in any other
country for which the entry into the Community of
potatoes intended for planting is not prohibited
pursuant to Annex III of Directive 77/93/EEC;

they shall have been grown in areas where Ralstonia
solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. is known not
to occur;

they shall have been handled by machinery which is
reserved for them or which has been disinfected in
an appropriate manner after each use for other
purposes;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 12. 98

(e)

in
they shall be packed either
containers which have been disinfected in an appro-
priate manner; and an official label shall be applied
to each bag or container, bearing the information
specified in the Annex;

in new bags or

(j)

(f) prior to export the potatoes shall have been cleaned
free from soil, leaves and other plant debris;

(g)

the potatoes intended for the Community shall be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in
South Africa in accordance with Articles 7 and 12 of
Directive 77/93/EEC, on the basis of the examination
laid down therein, in particular freedom from the
harmful organism mentioned in (c).

The certificate shall state:

— under

‘Additional declaration',

‘This consignment meets
down in Decision 98/688/EC';

the indication
laid

the conditions

(h)

the potatoes shall be introduced through points of
entry situated within the territory of a Member State
and designated for the purpose of this derogation by
that Member State; these points of entry and the
name and address of the responsible official body
referred to in Directive 77/93/EEC in charge of each
point shall be notified sufficiently in advance by the
Member States to the Commission and shall be held
available on request to other Member States. In those
cases where the introduction into the Community
takes place in a Member States other
than the
Member State making use of this derogation, the said
responsible official bodies of the Member State of
introduction shall inform and cooperate with the said
responsible official bodies of
the Member States
making use of this derogation to ensure that the
provisions of this Decision are complied with;

(i) prior

to introduction into the Community,
the
importer shall be officially informed of the condi-
tions laid down in (a) to (l); the said importer shall
notify details of each introduction sufficiently in
advance to the responsible official bodies in the
Member State of introduction and that Member State,
without delay, shall convey the details of the noti-
fication to the Commission, indicating:

without delay, shall convey the details of the changes
to the Commission;

including testing, as appropriate,
the inspections
to Article 12 of Directive 77/
required pursuant
93/EEC and in accordance with provisions laid down
in the present Decision shall be made by the respon-
sible official bodies, referred to in the said Directive;
of these inspections, the plant health checks shall be
carried out by the Member State making use of this
derogation. Furthermore during the said plant health
check that Member State shall also inspect for all
other harmful organisms. Without prejudice to the
second
monitoring referred to in Article 19a(3),
the
the said Directive,
indent,
the
Commission shall determine to which extent
inspections
second
indent, second possibility of the said Directive shall
be integrated into the inspection programme in
accordance with Article 19a(5)(c) of that Directive;

referred to in Article 19a(3),

first possibility of

(k)

(l)

the potatoes shall be packed and repacked only at
premises which have been authorised and registered
by the said responsible official bodies;

the potatoes shall be packed or repacked in closed
packages that are ready for direct delivery to retailers
or to final consumers, and that do not exceed a
weight common in the Member State of introduction
for that purpose, up to a maximum of 25 kilo-
grammes; the packaging shall bear the number of the
registered premises referred to in (k), as well as the
South African origin;

(m) Member States making use of this derogation shall,
where appropriate, in cooperation with the Member
State of introduction ensure that at least two samples
of 200 tubers shall be drawn from each consignment
of 50 tonnes or part thereof, of imported potatoes
pursuant to this Decision, for official examination in
respect of Ralstonia solanacearum in accordance
with the Community interim test scheme as laid
down in Decision 97/647/EC (1), and in the case of
Clavibacter michiganensis
in
accordance with the Community established method
for the detection and diagnosis of Clavibacter michi-
ganensis ssp. sepedonicus; in the case of suspicion the
lots shall remain separate under official control and
may not be marketed or used until it has been estab-
lished that
the presence of Clavibacter michiga-
nensis ssp. sepedonicus or Ralstonia solanacearum
was not confirmed in those examinations.

sepedonicus,

ssp.

— the type of material,

— the quantity,

Article 2

— the declared date of introduction and confirma-

tion of the point of entry.

The importer shall provide details of any changes to
to the
the aforementioned advance notification,
responsible official bodies of their own Member State,
preferably as soon as they are known and in any case
prior to the time of import, and that Member State,

Member States shall inform the other Member States and
the Commission by means of the notification referred to
in Article 1(2)(i) of any use made of the authorisation.
They shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, before 1 September 1999, with the infor-
mation on amounts imported pursuant to this Decision

(1) OJ L 273, 6. 10. 1997, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 324/39

and with a detailed technical report of the official exam-
ination referred to in Article 1(2)(m); copies of each
phytosanitary certificate shall be transmitted to the
Commission.

Article 3

1. Article 1 shall apply during the period between 15
January 1999 and 30 June 1999.

The present Decision shall be revoked if it is estab-
2.
lished that the conditions laid down in Article 1(2) have
been insufficient to prevent the introduction of harmful
organisms or have not been complied with.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 19 November 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 12. 98

ANNEX

Information required on the label

(referred to in Article 1(2)(e))

1. Name of the authority issuing the label

2. Name of the exporters’ organisation

3. Indication ‘South African potatoes other than potatoes intended for planting'

4. Variety

5. Area and/or place of production

6. Size

7. Declared net weight

8. Indication ‘In accordance with EC conditions laid down in Decision 98/688/EC'

9. A mark printed or stamped on behalf of the South African plant protection organisation.