1999/50/EC: Commission Decision of 11 January 1999 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 (notified under document number C(1998) 4562) (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic)
Date: 1999-01-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Canada, marketing, plant disease, plant health legislation, potato, seedling

21. 1. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 16/31

COMMISSION DECISION

of 11 January 1999

authorising certain Member States to provide for derogations from certain provi-
sions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of seed potatoes originating in
Canada

(notified under document number C(1998) 4562)

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

(1999/50/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 Council Directive
98/2/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,

Having regard to the request made by Greece, Italy and
Portugal,

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

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

Whereas, by Decisions 96/6/EC (3), 97/89/EC (4) and 98/
92/EC (5), the Commission approved derogations based on
the concept of ‘area freedom', subject to certain technical
conditions to prevent
the risk of harmful organisms
spreading; whereas that approval expired on 31 March
1998; 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 15, 21. 1. 1998, p. 34.
(3) OJ L 2, 4. 1. 1996, p. 24.
(4) OJ L 27, 30. 1. 1997, p. 45.
(5) OJ L 18, 23. 1. 1998, p. 30.

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 and
New Brunswick; whereas there had been no confirmed
findings of the disease on samples drawn from seed pota-
toes originating in Prince Edward Island and New Bruns-
wick and introduced pursuant
to Decision 98/92/EC;
whereas therefore it has not been established that there
are sufficient elements which would militate against the
proper functioning of the aforementioned concept of ‘area
freedom' and therefore against the recognition of the
provisions
to the
Community provisions on combating Clavibacter michi-
ganensis spp. sepedonicus;

implemented there as equivalent

Whereas, moreover, as a result of inspections carried out
in 1998 by the Food and Veterinary Office in the
importing Member State,
it became apparent that the
technical conditions imposed on the importing Member
State should not be modified;

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

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

the functioning of

L 16/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 1. 1999

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 98/111/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 of the varieties ‘Atlantic', ‘Donna', ‘Kenne-
bec',
and
‘Russet Burbank',
‘Shepody' originating in Canada.

‘Yucon Gold'

‘Sebago',

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,
the
fields are operated by producers inside or outside the
area:

irrespective of whether

(1) OJ 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2320/66.
(2) OJ L 28, 4. 2. 1998, p. 42.
(3) OJ L 225, 12. 10. 1970, p. 1.

(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 organ-
isms 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 and representative annual

surveys
which have been carried out over at least 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-
including appropriate la-
toes harvested there,
boratory testing, did not
show any positive
finding, or any other element which could mili-
tate against the recognition as disease-free, and

(v) legislative, administrative or other arrangements

have been made to ensure that:

— 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
equipment 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,

21. 1. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 16/33

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

appropriate marks

through

(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 Clavi-
bacter 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 michiga-
nensis spp. sepedonicus a sample of at least 200 tubers
per lot of 25 tonnes or less shall be taken; examina-
tions 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 spp. 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);

— that the lots shall be kept separate in all opera-
tions 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
the presence of
suspicions or to the detection of
potato spindle tuber viroid or Clavibacter michiga-
nensis spp. 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 certi-
fication 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
corres-
‘Distinguishing marks',
ponding 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 certifi-
cate as an integral part of the certificate shall relate
precisely to that certificate in both description and
quantity of commodity;

colour

code

the

(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 concerned, and that Member State shall
then, without delay, convey the details of the noti-
fication to the Commission, indicating:

(d)

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

— the variety,

— the quantity,

— a direct supervision and control by the certi-
fication authority (i.e. the Canadian Food Inspec-
tion Agency) of the sampling process, i.e. collec-
tion, tagging and sealing, and in the labelling
system through appropriate label accountability
procedures, 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
bags of potatoes of each lot shipped to the
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,

— the declared date of import,

— the names and addresses of the premises of the
importers of
the potatoes, and those listed in
accordance with the provisions of Commission
Directive 93/50/EEC (2).

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

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

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

L 16/34

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 1. 1999

(g)

the potatoes may be introduced into the Community
only via the following ports of unloading:

(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;

— Aveiro
— Lisbon
— Porto

— Pireaus
— Patras;

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

referred to in Article 19a(3)

(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) second indent,
first possibility,
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.
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 quant-
ities 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)

spp.

sepedonicus

the importing
the responsible official bodies of
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
in
Clavibacter michiganensis
accordance with the Community established method
for the detection and diagnosis of Clavibacter michi-
ganensis spp. sepedonicus; the lots shall remain sepa-
rate under official control and may not be marketed
or used until it has been established that the presence
of Clavibacter michiganensis spp. sepedonicus was
not 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;
shall be kept available for
subsequent examination by other Member States and
the responsible official bodies referred to in the said
Directive of the importing Member State shall by 15
April 1999 inform the Commission, with a view to
organising that
recording
thereof;

examination and the

sub-samples

(k)

in the growing period following introduction, a suit-
able proportion of the plants shall be inspected by the
said responsible official bodies, at appropriate times,
at the premises listed in accordance with the provi-
sions 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.

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
1999, 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
Article 1(2)(i), the detailed technical reports thereof shall
also be submitted to the Commission before 1 June 1999;
copies of each phytosanitary certificate shall be trans-
mitted to the Commission.

amounts

Article 3

The authorisation granted in Article 1 shall apply from 15
January 1999 until 31 March 1999. It shall be revoked
prior to 31 March 1999 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.

21. 1. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 16/35

This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the Italian
Republic and the Portuguese Republic.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 11 January 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission