1999/181/EC: Commission Decision of 24 February 1999 authorising Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of plants of strawberry (Fragaria L.), intended for planting, other than seeds, originating in Argentina (notified under document number C(1999) 406)
Date: 1999-02-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Argentina, derogation from EU law, originating product, plant health control, seedling, soft fruit

L 59/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

6. 3. 1999

COMMISSION DECISION

of 24 February 1999

authorising Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of
Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of plants of strawberry (Fragaria L.),
intended for planting, other than seeds, originating in Argentina

(notified under document number C(1999) 406)

(1999/181/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,

Having regard to the requests made by France and Italy,

Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC,
plants of strawberry (Fragaria L.), intended for planting,
other than seeds, originating in non-European countries,
other
than Mediterranean countries, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and the continental States of the United
States of America, may in principle not be introduced
into the Community;

Whereas, the multiplication in Argentina of plants of
Fragaria L., intended for planting, other than seeds, from
plants supplied by some Member States,
in order to
prolongate the producing season, has become an estab-
lished practice; whereas the plants produced are after-
wards exported to the Community in order to have them
planted for the production of fruits;

Whereas, by Decision 93/411/EEC (3), as last amended by
Decision 96/403/EC (4), Member States were authorised to
provide, under certain conditions, for derogations from
certain general rules of Directive 77/93/EEC for plants of
intended for planting, other
strawberry (Fragaria L.),
than seeds, originating in Argentina in the 1993-1996
seasons;

Whereas in the 1993 and 1994 import seasons there had
been no confirmed findings of harmful organisms during
import inspections on the plants imported pursuant to
Decision 93/411/EEC; whereas however, in relation to the

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 15, 21. 1. 1998, p. 34.
(3) OJ L 182, 24. 7. 1993, p. 63.
(4) OJ L 165, 4. 7. 1996, p. 37.

1995 and 1996 import seasons, the Netherlands reported
to the Commission four findings, one in the 1995 season
and three in the 1996 season, of the harmful organism
Xanthomonas
fragariae Kennedy & King, detected
during the stipulated growing season inspections on the
imported Argentinean strawberry plants; whereas it was
the outbreaks;
not possible to confirm the source of
whereas it was considered that the circumstances justi-
fying the previous authorisations still obtained and by
Decision 97/353/EC (5) a further authorisation with strin-
gent requirements for the import of Argentinean straw-
berry plants was granted for a limited period until
31.12.1998; whereas there have been no confirmed find-
ings of harmful organisms during import inspections on
the plants imported pursuant
to Decision 97/353/EC;
whereas it is considered that the circumstances justifying
the previous authorisations still obtain; whereas it
is
appropriate to grant a further authorisation with similar
stringent requirements for the import of Argentinean
strawberry plants for a limited period until 31.12.2000;

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. Member States are hereby authorised to provide,
under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, for a
derogation from Article 4(1) of Directive 77/93/EEC, with
regard to the requirements referred to in Annex III(A)(18)
for plants of
intended for
strawberry (Fragaria L.),
planting, other than seeds, originating in Argentina.

2.
In addition to the requirements laid down in part A
of the Annexes I, II and IV to Directive 77/93/EEC, in
relation to plants of strawberry, the following specific
conditions shall be satisfied:

(5) OJ L 151, 10. 6. 1997, p. 40.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 59/33

(a) the plants shall be intended for fruit production

within the Community and shall have been:

(i) produced exclusively from mother plants, certi-
fied under an approved certification scheme of a
Member State and those mother plants shall have
been imported from a Member State;

(ii) grown on land which is:

— situated in an area isolated from commercial

strawberry production,

— situated at least 1 km from the nearest crop of
strawberry plants for fruit or runner produc-
tion which do not satisfy the conditions of
this Decision,

— situated at least 200 m from any other plants
of the genus Fragaria which do not satisfy
the conditions of this Decision,

and

— prior to planting and in the period after the
previous crop was removed from the land,
tested by appropriate methods or treated to
ensure freedom from soil infesting harmful
organisms;

(iii) officially inspected by the Plant Protection
Service of Argentina, at least three times during
the growing season and prior to export for pres-
ence of harmful organisms listed in part A of
Annexes I and II to Directive 77/93/EEC and any
other harmful organism which is not known to
occur in the Community;

(iv) found free, in the inspections referred to in point
(iii), from the harmful organisms referred to in
point (iii);

(v) prior to export:

— shaken free from soil or other growing

medium,

— cleaned (i.e. free from plant debris) and free

from flowers and fruits;

(b) the plants intended for the Community shall be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in
Argentina 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 organisms mentioned in (a)(iii), as well as to
(iv) and (v).
the requirements specified in (a)(i),

(ii),

The certificate shall state:

— under the rubric ‘Disinfestation and/or disinfec-
tion treatment', the specification of the last treat-
ment(s) applied prior to export,

— under

‘Additional Declaration',

the indication
‘This consignment meets the conditions laid down
in Decision 1999/181/EC', as well as the name of

the variety and the Member State certification
scheme under which the mother plants had been
certified;

(c) the plants 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 State other than the Member State making
use of this derogation, the said responsible official
bodies of
introduction shall
inform and cooperate with the said responsible offi-
cial bodies of the Member States making use of this
derogation to ensure that
this
Decision are complied with;

the Member State of

the provisions of

(d) prior

(b),

the
to introduction into the Community,
importer shall be officially informed of the conditions
laid down in (a),
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 notification to the Commission, indicating:

(e) and (f);

(d),

(c),

— the type of material,

— the quantity,

— the declared date of introduction and confirmation

of the point of entry,

— the names, addresses and the locations of

the
premises referred to in (f) where the plants will be
planted.

aforementioned advance notification,

The importer shall provide details of any changes to
to the
the
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,
without delay, shall convey the details of the changes
to the Commission;

(e) the inspections

including testing, as appropriate,
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 respons-
ible 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 and where appropriate, in cooperation with
the said bodies of the Member State in which the
plants will be planted. Furthermore during the said

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Official Journal of the European Communities

6. 3. 1999

plant health check that Member State(s) shall also
inspect for all other harmful organisms. Without prej-
udice to the monitoring referred to in Article 19a(3)
second indent, first possibility of the said Directive,
the 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 purposes of

(f) the plants shall be planted only at premises officially
registered and approved for
this
derogation and of which the name of the owner and
address of the site have been notified in advance by
the person who intends to plant the plants imported
pursuant to this Decision, to the said responsible offi-
cial bodies of the Member State in which the premises
are situated; in those cases where the place of planting
is situated in a Member State other than the Member
State making use of this derogation, the said respons-
ible official bodies of the Member State making use of
this derogation, at the moment of receipt of the afore-
mentioned advance notification from the importer,
shall inform the said responsible official bodies of the
Member State in which the plants will be planted
giving the name and addresses of the premises where
the plants will be planted;

(g) the said responsible official bodies shall ensure that
any plant not planted in accordance with (f) shall be
destroyed under the control of the said responsible
official bodies. Records shall be kept available to the
Commission on the numbers of plants destroyed;

(h) in the growing period following importation, a suit-
shall be visually
the plants
able proportion of
inspected by the said responsible official bodies of the
Member State in which the plants are planted, at
appropriate times, at the premises referred to in (f), for
the presence of any harmful organism or for signs or
symptoms caused by any harmful organism; as a result
of
inspection any harmful organism
having caused signs or symptoms shall be identified

such visual

by an appropriate testing procedure. Any plant which
has not been found free during the said inspections or
from the harmful organisms listed under
testing,
(a)(iii)
the
control of the said responsible bodies.

shall be immediately destroyed under

Article 2

Member States shall inform the other Member States and
the Commission by means of the notification referred to
in Article 1(2)(d) of any use made of the authorisation.
They shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, before 1 November of each year, with the
information on amounts
to this
Decision and with a detailed technical report of the offi-
cial examination referred to in Article 1(2)(e). Furthermore
all Member States in which the plants are planted shall
also provide the Commission and the other Member
States, before 1 March after the year of importation, with a
the official examination
report of
detailed technical
referred to in Article 1(2)(h).

imported pursuant

Article 3

Article 1 shall apply during the period between 1 June
1999 and 31 December 2000. The present Decision 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 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 24 February 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission