1999/222/EC: Commission Decision of 10 March 1999 authorising Member States temporarily 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 Cuba (notified under document number C(1999) 558)
Date: 1999-03-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cuba, derogation from EU law, originating product, plant health legislation, plantation, potato

26. 3. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 82/47

COMMISSION DECISION

of 10 March 1999

authorising Member States temporarily 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 Cuba

(notified under document number C(1999) 558)

(1999/222/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the 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 Directive 98/2/
EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,

Having regard to the requests made by the Netherlands
and Germany,

(1) Whereas, under

the provisions of Directive 77/
93/EEC, potato tubers other than those officially certi-
fied as seed potatoes pursuant to other Community
provisions, originating in Cuba may in principle not
be introduced into the Community because of the risk
of introducing exotic potato harmful organism which
would present a plant health risk to the Community;

(2) Whereas the early growing in Cuba of potatoes, other
than potatoes intended for planting, from seed pota-
toes supplied by Member States has become an estab-
lished practice; whereas part of the early supply of
potatoes in the Community has been ensured by
imports of such material from Cuba;

(3) Whereas by Decisions 87/306/EEC (3), 88/223/EEC (4),
89/152/EEC (5), 91/593/EEC (6), 93/36/EEC (7), 95/
96/EC (8) and 96/157/EC (9), the Commission author-
ised derogations under special technical conditions in
respect of potatoes for human consumption origin-
in the 1987-96 seasons, and by
ating in Cuba,

(1) OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 15, 21. 1. 1998, p. 34.
(3) OJ L 153, 13. 6. 1987, p. 41.
(4) OJ L 100, 19. 4. 1988, p. 44.
(5) OJ L 59, 2. 3. 1989, p. 29.
(6) OJ L 316, 16. 11. 1991, p. 47.
(7) OJ L 16, 25. 1. 1993, p. 40.
(8) OJ L 75, 4. 4. 1995, p. 22.
(9) OJ L 36, 14. 2. 1996, p. 38.

Decision 97/186/EC (10) in respect of potatoes other
than potatoes intended for planting originating in
Cuba in the 1997 season;

(4) Whereas there have never been confirmed findings of
harmful organisms on samples drawn from imports
pursuant to the said Decisions;

in particular details on the

(5) Whereas it is expected that Cuba makes available all
technical information necessary to assess in the future,
the phytosanitary status of the production of potatoes
in Cuba,
regular
monitoring of seed and ware potatoes imported into,
and marketed within Cuba by means of examination
and testing of representative samples by scientifically
recognised methods for Clavibacter michiganensis
(Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spieckermann et
Kotthoff) Davis et al., Pseudomonas solanacearum
(Smith) Smith and potato spindle tuber viroid, as well
as the results of the said examination and testing;

(6) Whereas

the circumstances

justifying the author-

isation still obtain;

(7) 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 Member States are hereby authorised to provide,
under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, for excep-
tions to Article 4(1) with regard to the prohibitions
referred to in Part A, point 12 of Annex III to Directive
77/93/EEC, for potatoes other than potatoes intended for
planting, originating in Cuba.

(10) OJ L 77, 19. 3. 1997, p. 32.

L 82/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26. 3. 1999

In addition to the requirements

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

laid down therein, in particular certifying freedom
from the harmful organism mentioned in (c).

The certificate shall state:

(a) the potatoes shall be other than potatoes intended for

— under ‘Additional declaration':

planting;

(b) they shall either be immature potatoes, i.e.

‘unsu-
berised' potatoes with loose skin, or they shall have
been treated for the suppression of their faculty of
germination;

(c) they shall have been grown in the province ‘Pinar del
solanacearum

in areas where Pseudomonas

Rio'
(Smith) Smith is known not to occur;

(d) they shall belong to varieties the seed potatoes of
which were imported into Cuba only from Member
States or from 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;

(e) they shall have been grown in Cuba directly from
seed potatoes certified in one of 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; or from the
progeny of such seed potatoes, officially certified in
the year before the previous one, if this progeny was
produced in the province ‘Pinar del Rio' and quali-
fied as seed potatoes in accordance with the current
rules applicable in Cuba;

(f) they shall have been grown either on farms which
have not grown potatoes of varieties other than those
specified in (d) over the previous five years, or, in the
case of State farms, on land sections which are kept
separate from other land where potatoes of varieties
other than those specified in (d) have been grown
over the last five years;

(g) 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;

(h) they shall not have been in store-houses where pota-
toes of varieties other than those specified in (d) have
been stored;

(i) they shall be packed either

in
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) prior to export, the potatoes shall have been cleaned

free from soil, leaves and other plant debris;

(k) the potatoes intended for the Community shall be
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in
Cuba in accordance with Articles 7 and 12 of
Directive 77/93/EEC, on the basis of the examination

— the indication ‘this consignment meets the
laid down in Decision 1999/

conditions
222/EC',

— name of variety,

— identification number or name of the farm
where the potatoes have been grown and its
location,

— reference allowing the identification of seed

lot used in accordance with (e),

— under ‘Disinfestation and/or disinfection treat-
ment', all
information related to the possible
treatments referred to in (b) second option and/or
(i);

(l) 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 State other than the Member
State making use of
the said re-
sponsible official bodies of
the Member State of
introduction shall inform and cooperate with the said
the Member States
responsible official bodies of
making use of this derogation to ensure that the
provisions of this Decision are complied with;

this derogation,

(m) prior

the
to introduction into the Community,
importer shall be officially informed of the condi-
tions laid down in (a) to (p); 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:

— the type of material,

— the quantity,

— the declared date of introduction and confirma-

tion of the point of entry,

— the premises referred to in (o).

The importer shall provide details of any changes to
the
aforementioned advance notification to 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;

26. 3. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 82/49

method for the detection and diagnosis of Clavi-
bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus, and in the case
of potato spindle tuber viroid:
the reverse-page
method, or c-DNA hybridisation procedure; in the
case of suspicion the lots shall remain separate under
official control and may not be marketed or used
until it has been established that the presence of
Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus, Pseudo-
monas solanacearum or potato spindle tuber viroid
was not suspected or detected in those examinations.

Article 2

Member States shall inform the other Member States and
the Commission by means of the notification referred to
in Article 1(2)(m) first sentence of any use made of the
authorisation. They shall provide the Commission and
the other Member States, before 1 September 1999, with
the information on amounts imported pursuant to this
Decision and with a detailed technical report of the offi-
cial examination referred to in Article 1(2)(q); copies of
each phytosanitary certificate shall be transmitted to the
Commission.

Article 3

Article 1 shall apply in the period between 15 March

1.
1999 and 30 April 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, 10 March 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(n) the inspections

these inspections,

including testing, as appropriate,
required pursuant
to Article 12 of Directive 77/
93/EEC and in accordance with provisions laid down
in the present Decision shall be made by the re-
referred to in the said
sponsible official bodies,
Directive; of
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(s) shall
also inspect for all other harmful organisms. Without
prejudice to the monitoring referred to in Article
19a(3) second indent,
the said
Directive, the Commission shall determine to which
extent the inspections referred to in Article 19a(3)
said
second indent,
Directive shall be integrated into the inspection
programme in accordance with Article 19a(5)(c) of
that Directive;

second possibility of

first possibility of

the

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

(p) 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 kilograms;
the packaging shall bear the number of the registered
premises referred to in (o), as well as the Cuban
origin;

(q) 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 Pseudomonas solanacearum in accordance
with the Community interim test scheme for the
diagnosis, detection and identification of Pseudo-
monas solanacearum (Smith) Smith in potatoes (1),
in the case of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus, in accordance with the Community established

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

L 82/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26. 3. 1999

ANNEX

Information required on the label

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

1. Name of the authority issuing the label.

2. Name of the exporters’ organisation, if available.

3. Indication ‘potatoes other than potatoes intended for planting of Cuban origin'.

4. Variety.

5. Province of production.

6. Size.

7. Declared net weight.

8. Indication ‘In accordance with EC requirements laid down in Decision 1999/222/EC'.

9. A mark printed or stamped on behalf of the Cuban plant protection administration.