1999/383/EC: Commission Decision of 21 May 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 the Republic of South Africa (notified under document number C(1999) 1336)
Date: 1999-05-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: derogation from EU law, import, parasitology, plant health control, plantation, soft fruit

L 146/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

11. 6. 1999

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 21 May 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 the Republic of South
Africa

(notified under document number C(1999) 1336)

(1999/383/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),
amended by Directive
last
98/2/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,

as

Having regard to the request made by the United
Kingdom,

strawberry

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

(3) Whereas, by Decisions 97/488/EC (3) and 98/
432/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 strawberry (Fragaria L.), intended for
planting, other
than seeds, originating in the
Republic of South Africa;

(4) Whereas in the 1997 to 1998 import seasons there
had been no confirmed findings of harmful organ-
inspections on the plants
isms during import
imported pursuant to Decisions 97/488/EC and 98/
432/EC;

(5) Whereas information supplied by the Republic of
South Africa and collected in that country during a
mission carried out in June 1998 by the Food and
Veterinary Office, has shown that the strawberry
plants supplied by a Member State, with a view to
be multiplied for
to the
export
Community, are grown under adequate health
conditions
the North
in the Elliot district of
Eastern Cape Region;

afterwards

(2) Whereas, there is interest in the multiplication, in
the Republic of South Africa, of plants of Fragaria
L., intended for planting, other than seeds, from
in order to
plants supplied by a Member State,
the plants;
prolong the producing season of
whereas
afterwards
the plants produced are
exported to the Community in order to have them
planted for the production of fruits;

(6) Whereas, as a result of modified conditions after
import of the South African plants, i.e. cold storage
to the
under official control before movement
premises where the imported plants will be
planted, it became apparent that certain technical
conditions should be modified to improve plant
health security in the Member States of
the
imported plants;

(1) OJ L 26, 31.1.1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 15, 21.1.1998, p. 34.

(3) OJ L 208, 2.8.1997, p. 49.
(4) OJ L 192, 8.7.1998, p. 16.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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(7) Whereas therefore it

is appropriate to grant a
further authorisation for
the import of South
African strawberry plants for a limited period,
provided that
the aforementioned
conditions;

includes

it

(8) Whereas

in this
the measures provided for
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)
strawberry (Fragaria L.),
for plants of
intended for
planting, other than seeds, originating in the Republic of
South Africa.

In addition to the requirements laid down in part A
2.
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:

(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 the Elliot district of the North

Eastern Cape Region,

 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

including Globodera pallida
organisms,
(Stone) Behrens and Globodera rostochiensis
(Wollenweber) Behrens;

(iii) officially inspected by the Plant Protection
Service of the Republic of South Africa, at least
three times during the growing season and prior
to export for the presence of both harmful organ-
isms listed in part A of Annexes I and II to
Directive 77/93/EEC, in particular,

 Aphelenchoides besseyi Christie
 Arabis mosaic virus
 Colletotrichum acutatum Simmonds
 Globodera pallida (Stone) Behrens
 Globodera
Behrens

rostochiensis

(Wollenweber)

 Strawberry crinkle virus
 Strawberry mild yellow edge virus
 Xiphinema americanum Cobb sensu lato

(non European populations),

and the following harmful organisms which are
not known to occur in the Community

 Eremnus setulosus (Boheman)
 Naupactus leucoloma (Boheman)
 Heteronychus arator (Fabricius);

(iv) found free, in the inspections referred to in (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
the Republic of 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 organisms mentioned in
(a)(iii), as well as to the requirements specified in (a)(i),
(ii),

(iv) and (v).

The certificate shall state:

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

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Official Journal of the European Communities

11. 6. 1999

 under ‘Additional declaration', the indication ‘This
consignment meets the conditions laid down in
Decision 99/383/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),

to introduction into the Community,
the
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 of 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,

stored under official

 the names, addresses and the locations where the
control
plants will be
pending the results of
inspections and tests
referred to in (e); at least two weeks before move-
ment of the plants from the premises where they
are stored the importer shall notify the responsible
official body of the premises referred to in point (f)
where the plants will be planted.

aforementioned advance notification,

The importer shall provide details of any changes to
the
to the
responsible official bodies of their own Member State,
preferably as soon as they are known, and that Member
State, without delay, shall convey the details of the
changes to the Commission;

(e) the 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 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 and where appropriate, in cooperation with
the said bodies of the Member State in which the
plants will be planted. Furthermore during the said
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 inte-
grated 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 respon-
sible official bodies of the Member State making use
of this derogation, at the moment of receipt of the
from the
notification
aforementioned
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;

advance

(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-
able proportion of
shall be visually
the plants
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
by an appropriate testing procedure. Any plant which
has not been found free during the said inspections or
testing, from the harmful organisms listed under (a)
(iii) shall be immediately destroyed under the control
of the said responsible bodies.

such visual

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L 146/51

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 imported pursuant to this Decision and with a detailed
technical report of the official 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 detailed technical
report of the official examination referred to in Article 1(2)(h).

Article 3

Article 1 shall apply during the period between 1 June 1999 and 31 July 1999. 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.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 21 May 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission