1999/751/EC: Commission Decision of 4 November 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(1999) 3541) (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic)
Date: 1999-11-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Canada, derogation from EU law, originating product, plant health legislation, potato

L 299/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

20. 11. 1999

COMMISSION DECISION

of 4 November 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(1999) 3541)

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

(1999/751/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

michiganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spieck-
ermann et Kotthoff) Davis et al.;

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 introduction 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 1999/53/EC (2), and in
particular Article 14(1) thereof,

Having regard to the requests made by Italy and Portugal,

(1) 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;

(2) 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;

(3) Whereas in Italy and Portugal the planting and growing
of seed potatoes of certain North American varieties 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;

(4) Whereas, by Decisions 96/6/EC (3), 97/89/EC (4), 98/
92/EC (5) and 1999/50/EC (6) 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 1999; whereas the Commission
also provided that those derogations would provide for
the opportunity to seek confirmation of the proper func-
tioning of the concept of ‘area freedom’;

(5) 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 142, 5.6.1999, p. 29.
(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.
(6) OJ L 16, 21.1.1999, p. 31.

(6) Whereas information supplied by Canada has shown
that Canada has further developed its programme to
eradicate these harmful organisms in the provinces of
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island; whereas there
the programme to
are good reasons to believe that
eradicate potato spindle tuber viroid has become fully
effective in those provinces, and that the programme to
eradicate Clavibacter michiganensis ssp.
sepedonicus has
become largely effective in certain areas of Prince
Edward Island and New Brunswick: in the 1998 crop no
incidence of this disease in any of the seed potato fields
in the above Provinces was recorded and there was no
laboratory finding of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus in any of the seed potato lots from any of the
above Provinces; whereas there had been no confirmed
findings of the disease on samples drawn from seed
potatoes originating in Prince Edward Island and New
Brunswick and introduced pursuant to Decision 1999/
50/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’ in Prince Edward Island and
New Brunswick and therefore against the recognition of
the provisions implemented there as equivalent to the
Community provisions on combating Clavibacter michiga-
nensis ssp. sepedonicus;

(7) Whereas it can therefore be established that there is no
risk of the harmful organisms in question spreading,
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;

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

20. 11. 1999

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 299/37

(8a) Whereas pursuant

to Article 14(1) of Directive 77/
93/EEC each authorisation shall apply to all or part of
the territory of the Community under conditions which
take into account the risk of spreading harmful organ-
isms;

(9) 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 such risks, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
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;

(10) Whereas, therefore, derogations should be authorised for
the next three seed-potato marketing seasons, provided
that they include the aforementioned conditions and
without prejudice 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
Directive 98/96/EC (4);

(11) Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are
the Standing

in accordance with the opinion of
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’,
‘Sebago’ and
‘Shepody’ originating in Canada.

‘Russet Burbank’,

‘Kennebec’,

‘Donna’,

In addition to the requirements laid down in Annexes I, II
2.
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 ‘Canadian Food Inspection
Agency’, free from both potato spindle tuber viroid and
from Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus and which
satisfy the following conditions, irrespective of whether the
fields are operated by producers inside or outside the area:

(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 square kilometres,
surrounded entirely by water or by fields where the
organisms concerned have not been found within
the previous three years; and

(ii) all potatoes produced in the area are the first direct
progeny of seed potatoes of the category ‘Pre-elite’,
‘Elite I’,
‘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 establishments 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 potatoes harvested there, including
show any
appropriate laboratory testing, did not
positive finding, or any other element which could
militate 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
and
packaging material,
containers,
handling, grading and preparation equipment 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.

vehicles

This provision shall also apply to cases where fields
located inside the areas declared disease-free are oper-
ated by establishments outside such areas or where
establishments inside such areas operate fields located
outside them;

(vi) ‘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, showing through appropriate
marks the geographical distribution of the areas;

(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.
(4) OJ L 25, 1.2.1999, p. 27.

(b) the seed potatoes shall be certified officially as seed pota-
toes meeting at least the conditions laid down for the
‘Foundation’ category.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

20. 11. 1999

(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 offi-
cial laboratories in order to detect any presence of potato
spindle tuber viroid or Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo-
nicus; 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 ssp. sepedonicus a sample of at least 200 tubers per lot
of 25 tonnes or less shall be taken; examinations 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 ssp. sepedonicus: 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);

(d) legislative, administrative or other arrangements shall have

been made to ensure

— a direct supervision and control by the certification
authority (i.e. Canadian Food Inspection Agency) of the
sampling process,
i.e. collection, tagging and sealing,
and in the labelling system through appropriate label
accountability procedures, to ensure that for each seed
lot within
the
consignment
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 specified
importer in the importing Member State, and

shipped

each

to

‘Distinguishing marks’,

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
the colour code corre-
sponding 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 certificate as an integral
part of the certificate shall relate precisely to that certificate
in both description and quantity of commodity;

(f) prior to introduction into the Community, the 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
indic-
the details of the notification to the Commission,
ating:

— the variety,

— the quantity,

— the declared date of import,

— the names and addresses of the premises of the im-
porters 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.

import

the moment of

At
the importer shall provide
confirmation of the details of the aforementioned advance
notification to the responsible official bodies
in the
Member State concerned.

— 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 Canadian
Food Inspection Agency, at least until the results of the
examinations referred to in (i) are completed.

— that the lots shall be kept separate in all operations
including transport, at least until delivery to the prem-
ises 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 suspicions or to the
detection of the presence of potato spindle tuber viroid or
Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus in the consignment
and that,
in particular, the IF-testing was shown to be
negative.

It shall state, under ‘Additional Declaration’, that the condi-
tions laid down in (a), (b) and (c) have been complied with,
and shall give the name of the establishment or establish-
ments which have produced the seed potato lots and the
relevant seed potato certification lot numbers, as well as

(g) the potatoes may be introduced into the Community only

via the following ports of unloading:

— Genova

— La Spezia

— Livorno

— Napoli

— Ravenna

— Salerno

— Savona

— Aveiro

— Lisbon

— Porto.

(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 Article 19a(3) second indent, first
the Commission shall determine to which
possibility,
extent the inspections referred to in Article 19a(3) second
indent, second possibility of the said Directive shall be
integrated into the inspection programme in accordance

(1) OJ L 259, 18.10.1993, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 205, 17.8.1993, p. 22.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 299/39

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 quantities of potatoes imported from Canada,
the colour coding, the numbered labels and those destina-
tions for planting at premises listed under Directive 93/
50/EEC.

(i) the responsible official bodies of the importing 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 exam-
ination in respect of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus
in accordance with the Community established method for
the detection and diagnosis of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp.
sepedonicus; 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 was not suspected or detected in those examina-
tions; 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;
sub-samples shall be kept available for subsequent exam-
ination by other Member States and the responsible official
bodies referred to in the said Directive of the importing
Member State shall by 15 April 2000, by 15 April 2001
and again by 15 April 2002 inform the Commission, with
a view to organising that examination and the recording
thereof.

(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;
(k) in the growing period following introduction, a suitable
proportion of the plants shall be inspected by the said
responsible official bodies, at appropriate times, at
the
premises
listed in accordance with the provisions of
Commission 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 authorisation. The
importing Member States shall provide the Commission and
the other Member States, before 1 June 2000, before 1 June
2001 and again before 1 June 2002, with information on the
amounts imported pursuant
to this Decision and with a
detailed technical report on the official examination referred to
in those cases where Member States have
in Article 1(2)(i);
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 2000, before 1
June 2001 and again before 1 June 2002; copies of each
phytosanitary certificate shall be transmitted to the Commis-
sion.

Article 3

The authorisation granted in Article 1 shall apply from 15
January 2000 until 31 March 2000, from 1 December 2000
until 31 March 2001 and again from 1 December 2001 until
31 March 2002. It shall be revoked prior to 31 March 2002 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.

Article 4

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

Done at Brussels, 4 November 1999.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission