2004/96/EC: Commission Decision of 28 January 2004 authorising Member States temporarily to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Switzerland (notified under document number C(2004) 122)
Date: 2004-01-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, derogation from EU law, originating product, plant health control, plant health legislation, vineyard

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 28 January 2004

authorising Member States temporarily to provide for derogations from certain provisions of
Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in
Switzerland

(notified under document number C(2004) 122)

(2004/96/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000
on protective measures against the introduction into the Com-
munity of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and
against their spread within the Community (1), as last amended
by Commission Directive 2003/116/EC (2), and in particular
Article 15(1) thereof,

(5)

(6)

That authorisation to provide for derogations should be
terminated if it is established that the specific conditions
laid down in this Decision are not sufficient to prevent
the introduction of harmful organisms into the Com-
munity or have not been complied with.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on Plant Health,

Having regard to the request made by France,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Whereas:

Article 1

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Pursuant to Directive 2000/29/EC, plants of Vitis L.,
other than fruits, originating in third countries may not
in principle be introduced into the Community.

By Commission Decisions 97/159/EC (3), 1999/166/
EC (4), 2000/189/EC (5), 2001/5/EC (6), 2001/836/EC (7)
and 2003/69/EC (8), derogations from certain provisions
of Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of plants of Vitis L.,
other than fruits, originating in Switzerland have been
authorised for limited periods and subject to specific
conditions.

The circumstances justifying those derogations are still
valid, and there is no new information giving cause for
revision of the specific conditions.

for a limited period and subject

Member States should therefore be authorised to provide
to
for derogations,
specific conditions, and without prejudice to Council
Directive 68/193/EEC (9), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of
the Council (10), and any implementing measures made
thereunder.

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 321, 6.12.2003, p. 36.
(3) OJ L 62, 4.3.1997, p. 36.
(4) OJ L 55, 3.3.1999, p. 16.
(5) OJ L 59, 4.3.2000, p. 18.
(6) OJ L 2, 5.1.2001, p. 22.
(7) OJ L 312, 29.11.2001, p. 27.
(8) OJ L 26, 31.1.2003, p. 72.
(9) OJ L 93, 17.4.1968, p. 15.
(10) OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1.

Member States are hereby authorised to provide for derogations
from Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC, with regard to the
prohibitions referred to in point 15 of Part A of Annex III to
that Directive for plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating
in Switzerland (hereinafter referred to as ‘the plants’).

The authorisation to provide for derogations, as provided for in
paragraph 1 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the authorisation’), shall
be subject,
in addition to the requirements laid down in
Annexes I and II to Directive 2000/29/EC, to the conditions
provided for in the Annex, and shall only apply to plants that
are introduced into the Community between 1 February and
30 March 2004.

Article 2

Member States shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, before 30 November of the year of importa-
tion, with:

(a) the information on quantities of plants imported pursuant

to this Decision; and

(b) a detailed technical

report of

the official

inspections

referred to in point 6 of the Annex.

Any Member State in which buds from the plants are grafted
on to rootstocks and in which the grafted plants are planted
after the import, shall also provide the Commission and the
other Member States, before 30 November of
the year of
importation, with a detailed technical report of the official
inspections referred to in the second indent of point 9 of the
Annex.

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Member States shall immediately notify the Commission and the other Member States of all consignments
introduced into their territory pursuant to this Decision which were subsequently found not to comply
with this Decision.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 28 January 2004.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

Specific conditions applying to plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Switzerland benefiting from
the derogation provided for in Article 1 of this Decision

1. The plants shall be propagating material in the form of dormant buds that shall be:

(a) of the following varieties:

— Amigne,

— Carminoir,

— Chasselas blanc,

— Cornalin,

— Diolinoir,

— Gamaret,

— Garanoir,

— Humagne blanc,

— Humagne rouge,

— Paien jaune,

— Petite Arvine,

— Pinot noir Valais,

— Sylvaner;

(b) harvested in stock nurseries, which are officially registered. The lists of the registered nurseries shall be made
available to the Member States making use of the derogation and to the Commission, at the latest by 1 February
2004. These lists shall include the name(s) of the varieties, the number of rows planted with these varieties, the
number of plants per row for each of these nurseries, as far as they are deemed suitable for dispatch to the
Community in 2004, under the conditions laid down in this Decision;

(c) properly packed and the packaging made recognisable with a marking, enabling the identification of the regis-

tered nursery and the variety;

(d) intended to be grafted in the Community, at premises referred to in point 7, on to rootstocks produced in the

Community.

2. The plants shall be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in Switzerland in accordance with Article 13
in particular freedom from the

of Directive 2000/29/EC, on the basis of the examination laid down therein,
following harmful organisms:

— Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch),

— Xylophilus ampelinus (Panagopoulos) Willems et al.,

— Grapevine Flavescence dorée MLO.

The certificate shall state under ‘Additional declaration’, the indication ‘This consignment meets the conditions laid
down in Commission Decision 2004/96/EC’.

3. The official plant protection organisation of Switzerland shall ensure the identity of the buds from the time of

harvesting as referred to in paragraph (b) of point 1 until the time of loading for export to the Community.

4. The plants shall be introduced through points of entry situated within the territory of a Member State and desig-
nated 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 2000/29/EC 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 the Member State of introduction shall
inform and cooperate with the said responsible official bodies of the Member States making use of this derogation
to ensure that the provisions of this Decision are complied with.

5.

Prior to introduction into the Community, the importer shall be officially informed of the conditions laid down in
points 1 to 10; 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:

(a) the type of material;

(b) the variety and the quantity;

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(c) the declared date of introduction and confirmation of the point of entry;

(d) the names, addresses and the locations of the premises referred to in point 7 where the buds will be grafted

and/or where the grafted plants will subsequently be planted.

The importer shall inform the official bodes concerned of any changes to the above details as soon as they are
known.

The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission of the above details, and details of any change to them
without delay.

6. The inspections including testing, as appropriate, required pursuant to Article 13 of Directive 2000/29/EC and in
accordance with provisions laid down in the present Decision shall be made by the responsible 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 buds will be grafted. Furthermore during the said plant health check that Member State(s) shall
also inspect for all other harmful organisms. Sub-samples shall be kept available for subsequent examination by
other Member States.

Without prejudice to the monitoring referred to in the third indent of the third paragraph of Article 21, first possi-
bility of the said Directive, the Commission shall determine to which extent the inspections referred to in the third
indent of the third paragraph of Article 21, second possibility, of the said Directive shall be integrated into the
inspection programme in accordance with the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 of Article 21 of that Directive.

7. The buds shall be grafted on to rootstocks and the grafted plants subsequently planted only at premises:

(a) for which the names, addresses and the locations have been notified by the person who intends to use the buds
imported pursuant to this Decision, to the said responsible official bodies of the Member State in which the
premises are situated; and

(b) officially registered and approved for the purposes of this derogation.

In those cases where the place of grafting or planting is situated in a Member State other than the Member State
making use of this derogation, the said responsible official bodies of the Member State making use of this deroga-
tion, at the moment of receipt of the aforementioned advance notification from the importer, shall inform the said
responsible official bodies of the Member State in which the buds will be grafted or planted giving the names,
addresses and the locations of the premises where the plants will be grafted or planted.

8. The said responsible official bodies shall ensure that any bud not used in accordance with point 7 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.

9. At the premises referred to in point 7:

(a) the buds which have been found free from the harmful organisms referred to in point 6 may then be used for
grafting and the grafted plants shall be planted and grown in fields belonging to the premises referred to in
point 7 and shall remain on the premises, until they are moved to a destination outside the Community as
referred to in point 10;

(b) the grafted plants shall be, in the growing period following importation, visually inspected by the said respon-
sible official bodies of the Member State in which the grafted plants are planted, at appropriate times, for the
presence of any harmful organism or for signs or symptoms caused by any harmful organism including those of
Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch); as a result of such visual inspection any harmful organism having caused such
signs or symptoms shall be identified by an appropriate testing procedure;

(c) any grafted plant which has not been found free, during the said inspections or testing referred to in the
previous indents, from the harmful organisms listed under point 2, or otherwise of quarantine concern, shall be
immediately destroyed under control of the said responsible bodies.

10. Any grafted plant resulting from a successful grafting using the buds referred to in paragraph (a) of point 1 shall be
only released in 2004 or 2005 as grafted plants to a destination outside the Community. The said responsible offi-
cial bodies shall ensure that any plant not so moved shall be officially destroyed. Records shall be kept available to
the Commission on the amounts of successfully grafted plants, of officially destroyed plants and of plants sold, as
well as on the country of destination of the plants sold.