2005/834/EC: Council Decision of  8 November 2005  on the equivalence of checks on practices for the maintenance of varieties carried out in certain third countries and amending Decision 2003/17/EC
Date: 2005-11-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: marketing, mutual recognition principle, plant health control, seed, third country

29.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 312/51

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 8 November 2005

on the equivalence of checks on practices for the maintenance of varieties carried out in certain
third countries and amending Decision 2003/17/EC

(2005/834/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June
2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed (5), and in particular
Article 37(1)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June
2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants (6), and
in particular Article 20(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June
seed (1), and in
1966 on the marketing of
particular Article 16(1) thereof,

fodder plant

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June
1966 on the marketing of cereal seed (2), and in particular
Article 16(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June
2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural
plant species (3), and in particular Article 22(1)(b) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/54/EC of 13 June
2002 on the marketing of beet seed (4), and in particular
Article 23(1) thereof,

(1) OJ 125, 11.7.1966, p. 2298/66. Directive as last amended by

Directive 2004/117/EC (OJ L 14, 18.1.2005, p. 18).

(2) OJ 125, 11.7.1966, p. 2309/66. Directive as last amended by

Directive 2004/117/EC.

(3) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1).

(4) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 12. Directive as last amended by Directive

2004/117/EC.

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

By Decision 97/788/EC (7), the Council determined that
the official checks on practices for the maintenance of
varieties carried out in certain third countries afforded
the same guarantees as
carried out by the
Member States.

those

It appears that these checks continue to afford the same
guarantees as those carried out by the Member States.
Those checks should therefore continue to be considered
as equivalent.

to avoid disruption of

The Decision 97/788/EC expired on 30 June 2005. In
order
trade with these third
countries,
it is necessary that this Decision takes effect
from 1 July 2005.

(5) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 33. Directive as last amended by Directive

2004/117/EC.

(6) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 74. Directive as last amended by Directive

2004/117/EC.

(7) OJ L 322, 25.11.1997, p. 39. Decision as

last amended by

Commission Decision 2004/120/EC (OJ L 36, 7.2.2004, p. 57).

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(4)

(5)

(6)

This Decision should not prevent Community findings
on equivalence from being revoked or the extension of
their period of validity from being refused when the
conditions on which they are based are not, or cease
to be, satisfied.

implementation of

The measures necessary for
this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures for
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (1).

the

scope

extended

Directive 2004/117/EC (2)
of
Community seed equivalence regime to all categories of
seeds including seed of generations prior to basic seed.
Accordingly,
to amend Decision
appropriate
2003/17/EC (3), in order to align the provisions of that
the seeds
Decision with the modified provisions of
marketing Directives,

is

it

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Article 4

In Decision 2003/17/EC Articles 1 and 2 shall be replaced by
the following:

‘Article 1

Field inspections concerning the seed-producing crops of the
species specified in Annex I carried out in the third countries
listed in that Annex shall be considered equivalent to field
inspections
in accordance with Directives
66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC
provided that they:

carried out

(a) are carried out officially by the authorities listed in Annex
I, or under the official supervision of those authorities;

(b) satisfy the conditions laid down in point A of Annex II.

Article 1

Article 2

The official checks on practices for the maintenance of varieties
carried out in the third countries and by the authorities, listed in
the Annex, for the species covered by the Directives referred to
for each of those countries shall afford the same guarantees as
those carried out by the Member States.

Seed of the species specified in Annex I, produced in the
third countries listed in that Annex and officially certified
by the authorities listed in that Annex shall be considered
equivalent to seed complying with Directives 66/401/EEC,
66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC, if it satisfies the
conditions laid down in point B of Annex II.’

Article 2

to the Annex, with the exception of

Amendments
those
concerning the first column of the table, shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 3(2).

Article 3

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing
Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture,
Horticulture and Forestry set up by Article 1 of Decision
66/399/EEC (4), hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at one month.

Article 5

This Decision shall apply from 1 July 2005.

However, Article 4 shall apply as from 1 October 2005.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 8 November 2005.

For the Council
The President

G. BROWN

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(2) OJ L 14, 18.1.2005, p. 18.
(3) OJ L 8, 14.1.2003, p. 10. Decision as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 885/2004 (OJ L 168, 1.5.2004, p. 1).

(4) OJ 125, 11.7.1966, p. 2289/66.

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ANNEX

Country (*)

Authority responsible for carrying out checks

AR

Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, PESCA y Alimentación, Buenos Aires

AU

Australian Seeds Authority, Victoria

BG

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Sofia

CA

Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa

CH

CL

Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Agrarökologie und Landbau (FAL) Zürich
Station Fédérale de Recherches en Production Végétale de Changins (RAC), Nyon

Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, Santiago

CS

National Laboratory for Seed Testing, Novi Sad

HR

Institute for Seed and Seedlings, Osijek

IL

Ministry of Agriculture Bet-Dagan

Directives

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
2002/55/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/55/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

2002/55/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/55/EC
2002/57/EC

2002/55/EC

JP

KR

MA

NZ

RO

TW

US

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 1-2-1 Kumigaseki, Chiyodaku,
Tokyo

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Vegetables Division, Seoul

2002/55/EC

Ministère de l’agriculture et de la mise en valeur agricole, Rabat

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Wellington

Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Bucharest

Council of Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Department, Taipei

United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/55/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC

2002/57/EC

2002/55/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/55/EC
2002/57/EC

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Country (*)

Authority responsible for carrying out checks

UY

Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y PESCA, Montevideo

ZA

Department of Agriculture, Pretoria (Tshwane)

Directives

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/54/EC
2002/57/EC

66/401/EEC
66/402/EEC
2002/57/EC

(*) AR — Argentina, AU — Australia, BG — Bulgaria, CA — Canada, CH — Switzerland, CL — Chile, CS — Serbia and Montenegro,
JP — Japan, KR — Republic of Korea, MA — Morocco, NZ — New Zealand, RO — Romania,

HR — Croatia,
TW — Taiwan, US — United States of America, UY — Uruguay, ZA — South Africa.

IL — Israel,