2006/916/EC: Commission Decision of 11 December 2006 providing for a derogation from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (notified under document number C(2006) 6365)
Date: 2006-12-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Croatia, North Macedonia, derogation from EU law, parasitology, plant disease, plant health control, plant health legislation

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 11 December 2006

providing for a derogation from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of
plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia

(notified under document number C(2006) 6365)

(2006/916/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000
on protective measures against
the introduction into the
Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products
their spread within the Community (1), and in
and against
particular Article 15(1) thereof,

Having regard to the request made by Slovenia,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

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

Slovenia has requested a derogation to permit imports of
plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, from Croatia or the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for a limited
period of time in order to enable specialised nurseries
to multiply these plants in the Community before re-
the former Yugoslav
exporting them to Croatia or
Republic of Macedonia.

there is no risk of
The Commission considers that
spreading harmful organisms
to plants or plant
products provided that plants of Vitis L., other than
the former Yugoslav
fruits originating in Croatia or
to the specific
Republic of Macedonia are subject
conditions laid down in this Decision.

That authorisation should be terminated if it is estab-
lished that
the specific conditions laid down in this
Decision are not sufficient to prevent the introduction
of harmful organisms into the Community or have not
been complied with.

(6)

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on Plant Health,

the

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

of

opinion

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

By way of derogation from Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC
with regard to point 15 of Part A of Annex III to that Directive,
Member States shall be authorised to permit the introduction
into their territory of plants of Vitis L., other than fruits,
intended for grafting in the Community and originating in
Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (here-
inafter referred to as ‘the plants’).

In order to qualify for that derogation the plants 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 to this Decision, and be introduced into the
Community between 1 January 2007 and 31 March 2007.

Article 2

Member States which make use of the derogation provided for
in Article 1 shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, by 15 November 2007 at the latest, with:

(a)

the information on the quantities of plants
pursuant to this Decision; and

imported

(b) a detailed technical

report on the official

inspections

referred to in point 6 of the Annex.

(4)

Member States should therefore for a limited period be
authorised to permit the introduction into their territory
of such plants subject to specific conditions.

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. Directive as

last amended by

Commission Directive 2006/35/EC (OJ L 88, 25.3.2006, p. 9).

Any Member State in which the plants are subsequently grafted
after their introduction into its territory, shall also provide the
Commission and the other Member States, by 15 November
2007 at
the
official inspections and testing referred to in point 8(b) of the
Annex.

the latest, with a detailed technical report of

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Article 3

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.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 11 December 2006.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

Specific conditions applying to plants of Vitis L., other than fruits, originating in Croatia or the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia benefiting from the derogation provided for in Article 1
1. The plants shall be propagating material in the form of dormant buds of the varieties Babić, Borgonja, Dišeča belina,
Graševina, Grk, Hrvatica, Kraljevina, Malvazija istarska, Maraština, Malvasija, Muškat momjanski, Muškat ruža porečki,
Plavac mali, Plavina-Plavka, Pošip, Škrlet, Teran, Trnjak, Plavac veli, Vugava or Žlahtina that shall be:

(a)

intended to be grafted in the Community at the premises referred to in point 7, onto rootstocks produced in the
Community;

(b) harvested in stock nurseries, which are officially registered in Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. Member States making use of
the registered nurseries
available to the Commission and to the other Member States, at the latest by 31 December 2006. These lists
shall include the name of the variety, the number of rows planted with this variety, the number of plants per row
for each of these nurseries, as far as they are deemed suitable for dispatch to the Community in 2007, under the
conditions laid down in this Decision;

this derogation shall make the lists of

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

nursery and the variety.

2. The plants shall be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia in accordance with Article 13(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC, on the basis of the examination laid down
therein, confirming, in particular, freedom from the following harmful organisms:

Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch)

Xylophilus ampelinus (Panagopoulos) Willems et al.

Grapevine Flavescence dorée

Xylella fastidiosa (Well et Raju)

Trechispora brinkmannii (Bresad.) Rogers

Tobacco ringspot virus

Tomato ringspot virus

Blueberry leaf mottle virus

Peach rosette mosaic virus.

The certificate shall state under ‘Additional Declaration’, the indication ‘This consignment meets the conditions laid
down in Decision 2006/916/EC’.

3. The official plant protection organisation of Croatia or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall ensure the
identity and integrity of the plants from the time of harvesting as referred to in point 1(b) until they are exported to
the Community.

4. The plants shall be introduced through points of entry designated for the purpose by the Member State in which they

are situated.

Those 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 of entry shall be notified sufficiently in advance by the Member State making use of the
derogation to the Commission and shall be made available on request to other Member States.

Where the introduction of the plants into the Community takes place in a Member State other than the Member State
making use of the authorisation referred to in Article 1, hereinafter referred to as ‘the authorisation’, the responsible
official bodies of the Member State of introduction shall inform and cooperate with the responsible official bodies of
the Member States making use of the authorisation to ensure that this Decision is complied with.

5. Prior to introduction into the Community, the importer shall be officially informed of the conditions laid down in
points 1 to 4; 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;

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(b) the variety and the quantity;

(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

stored.

The importer shall inform the official bodies 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.

At least two weeks before the date of introduction the importer shall notify the responsible official body of the
premises referred to in point 7 where the plants are to be grafted.

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 of the
Member State making use of this authorisation, and where appropriate, in cooperation with the responsible official
bodies of the Member State where the plants are to be stored.

During those inspections, Member State(s) shall also inspect, and where appropriate, test for harmful organisms
mentioned in point 2. Any finding of such harmful organisms shall immediately be notified to the Commission.
Appropriate action shall be taken to destroy the harmful organisms and where appropriate the plants concerned.

7. The plants shall be grafted only at premises officially registered and approved for the purposes of this authorisation.

The person who intends to graft the plants shall notify in advance the responsible official bodies of the Member State
in which the premises are situated of the name and address of the owner of those premises.

the responsible official bodies of the Member State making use of

Where the place of grafting is situated in a Member State other than the Member State making use of the author-
isation,
inform the
responsible official bodies of the Member State where the plants are to be grafted of the names and addresses of
the premises where the plants are to be grafted. Such information shall be given at the moment of the receipt of the
advance notification from the importer as referred to in the fourth paragraph of point 5.

the authorisation shall

8. At the premises referred to in point 7:

(a)

the plants which have been found free from the harmful organisms referred to in point 2 may then be used for
grafting onto rootstock of Community origin. The grafted plants shall subsequently be kept under appropriate
conditions in a suitable growing medium but shall not be planted or further grown in fields. The grafted plants
shall remain at the premises for no more than eighteen months before being exported to a destination outside the
Community as referred to in point 9;

(b) in the period following grafting the plants shall be visually inspected by the said responsible official bodies of the
Member State in which they are grafted, at appropriate times, for the presence of harmful organisms or for signs
or symptoms caused by any harmful organism; 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 points (a) and
(b), from harmful organisms listed in point 2, or otherwise of quarantine concern, shall be immediately destroyed
under the control of the said responsible official bodies.

9. Any plant resulting from a successful grafting using the buds referred to in point 1 shall only be released as grafted
plants for export to Croatia or to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The responsible official bodies of a
Member State making use of this authorisation shall ensure that any plant or part of the plant not so exported shall be
officially destroyed. Records shall be kept of the amounts of successfully grafted plants, of officially destroyed plants
and of plants subsequently re-exported to Croatia or to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This information
shall be made available to the Commission.