CELEX: 51989PC0070
Language: en
Date: 1989-02-24
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE amending Directive 66/403/EEC on the marketing of seed potatoes (presented by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
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COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (89) 70
Vol. 1989/0023
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                           COM(89 ) 70 final
                                          Brussels , 24 February 1989
                               Proposai for a
                             COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
    amending Directive 66 / 403 / EEC on the marketing of seed potatoes
                      ( presented by the Commission )
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 1 -
                                   EÆLBNAIQRY_fcjOIE
Doc . 533/VI / 89
1.    Article 13(2 ) of Council Directive 66/403/EEC on the marketing of seed
      potatoes empowers the Commission , in respect of the marketing of seed
      potatoes in all or part of the territory of one or more Member States , to
      authorize more stringent measures than those provided for in Annex I to
      the Directive to be taken against particular virus diseases which do not
      exist in those regions or which appear particularly harmful to crops in
      those regions . The present proposal would extend the scope of this
      provision to include , as well as virus diseases , other harmful organisms .
2.    For plant health reasons the importation of seed potatoes into the
      Community from Canada and Poland is in principle prohibited . The
      Commission has recently adopted two decisions approving certain
      dérogations from that prohibition . The dérogations enable the importation
      of seed potatoes of certain varieties into Greece , Italy and Portugal
      until 31 March 1989 , subject to the satisfaction of conditions specified
      in the decision . However , to be fully effective , the plant health
      dérogations need to be completed by an amendment to Article 15 ( 2a ) of
      Directive 66/403/EEC . As there is no Community équivalence régime for
      seed potatoes , the power of Member States to apply nationally adopted
      équivalence régimes must be extended for the duration of the dérogations
      described above . That is the object of the présent proposai .
3.    The proposal would have little or no impact on small or medium-sized
      enterprises .
 ---pagebreak---                                               - 2 -
                                            Proposai for a
                                        COUNCIL    DIRECTIVE
          amending Directive 66/403/EEC on the marketing of seed potatoes
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEEN COM-IUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community , and
in particular Article 43 thereof ,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ( 1 ),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ( 2 ) ,
Whereas Council Directive 66/403/EEC (3), as last amended by Directive 88/359/ EEC (4), provides that
Member States may be authorized , in respect of the marketing of seed potatoes
in all or part of their territories , to take more stringent measures than
those provided for in Annex I to the Directive against particular virus
diseases which do not exist in those regions or which appear particularly
harmful to crops in those regions ( Article 13(2 ));
Whereas it has appeared that the scope of this provision should be extended to
harmful organisms other than virus diseases ;
Whereas Directive 66/ 403/ EEC also provides that , in principle , with effect
from certain dates , Member States may no longer determine for themselves the
equivalence of seed potatoes harvested in third countries with seed potatoes
harvested within the Community and complying with the Directive ( Article
15(2 ));
(1)   OJ No C . . .
(2)   OJ No C . . .
(3)   OJ No 125 , 11.7.1966 , p. 2320/66 .
(4)   OJ No L 174 , 6.7.1988 , p. 51 .
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 3 -
Whereas , however , since work to establish Corranunity equivalence for all the
third countries concerned had not been completed , Article 15(2a ) of that
Directive permitted Member States to extend to 31 March 1988 the period of
validity of equivalence which they had already determined in respect of
certain countries not covered by the Community equivalences ;
Whereas the said work is still incomplete and the date of 31 March 1988 should
therefore be replaced by a later date ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE :
                                     ôîiicleJL
Directive 66/403/EEC is hereby amended as follows :
1.   In Article 13(2 ) the first sentence is replaced by the following ;
     "The Commission , acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
     Article 19 , shall , in respect of the marketing of seed potatoes in all or
     part of the territory of one or more Member States , authorise more
     stringent measures than those provided for in Annexes I and II to be
     taken against harmful organisms which do not exist in those regions or
     which appear particularly harmful to crops in those regions .";
2.   In Article 15(2a ) "31 March 1988" is replaced by "31 March 1989".
                                     Axîicle_2
This Directive is addressed to the Member States .
Done at Brussels ,
                                                          For the Council
 ---pagebreak---            5tatement_of_Imgact_on_srn§l ]1 _ gn5j_mediyfIfc£ized_enleiBliieS
Conmission proposai for a Council Directive amending Directive 66/ 403 / EEC on
the marketing of seed potatoes ( doc. 533/VI /89 ) .
The provisions of this proposal relating to harmful organisms might eventually
have an indirect impact on small and medium-sized businesses engaged in seed
potato production , in that Member States authorized under the provisions to
take special measures might impose additional plant health requirements on
such growers . It is difficult to determine what these requirements might be ,
but it is considered that the number of small and mediun-sized enterprises
affected by them is likely to be low and that the requirements will probably
not be particularly onerous .
The seed equivalence provisions of the proposal would benefit any small or
medium-sized enterprises in Greece , Italy or Portugal wishing to import seed
potatoes from Canada or Poland , but the volume of trade is likely to be very
small .
It is considered that the proposal , taken as a whole , will have little or no
impact on small or mediun-sized enterprises .