(1)

Council Directive 69/466/EEC of 8 December 1969 on control of San José Scale (3) has been substantially amended (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified.

(2)

The production of woody dicotyledonous plants and their fruit occupies an important place in Community agriculture.

(3)

The yield of that production is constantly threatened by harmful organisms.

(4)

Through the protection of such plants against such harmful organisms, not only should productive capacity be maintained but also agricultural productivity increased.

(5)

Protective measures to prevent the introduction of harmful organisms into individual Member States would have only a limited effect if such organisms were not controlled simultaneously and methodically throughout the Community and were not prevented from spreading.

(6)

One of the organisms most harmful to woody dicotyledonous plants is San José Scale (Quadraspidiotus perniciosus Comst.).

(7)

This pest has occurred in several Member States and there are contaminated areas within the Community.

(8)

There is a permanent risk to the cultivation of woody dicotyledonous plants throughout the Community if effective measures are not taken to control this pest and prevent it from spreading.

(9)

To eradicate this pest, minimum provisions should be adopted for the Community. Member States should be able to adopt additional or stricter provisions where necessary.

(10)

This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the timelimits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B,

(a)

‘plants’ means live plants and live parts of plants with the exception of fruit and seeds;

(b)

‘contaminated plants or fruit’ means plants or fruit on which one or more San José Scale insects are found, unless it is confirmed that they are dead;

(c)

‘San José Scale host plants’ means plants of the genera Acer L., Cotoneaster Ehrh., Crataegus L., Cydonia Mill., Euonymus L., Fagus L., Juglans L., Ligustrum L., Malus Mill., Populus L., Prunus L., Pyrus L., Ribes L., Rosa L., Salix L., Sorbus L., Syringa L., Tilia L., Ulmus L., Vitis L.;

(d)

‘nurseries’ means plantations in which plants intended for transplanting, multiplying or distributing as individually rooted plants are grown.

(a)

all contaminated plants in nurseries shall be destroyed;

(b)

all other plants which are contaminated or suspected of being contaminated and which are growing in a contaminated area shall be treated in such a way that those plants and the fresh fruit therefrom are no longer contaminated when moved;

(c)

all rooted San José Scale host plants growing within a contaminated area, and parts of such plants which are intended for multiplication and are produced within that area, may be replanted within the contaminated area or transported away from it only if they have not been found to be contaminated and if they have been treated in such a way that any San José Scale insects which might still be present are destroyed.