(1)

Council Decision 2008/971/EC of 16 December 2008 on the equivalence of forest reproductive material produced in third countries (3) determines the conditions under which forest reproductive material of the ‘source identified’ and ‘selected’ categories, produced in third countries listed in Annex I to that Decision, is to be imported into the Union.

(2)

The national rules for the certification of forest reproductive material in Canada, Croatia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States provide for an official field inspection to be carried out during the collection and processing of seed and the production of planting stock.

(3)

According to those rules, the systems for the approval and registration of basic material and the subsequent production of reproductive material from that basic material should follow the OECD Scheme for the Certification of Forest Reproductive Material Moving in International Trade (OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme). In addition, those rules require seed and planting stock of the ‘source identified’, ‘selected’ and ‘qualified’ categories to be officially certified and the seed packages to be officially closed in accordance with the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme.

(4)

An examination of those rules as regards the ‘qualified’ category has shown that the conditions for approval of basic material satisfy the requirements laid down in Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22 December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material (4). Furthermore, with the exception of the conditions regarding seed quality, species purity and planting stock quality, the rules of these third countries afford the same guarantees as regards the conditions applicable to seed and planting stock of the new ‘qualified’ category as those set out in Directive 1999/105/EC. It follows that the rules relating to the certification of forestry material of the ‘qualified’ category in Canada, Croatia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States should be considered to be equivalent to those set out in Directive 1999/105/EC, provided that the conditions set out in Annex II to Decision 2008/971/EC are satisfied as regards seed and planting stocks.

(5)

As regards material of the ‘qualified’ category, those conditions should include the provision of information on whether the products have been genetically modified or not. Such information should facilitate the application of the requirements set out in Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (5), or, where applicable, in Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed (6) and Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 concerning the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms (7).

(6)

In addition, the names of some authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production, as listed in Annex I to Decision 2008/971/EC, have changed.

(7)

Decision 2008/971/EC should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

in Article 1, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘This Decision determines the conditions under which forest reproductive material of the ‘source identified’, ‘selected’ and ‘qualified’ categories produced in a third country listed in Annex I shall be imported into the Union.’;

(2)

in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(3)

in Article 4, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘When seed and planting stock enter the Union, the supplier importing this material shall inform the official body of that Member State in advance of the import. The official body shall issue a Master Certificate based on the official OECD Certificate of Provenance before the material is placed on the market.’;

(4)

Annexes I and II are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.