1.7.2005   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 170/75

(1)

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.

(2)

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

(3)

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

(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.

(5)

That authorisation should be terminated if it is established 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 in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health,

(a)

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

(b)

a detailed technical report of the official inspections referred to in point 6 of the Annex.

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:

2.

The plants shall be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in Croatia 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:

The certificate shall state under ‘Additional Declaration’, the indication ‘This consignment meets the conditions laid down in Decision 2005/477/EC’.

3.

The official plant protection organisation of Croatia shall ensure the identity of the plants from the time of harvesting as referred to in point 1(b) until the time of loading for export 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 States 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:

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.

Where the place of grafting is situated in a Member State other than the Member State making use of the authorisation, the responsible official bodies of the Member State making use of the authorisation shall 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 last paragraph of point 5.

8.

At the premises referred to in point 7:

9.

Any plant resulting from a successful grafting using the buds referred to in point 1 shall only be released as grafted plants for movement to Croatia. The responsible official bodies of a Member State making use of this authorisation shall ensure that any plant not so moved 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. This information shall be made available to the Commission.