(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 53(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission has examined Poland’s application for the approval of amendments to the specification for the traditional speciality guaranteed ‘Dwójniak staropolski tradycyjny’, registered under Commission Regulation (EC) No 729/2008 (2), as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1898 (3).

(2)

Since the amendments in question are not minor within the meaning of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission published the amendment application in the Official Journal of the European Union (4) as required by Article 50(2)(b) of that Regulation.

(3)

As no statement of opposition under Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has been received by the Commission, the amendments to the specification should be approved,

(1)

A manufacturer of calcium chelate of iminodisuccinic acid (‘Ca-IDHA’) has submitted a request via the Polish authorities to the Commission to include Ca-IDHA as a new entry in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003. Ca-IDHA has been developed in response to requests from the horticultural sector to develop alternatives to existing sources of calcium, which may lead, under certain use conditions, to leaves damages after foliar applications.

(2)

Ca-IDHA fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003. It should therefore be included in the list of types of EC fertilisers in Annex I to that Regulation.

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

The measure provided for in this Regulation is in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003,

(1)

The COVID-19 pandemic and the extensive movement restrictions put in place in the Member States and in third countries in the form of national measures constitute an exceptional and unprecedented challenge for Member States and operators in relation to performing controls as specified in Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 889/2008 (2) and (EC) No 1235/2008 (3).

(2)

In order to address the specific circumstances due to the ongoing crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 (4) allows Member States to apply temporary measures that derogate from Regulations (EC) No 889/2008 and (EC) No 1235/2008 in relation to the control system on the production of organic products and certain procedures provided for in the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES).

(3)

Member States have informed the Commission that, in view of the crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, certain serious disruptions in the functioning of their control systems in the organic sector will persist beyond 30 September 2020. In order to address those disruptions, the period of application of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 should be prolonged.

(4)

As regards official controls and other official activities within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/466 (6) allows Member States to apply temporary measures to contain risks to human, animal and plant health and animal welfare in the specific situation linked to COVID-19 until 1 February 2021. The derogations provided in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 should therefore also continue to apply until that date. However, the minimum percentages related to the number of samples, additional random control visits and unannounced inspections and visits, as set out in Article 1(3), (5) and (6) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 are calculated on a yearly basis. Therefore, the end of application of those derogations should not be amended.

(5)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(6)

There is a need not to disrupt the application of the provisions of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977 that is extended by this Regulation. It is therefore appropriate to provide for a retroactive application of this Regulation from 1 October 2020.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Organic Production,

(1)

in Article 1(7), the date ‘30 September 2020’ is replaced by ‘1 February 2021’;

(2)

Article 3 is amended as follows:

(1)

Pursuant to Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515, the information and communication system set out in Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), known as the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (‘ICSMS’), is to be used for the purposes of certain communications under Regulation (EU) 2019/515. Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) is to replace Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, with effect from 16 July 2021.

(2)

It results from Regulation (EU) 2019/515 that ICSMS is to be used, among others, by competent authorities and by Product Contact Points. Member States should therefore insert in ICSMS the identity of those competent authorities and Product Contact Points.

(3)

To ensure that information needed by the Commission for the purposes of the evaluation and reporting referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2019/515 is easily searchable and can be further processed in ICSMS, the competent authorities should, in addition to uploading the administrative decision or temporary suspension, be required to provide certain information about those decisions in a structured form.

(4)

In order to ensure that the data contained in ICSMS is accurate and up-to-date, the competent authorities should enter in ICSMS any modification of an administrative decision notified pursuant to Article 5(9) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515 or of a temporary suspension notified pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515.

(5)

To ensure that personal data contained in the communications entered in ICSMS and personal data relating to natural persons designated as ICSMS users is erased as soon as it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which that data was inserted in the system, provisions regarding the periods of retention of such data should be set out.

(6)

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) and delivered an opinion on 6 June 2020.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the committee established by Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515,

(a)

the notification of administrative decisions to the Commission and the other Member States as referred to in Article 5(9) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515;

(b)

the notification of temporary suspensions to the Commission and the other Member States as referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515;

(c)

the notification of the Commission’s opinions to all Member States as referred to in Article 8(6) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515;

(d)

the exchange of information between competent authorities and Product Contact Points of the various Member States as referred to in Articles 5(7), 10(1)(a) and 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515.

(a)

the national technical rule on the basis of which the assessment was carried out;

(b)

the name of the Member State in which the economic operator claims to be lawfully marketing the goods;

(c)

the applicable legitimate public interest grounds covered by the national technical rule.

(a)

the national technical rule on the basis of which the assessment will be carried out;

(b)

the name of the Member State in which the economic operator claims to be lawfully marketing the goods;

(c)

the legitimate public interest grounds for temporarily suspending market access as set out in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515.

(a)

the notification of a temporary suspension pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515; or

(b)

the notification of an administrative decisions pursuant to Article 5(9) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515 if that administrative decision has not been submitted to SOLVIT; or

(c)

the last exchange of information pursuant to Articles 5(7), 10(1)(a) and 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/515; or

(d)

the case submitted to SOLVIT has been solved.

(1)

The Internal Market Information System (‘IMI’) established by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 is an online software application developed by the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to help Member States comply with their duties of administrative cooperation, including information exchange requirements in Union acts. It does this by providing a centralised communication mechanism to facilitate the cross-border exchange of information and mutual assistance.

(2)

Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 enables the Commission to carry out pilot projects to assess whether IMI would be an effective tool to implement provisions on administrative cooperation laid down in Union acts not listed in the Annex to that Regulation.

(3)

Regulation (EU) 2018/1807 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) provides for free movement of data other than personal data within the Union. In addition, it lays down the conditions on access to data for competent authorities, on requesting assistance, and on cooperation between competent authorities of Member States with a view to providing access to data processed and stored in another Member State. Under Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807, a competent authority may request assistance from a competent authority in another Member State, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7 of that Regulation, when the requesting competent authority does not obtain access to data and if no specific cooperation mechanism exists under Union law or international agreements for the exchange of data between competent authorities in different Member States.

(4)

Pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807, Member States may, in urgent circumstances and under certain conditions, impose interim measures to re-localise data. If such an interim measure imposes re-localisation of data for more than 180 days following re-localisation, it is to be communicated to the Commission. In addition, the Commission is to exchange information with Member States on relevant experience gained.

(5)

IMI could be an effective tool for implementing the provisions on administrative cooperation laid down in Article 5(2) and (4) and Article 7(2) to (5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807. Those provisions should therefore be subject to a pilot project pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012.

(6)

Administrative cooperation under Regulation (EU) 2018/1807 may involve the single points of contact designated in accordance with Article 7(1) of that Regulation, the competent authorities referred to in Article 3(6) of that Regulation, and any entities responsible for communicating measures under Article 5(4) of that Regulation. In accordance with point (f) of the second paragraph of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012, they should therefore be considered as competent authorities for the purposes of the pilot project.

(7)

IMI should provide the technical functionality enabling the competent authorities, single points of contact, entities responsible for communicating measures under Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807, and the Commission to fulfil their administrative cooperation and communication obligations under that Regulation.

(8)

Under Article 7(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807, a competent authority that receives a request for access to data is obliged either to communicate the data requested or to inform the requesting authority that it does not consider the conditions for requesting assistance to have been met. To operationalise the exchange of data, the Member State to which the request was addressed should provide the requesting Member State with the details necessary to access the requested data, or with details of how and when the data transfer will be effected. The Member State to which the request was addressed may also supply the requested data immediately in response to the request, if this is considered the most efficient way to proceed.

(9)

A request for assistance, as well as the interim measures notified to the Commission via IMI, may include the exchange of data sets containing both personal and non-personal data. Under Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) applies to the processing of personal data in a data set in which it is inextricably linked with non-personal data. This is ensured by Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012, which sets out rules on personal data processing in IMI.

(10)

Pursuant to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012, the Commission is to submit an evaluation of the outcome of the pilot project to the European Parliament and the Council. It is appropriate to specify the date by which the evaluation is to be submitted. In the interests of consistency, the date specified should be the same as the date by which the report required under Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807 is to be submitted.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 24 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012,

(1)

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 (3) was adopted following an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of subtype H5N8 in one holding where poultry are kept in the Netherlands and the establishment of protection and surveillance zones by the competent authority of that Member State in accordance with Council Directive 2005/94/EC (4).

(2)

Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 provides that the protection and surveillance zones established by the Netherlands in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC are to comprise at least the areas listed as protection and surveillance zones in the Annex to that Implementing Decision.

(3)

Since the date of adoption of Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606, the Netherlands has notified the Commission of an additional outbreak of HPAI of subtype H5N8 in a holding where poultry are kept in the province of Gelderland, and has taken the necessary measures required in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC, including the establishment of protection and surveillance zones around this new outbreak.

(4)

The Commission has examined those measures in collaboration with the Netherlands, and it is satisfied that the borders of the protection and surveillance zones, established by the competent authority in that Member State, are at a sufficient distance to any holding where an outbreak of HPAI of subtype H5N8 has been confirmed.

(5)

In order to prevent any unnecessary disturbance to trade within the Union and to avoid unjustified barriers to trade being imposed by third countries, it is necessary to rapidly describe at Union level, in collaboration with the Netherlands the new protection and surveillance zones established in that Member State in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC. Therefore, the protection and surveillance zones listed for the Netherlands in the Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 should be amended.

(6)

Accordingly, pending the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, the Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 should be amended to update regionalisation at Union level to amend the protection and surveillance zones established in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC by the Netherlands and the duration of the restrictions applicable therein.

(7)

Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

Given the urgency of the epidemiological situation in the Union as regards the spread of HPAI of subtype H5N8, it is important that the amendments made to the Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1606 by this Decision take effect as soon as possible.

(9)

This Decision is to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,