EC on protective measures against the introduction into the EC of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the EC - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2001)183 - Amendment of Council Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction into the EC of organisms harmful ...
document	COM(2001)183
date	November 28, 2002

(1) Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community i sets out the Community plant health regime, specifying the phytosanitary conditions, procedures and formalities to which plants and plant products are subjected when introduced into, or moved within, the Community.

(2) Concerning the procedures and formalities, to which plants and plant products are subjected when introduced in the Community, certain clarifications should be provided and further detailed provisions are required in certain areas.

(3) The phytosanitary procedures and formalities should be completed before customs clearance takes place. Since consignments of plants or plant products do not necessarily undergo phytosanitary procedures and formalities in the same Member States in which customs clearance takes place, a system of cooperation in communication and information between the responsible official bodies and the customs offices within a Member State and between the responsible official bodies of all Member States should be established.

(4) In order to improve the protection against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products, Member States should intensify the checks required. Those checks should be effective and carried out in a harmonized manner throughout the Community.

(5) The fees charged for such checks should be based on a reasonable cost calculation and aligned in all Member States as much as possible.

(6) In the light of experience, several other provisions of the above Directive should be completed, clarified or amended in the light of developments.

(7) Since the implementation of the conditions of the internal market, phytosanitary certificates as established in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) of the FAO are no longer used for the marketing of plants or plant products within the Community. It is however important that these certificates are used by the Member States in the format standardized by the Convention for exports of plants or plant products into third countries.

(8) Some of the functions of the 'single authority' of each Member State for coordination and contact in the practical operations of the Community plant health regime require specific scientific or technical knowledge. It must therefore be made possible, to delegate specific tasks to another service.

(9) The current provisions on the procedure for the amendment of the annexes of Directive 2000/29/EC by the Commission and for the adoption of derogation decisions include some procedural conditions which are no longer necessary or justified. The procedure for the adoption of emergency measures does not provide the possibility for a rapid adoption of interim measures consistent with the level of emergency in specific cases. The provisions on these three procedures should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10) The list of tasks in respect of which the Commission may organize plant health checks under its authority, should be extended, to take into account the widening of the field of plant health activities through new practices and experiences.

(11) It has appeared that the manner in which the Community can exercise its rights in respect of Community 'plant health control' financial contributions paid to Member States is not clear; it should be specified that the Commission shall act through Commission Decisions.

(12) Some provisions of Directive 2000/29/EC (Article 3 (7) first, second and fourth subparagraphs as well as Articles 7, 8 and 9) have been superceeded by alternative provisions since 1 June 1993, and have therefore become redundant since then; they should consequently be deleted.

(13) Under Article 4 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement i), the Community must recognize, under certain conditions, the equivalence of phytosanitary measures of other Parties to that Agreement. The procedures for such recognition in the field of plant health should be specified in Directive 2000/29/EC.

(14) The provisions of Directive 2000/29/EC should be adapted to take account of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission i.