21.1.98 L 15/41 Official Journal of the European Communities COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 8 January 1998 recognising certain third countries and certain areas of third countries as being free of Xanthomonas campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora angolensis Carv. et Mendes and Guignardia citricarpa Kiely (all strains patho- genic to Citrus) (98/83/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21 December 1976 on protective measures against the intro- duction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community ('), as last amended by Commission Directive 97/14/EC (3, and in particular Annex IV, Part A, Section I, points 16.2, 16.3 and 16.3(a) thereof, Whereas Annex IV, Part A, Section I, points 16.2, 16.3 and 16.3(a) contain a reference to fruits of Citrus L., Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf., and their hybrids, originating in third countries where Xanthomonas campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora angolensis Carv. et Mendes or Guignardia citricarpa Kiely (all strains pathogenic to Citrus) are known to occur; Whereas these provisions should be reinforced; whereas one way of doing so is to determine the third countries which are recognised as being free of Xanthomonas campestris (all strains pathogenic to Citrus), Cercospora angolensis Carv. et Mendes and Guignardia citricarpa Kiely (all strains pathogenic to Citrus) and to determine the areas free of those harmful organisms in the third countries where they are known to occur; Considering the information provided by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation and the ‘Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International’; Whereas this Decision is without prejudice to any subse- quent discovery that one or more of the respective harmful organisms occur in the third countries or areas of third countries concerned; () OJ L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. () OJ L 87, 2. 4. 1997, p. 17. Whereas the Commission will ensure that the third countries concerned provide all the technical information necessary for monitoring the situation; Whereas the measure provided for in this Decision is in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 It is hereby declared that the following third countries are recognized as being free of all strains of Xanthomonas campestris pathogenic to Citrus: — all citrus-growing countries in the Euro-Mediter- ranean region, including Europe, Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, — in Africa: South Africa, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Sudan, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, — in Central and South America and the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, El Salvador, Surinam and Venezuela. Article 2 It is hereby declared that the following areas are recog- nized as being free of all strains of Xanthomonas campestris pathogenic to Citrus: — in Argentina: Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucuman, — in Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, — in Brazil: Sdo Paulo, with the exception of Presidente Prudente,