L 288/40 Official Journal of the European Communities 1.11.2001 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 18 October 2001 authorising Member States to permit temporarily the marketing of forest reproductive material not satisfying the requirements of Council Directives 66/404/EEC and 71/161/EEC (notified under document number C(2001) 2859) (2001/765[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 66/404/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of forest reproductive material (!), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 15 thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 71/161/EEC of 30 March 1971 on external quality standards for forest reproductive material marketed within the Community (3, as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 15 thereof, Having regard to the requests submitted by 12 Member States, Whereas: (1) Production of reproductive material of the species set out in the Annexes is at present insufficient in certain Member States with the result that their requirements for reproductive material conforming to the provisions of Directive 66/404/EEC or 71[/161/EEC cannot be met. (2)  Third countries are not in a position to supply sufficient reproductive material of the relevant species affording the same guarantees as Community reproductive material and conforming to the provisions of Directive 66/404/EEC or 71/161[EEC. (3)  Accordingly, the Member States concerned, namely Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and the United Kingdom, have requested the Commission pursuant to those Directives to authorise them to accept for marketing reproductive material and/or seed satis- fying less stringent requirements than those laid down by those Directives. (4)  In order to cover the shortage, the applicant Member States should therefore be authorised to permit, for a limited period, the marketing of reproductive material of () O] 125, 11.7.1966, p. 2326/66. () O] L 87, 17.4.1971, p. 14. the relevant species which satisfies less stringent require- ments. (5)  For genetic reasons, the reproductive material should be collected at places of origin within the natural range of the relevant species and the strictest possible guarantees should be given to ensure the identity of the material. Furthermore, reproductive material should be marketed only if it is accompanied by a document bearing certain details of the reproductive material in question. (6)  Any Member State should furthermore be authorised to permit, in its territory, the following three marketing operations: the marketing of seed and seedlings which satisfy less stringent requirements in respect of proven- ance; the marketing of seed and seedlings which satisfy less stringent requirements in respect of the category, as laid down in Directive 66/404/EEC for Populus nigra; and the marketing of seed which satisfies less stringent requirements in respect of specific purity as laid down in Directive 71/161/EEC, if the marketing of such material has been authorised in the other Member States under this Decision. (7  The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 1.  Member States are authorised to permit the marketing in their territory of seed satisfying less stringent requirements in respect of provenance, as laid down in Directive 66/404/EEC. This authorisation is subject to the specifications set out in Annex I hereto, and to the condition that proof be furnished as to the place of provenance of the seed and the altitude at which it was collected.