2. 8. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 208/49 COMMISSION DECISION of 28 July 1997 authorizing Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of plants of strawberry (Fragaria L)), intended for planting, other than seeds, originating in the Republic of South Africa (97/488/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 Directive 97/14/EC (3, and in particular Article 14 (1) thereof, Having regard to the request made by the United Kingdom, Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC, plants of strawberry (Fragaria L.), intended for planting, other than seeds, originating in non-European countries, other than Mediterranean countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the continental states of the USA, may in principle not be introduced into the Community; Whereas, there is interest in the growing, in the Republic of South Africa, of plants of Fragaria L. intended for planting, other than seeds, from plants supplied by a Member State, in order to prolongate the growing season of the plants; whereas these plants could afterwards be re-exported to the Community in order to have them planted for the production of fruit; Whereas, in respect of the said imports into the Com- munity of the said plants, on the basis of the information supplied by the relevant Member State, it appears that the said strawberry plants can be grown under adequate health conditions in the Elliot district of the North Eastern Cape region, Republic of South Africa; Whereas, on the basis of the information currently available, there is, under such circumstances, no risk of spreading harmful organisms, affecting plants of Fragaria L., provided that certain special technical conditions are satisfied; Whereas the Commission shall ensure that the Republic of South Africa continues to make available all technical information necessary to assess the phytosanitary status of () OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. ) O] No L 87, 2. 4. 1997, p. 17. strawberry plant production in the Republic of South Africa; Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 1. Member States are hereby authorized to provide, under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, for a derogation from Article 4 (1) of Directive 77/93/EEC, with regard to the requirements referred to in Annex III (A) (18) for plants of strawberry {Fragaria L), intended for planting, other than seeds, originating in the Republic of South Africa. 2. In addition to the requirements laid down in part A of the Annexes I, IT and IV to Directive 77/93/EEC, in relation to plants of strawberry, the following specific conditions shall be satisfied: (a) the plants shall be intended for fruit production within the Community and shall have been: (i) produced exclusively from mother plants, certified under an approved certification scheme of a Member State and those mother plants shall have been imported from a Member State; (ii) grown on land which is: — situated in the Elliot district of the North Eastern Cape Region, — situated in an area isolated from commercial strawberry production, — situated at least 1 km from the nearest crop of strawberry plants for fruit or runner produc- tion which do not satisfy the conditions of this Decision, — situated at least 200 m from any other plants of the genus Fragaria which do not satisfy the conditions of this Decision, and