L71/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.3.2001 COMMISSION DECISION of 9 March 2001 authorising the Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in New Zealand (notified under document number C(2001) 685) (2001/199/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, (6)  The measures provided for in this Decision are in Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to 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 ('), and in particular Article 15(1) thereof, Having regard to the request made by the United Kingdom, Whereas: (1) Under the provisions of Directive 2000/29/EC, potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in New Zealand may in principle not be introduced into the Community because of the risk of introducing potato diseases unknown in the Community. () By Decisions 98/81/EC (), 1999/209/EC () and 2000/ 193/EC (*) the Commission authorised Member States to provide for derogations in respect of potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in New Zealand, under specified conditions in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons respectively. (3)  There were no confirmed findings of diseases and pests on samples drawn from potatoes imported pursuant to Decisions 1999/209/EC and 2000/193/EC and due to technical reasons there were no imports made under Decision 98/81/EC. (4)  In relation to the requirements laid down in point 25.2 of Annex IV, part A, section I to Directive 2000/29/EC and on the basis of information provided by New Zealand, and international scientific technical literature, New Zealand is known to be free from Clavibacter michi- ganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spiecker- mann & Kotthoff) Davis et al. (5)  The circumstances justifying the authorisation still obtain. 9, 10.7.2000, p. 1. , 20.1.1998, p. 29. 18.3.1999, p. 37. , 7.3.2000, p. 26. QN == o‘I\J-IkO\ accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 1. By derogation from Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC, with regard to the prohibitions referred to in part A, point 12 of Annex III, Member States may between 1 March to 31 August 2001, permit the introduction into their territory of potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, originating in New Zealand, under conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3. 2. Potatoes, other than potatoes intended for planting, intro- duced pursuant to paragraph 1, shall satisfy the following conditions, in addition to the requirements laid down in Annexes [ and II to Directive 2000/29/EC: (a) they shall have been grown in New Zealand directly from seed potatoes certified in the New Zealand seed potato certification scheme or from seed potatoes certified in one of the Member States or in a country from which the entry into the Community of potatoes intended for planting is permitted pursuant to Directive 2000/29/EC which were imported into New Zealand directly from the Community, or, in the case of seed potatoes originating in a third country, directly from that country; (b) except in the case of early potatoes, they shall have been treated for the suppression of their faculty of germination; (c) they shall have been grown in areas known to be free from Synchytrium  endobioticum  (Schilbersky) Percival, and no symptoms of Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilbersky) Percival shall have been observed either at the place of production or in its immediate vicinity since the beginning of an adequate period; (d) — they shall have been grown in areas where Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al. is known not to occur, and