30.12.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 355/45 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2002/89/EC of 28 November 2002 amending Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (3), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas: (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 (* 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)  With respect to 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 neces- sarily undergo phytosanitary procedures and formalities in the same Member State as that in which customs clearance takes place, a system of cooperation in communication and information among the responsible official bodies and the customs offices should be estab- lished. (4 In order to improve the protection against the intro- duction 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 harmonised manner throughout the Community. ) O] C 240 E, 28.8.2001, p. 88. 2 OJ C 53 E, 28.2.2002, p. 179. O] C 36, 8.2.2002, p. 46. O] L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2002/36/EC (O] L 116, 3.5.2002, p. 16). = 2= ( ( (3 ( 4 () (10) (11) The fees charged for such checks should be based on a transparent cost calculation and aligned in all Member States as much as possible. In the light of experience, several other provisions of Directive 2000/29/EC should be completed, clarified or amended in the light of developments. Since the implementation of the conditions of the internal market, phytosanitary certificates as established in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) are no longer used for the marketing of plants or plant products within the Community. It is however important to keep standardised certificates issued by Member States under the IPPC. 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. 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. It is also necessary to base amendments to the Annexes, more explicitly, on a technical justification consistent with the pest risk involved. 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. The list of tasks in respect of which the Commission may organise 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. It is appropriate to clarify certain aspects of the procedure for the refunding of the Community Phytos- anitary contribution.