L 326/68 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.12.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 30 November 1999 amending Decision 96/301/EC and authorising Member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as regards Egypt (notified under document number C(1999) 3980) (1999/842/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 introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community ('), as last amended by Commission Directive 1999/53/EC (3), and in particular Article 15(3) thereof, Whereas: (1)  where a Member State considers that there is an immi- nent danger of the introduction into its territory of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith, the cause of potato brown rot, from a third country, it may tempor- arily take any additional measures necessary to protect itself from that danger; (2) in 1996, on the basis of continued interceptions of Pseudomonas  solanacearum (Smith) Smith in potatoes originating in Egypt, several Member States — France, Finland, Spain and Denmark — adopted measures to implement a ban on potatoes originating in Egypt, with a view to ensuring more efficient protection against the introduction of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith from Egypt into their respective territories; (3)  the Commission, by Decision 96/301/EC (*), authorised Member States temporarily to take additional measures against the dissemination of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as regards Egypt; whereas furthermore as a result of considerable numbers of interceptions of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith on imports of potatoes originating in Egypt during the import season 1996/1997, Decision 96/301/EC was amended and further strengthened by Commission Decision 98| 105/EC (* and the import into the Community of pota- toes originating in Egypt was banned unless the emer- gency measures against the dissemination of Pseudo- monas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as laid down in the Annex to the said Decision were complied with; (4)  during the 1997/1998 import season, Finland and Denmark, on the basis of continued interceptions of Pseudomonas  solanacearum (Smith) Smith in potatoes 20. 29. 47. 101. ,_. © O S TTTT originating in Egypt adopted on 2 April 1998 and 9 May 1998 respectively measures to implement a ban on potatoes originating in Egypt, with a view to ensuring more efficient protection against the introduction of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith from Egypt into Finland and Denmark; therefore it has become apparent that the strengthened measures laid down in Decision 98/105/EC are not suffi- cient to prevent the entry of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith or have not been complied with; whereas, in particular, the operation of a ‘qualified area’, in which no outbreak of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith has occurred, seems to be insufficient to prevent such a risk of entry and should be altered; therefore the Commission, by Decision 98/503/EC (), authorised Member States temporarily to take emer- gency measures against the dissemination of Pseudo- monas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as regards Egypt, based on the concept of ‘pest-free area’ in which Pseudo- monas solanacearum (Smith) Smith is known not to occur, as established by official surveys and monitoring proced- ures in accordance with the FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures Part 4: Pest Surveillance — Requirements for the Establishment of Pest-Free Areas’; during the import season 1998/1999 there have been again a number of interceptions of Pseudomonas solana- cearum (Smith) Smith on imports of potatoes originating in Egypt; as a consequence of the above interceptions, and in accordance with the provisions of Decision 98/503/EC, the entry into the territory of the Community of tubers of Solanum tuberosum L. originating in Egypt has been prohibited on 3 April 1999 and remained prohibited during the rest of the import season 1998/1999, and an assessment of the situation has been made; Egypt informed the Commission that administrative measures had been strengthened to control the processes of harvesting, handling and packing of potatoes by the Egyptian central administration for plant quarantine. Moreover Egypt confirmed that improved measures are taken against exporters who violate Egyptian instruc- tions on the export of potatoes destined to the EU; () O] L 225, 12.8.1998, p. 34.