L 299/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 20.11.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 4 November 1999 authorising certain Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of seed potatoes originating in Canada (notified under document number C(1999) 3541) (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic) (1999/751/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 14(1) thereof, Having regard to the requests made by Italy and Portugal, (1) ~ Whereas, pursuant to the provisions of Directive 77/ 93/EEC, seed potato tubers originating in the American continent may not, in principle, be introduced into the Community; (2)  Whereas, however, Directive 77/93/EEC permits deroga- tions from that rule, provided that it is established that there is no risk of spreading harmful organisms; (3)  Whereas in Italy and Portugal the planting and growing of seed potatoes of certain North American varieties for ware potato production has been an established practice; whereas part of the supply of seed potatoes of these varieties has been ensured by imports from Canada; (4)  Whereas, by Decisions 96/6/EC (}), 97/89[EC (¥, 98| 92/EC (}) and 1999/50/EC (¢) the Commission approved derogations based on the concept of ‘area freedom’, subject to certain technical conditions to prevent the risk of harmful organisms spreading; whereas that approval expired on 31 March 1999; whereas the Commission also provided that those derogations would provide for the opportunity to seek confirmation of the proper func- tioning of the concept of ‘area freedom’; (5)  Whereas it is known that Canada is still not completely free from potato spindle tuber viroid or from Clavibacter J L 26, 31.1.1977, p. 20. J L 142, 5.6.1999, p. 29. J L 2, 411996, p. 24. J L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 45. J L 18, 23.1.1998, p. 30. J L 16, 21.1.1999, p. 31. michiganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spieck- ermann et Kotthoff) Davis et al; Whereas information supplied by Canada has shown that Canada has further developed its programme to eradicate these harmful organisms in the provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island; whereas there are good reasons to believe that the programme to eradicate potato spindle tuber viroid has become fully effective in those provinces, and that the programme to eradicate Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus has become largely effective in certain areas of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick: in the 1998 crop no incidence of this disease in any of the seed potato fields in the above Provinces was recorded and there was no laboratory finding of Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedo- nicus in any of the seed potato lots from any of the above Provinces; whereas there had been no confirmed findings of the disease on samples drawn from seed potatoes originating in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick and introduced pursuant to Decision 1999/ 50/EC; whereas therefore it has not been established that there are sufficient elements which would militate against the proper functioning of the aforementioned concept of ‘area freedom’ in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick and therefore against the recognition of the provisions implemented there as equivalent to the Community provisions on combating Clavibacter michiga- nensis ssp. sepedonicus; Whereas it can therefore be established that there is no risk of the harmful organisms in question spreading, provided that the seed potatoes originate in areas declared, on scientific evidence, free from both potato spindle tuber viroid and from Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus, and that certain special technical condi- tions are complied with; Whereas the Commission will ensure that Canada makes all technical information available which is necessary to monitor the functioning of the protective measures required under the aforementioned technical conditions and to assess the functioning of the aforementioned concept of ‘area freedom’;