4. 4. 95 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 75/25 COMMISSION DECISION of 6 March 1995 authorizing the Member States to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of potatoes other than potatoes intended for planting originating in the Czech Republic (95/97/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 the Act of Acces- sion of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 14 (1) thereof, Having regard to the . requests made by Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Italy and the Netherlands, Whereas, under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC, potatoes other than potatoes intended for planting ori- ginating in the Czech Republic may not, in principle, be introduced into the Community because of the risk of introducing potato diseases unknown in the Community ; Whereas information supplied by the Czech Republic and collected during an official visit by Commission officials carried out in that country in 1994 has shown that there are good reasons to believe that potatoes can be grown in the Czech Republic under adequate health conditions and that, at present, there are no sources for the introduction of exotic potato diseases ; whereas the Czech Republic has moreover implemented adequate health and quality stan- dards in its potato production; 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, under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2, to provide for dero- gations from Article 4 (1) of Directive 77/93/EEC, with regard to the prohibitions referred to in Part A, point 12 () OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. of Annex III thereto for potatoes other than potatoes intended for planting originating in the Czech Republic. 2.  The following specific conditions shall be satisfied : (a) the potatoes shall be other than potatoes intended for planting ; (b) they shall have been grown from seed potatoes certi- - fied under the Czech Republic’s seed potato certifica- ‘tion scheme or from seed potatoes certified in one of the Member States; (c) they shall have been treated for the suppression of their faculty of germination ; (d) they shall have been grown in areas known to be free from Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilbersky) Percival (all races other than Race 1, the common European race), 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. {e) they shall have béen grown in areas where Pseudo- monas solanacearum (Smith) Smith has not been detected ; ' (f) regular planned monitoring of imports into the Czech Republic and of seed potatoes and ware potatoes marketed within the Czech Republic shall be conti- nued by the examination and testing of representative samples using scientifically recognized methods for Clavibacter michiganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spieckermann et Kotthoff) Davis et al., Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith and potato spindle tuber viroid ; (g) they shall have been handled by machinery which is reserved for them or which has been disinfected in an appropriate manner after every use for any other purposes ; (h) they shall be packed either in new bags or in con- tainers which have been disinfected in an appropriate manner ; and an official label shall be applied to each bag or container, bearing the information specified in the Annex; - (i) prior to export the potatoes shall have been cleaned of soil, leaves and other plant debris;