28.1.2003 Official Journal of the European Communities L 23/31 COMMISSION DECISION of 27 January 2003 authorising certain Member States to provide for temporary derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of seed potatoes originating in certain provinces of Canada (notified under document number C(2003) 334) (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic) (2003/61/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 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 (!), as last amended by Directive 2002/89/EC (3), and in particular Article 15(1) thereof, Having regard to the requests made by Italy and Portugal, Whereas: (1) Under Directive 2000/29/EC, seed potato tubers origi- nating in the American continent may not, in principle, be introduced into the Community. However, that Direc- tive permits derogations from that rule, provided that it is established that there is no risk of spreading harmful organisms. (2) Since 1981, by a succession of decisions, the most recent being Commission Decision 1999/751/EC (%), derogations from certain provisions of Directive 2000/ 29/EC in respect of seed potatoes originating in Canada have been authorised, for limited periods and subject to specific conditions. The circumstances justifying those derogations are still valid. (3)  Canada is now completely free from potato spindle tuber viroid but it is still not yet completely free from Clavi- bacter michiganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spieckermann et Kotthoff) Davis et al. (‘Clavibacter michi- ganensis’). (4)  Information supplied by Canada has shown that it has further developed its programme to eradicate Clavibacter michiganensis in the provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and it can reasonably be assumed that the eradication programme is effective in certain areas of those provinces. It can therefore be established that there is no risk of Clavibacter michiganensis spreading, provided that certain technical conditions are complied with. 0J L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. () OJ L 355, 30.12.2002, p. 45. 0J L 299, 20.11.1999, p. 36. (5)  The risk of establishing and spreading Clavibacter michiga- nensis is higher in wet and cold regions than in dry and warm regions. Consequently the authorisation to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Directive 2000/29/EC should not apply to Member States which are particularly exposed to such risks. Therefore, the authorisation should only apply to Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. (6)  Such authorisation to provide for derogations should apply for the next three seed-potato-marketing seasons, without prejudice to Council Directive 2002/56/EC () and to Council Directive 2002/53/EC (). (7)  The measures provided for in this Decision are in accor- dance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant health, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Atrticle 1 1. Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain are hereby authorised to provide for derogations from: (a) Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC, with regard to the prohibition referred to in point 10 of Part A of Annex III to that Directive; (b) Article 5(1) and the third indent of Article 13(1)(a), as regards the special requirements referred to in points 25.2 and 25.3 of part A, section I of Annex IV to Directive 2000/29/EC. 2. The authorisation to provide for derogations referred to in paragraph 1 shall only apply: (a) to seed potatoes of the wvarieties ‘Atlantic’, ‘Donna’, ‘Kennebec’, ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘Sebago’ and ‘Shepody’, origi- nating in the provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in Canada (‘the seed potatoes’); (b) to seed potatoes that satisfy the conditions provided for in Articles 2 to 13 in addition to the requirements laid down in Annexes I, Il and IV to Directive 2000/29/EC; (c) for the potato-marketing-seasons from 1 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, from 1 December 2003 to 31 March 2004 and from 1 December 2004 to 31 March 2005. () OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 60. () OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 1.