No L 21/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 1. 95 COMMISSION DECISION of 27 January 1995 amending Decision 93/680/EC authorizing Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal to provide for derogations from Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of seed potatoes originating in Canada (Only the Spanish, Greek, Italian and Portuguese texts are authentic) (95/14/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 Directive 94/13/EC (», and in particular Article 14 (1) thereof, Having regard to the requests made by Greece, Italy and Portugal, 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; 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; Whereas in Greece, Italy and Portugal the planting and growing of seed potatoes of certain North American varie- ties 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; Whereas by Decision 93/680/EC(}) the Commission approved a derogation 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 1994 ; whereas the Commission also provided that this derogation would provide for the opportunity to seek confirmation of the proper functioning of the concept of ‘area freedom’; Whereas information supplied by Canada and collected in that country during a mission carried out in 1994, 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 eradi- () OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. @) OJ No L 92, 9. 4. 1994, p. 27. () OJ No L 317, 18. 12. 1993, p. 75. cate potato spindle tuber viroid has become fully effective in those provinces, and that the programme to eradicate Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus has become fully effective in certain areas of these provinces ; whereas there have been no confirmed findings of the disease on samples drawn from seed potatoes introduced pursuant to Decision 93/680/EC ; whereas it has not been established that there are sufficient elements which would militate against the proper functioning of the aforementoned concept of ‘area freedom’ and therefore against the recog- nition of the provisions implemented there as equivalent to the Community provisions on combating Clavibacter michiganensis 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. sepedo- nicus and that certain improved special technical condi- tions are complied with ; Whereas, therefore, derogations should be authorized for the next seed-potato marketing season, provided that they include the aforementioned conditions and without preju- dice to Council Directive 66/403/EEC (%), as last amended by Commission Directive 93/108/EC (), and to Council Directive 70/457/EEC (%), as last amended by Directive 90/654/EEC (); Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordarice with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION : Article 1 Decision 93/680/EC is hereby amended as follows : 1. Article 1 (2) (c) is replaced by the following: () OJ No 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2320/66. % O] No L 319, 21. 12. 1993, p. 39. (9 O] No L 225, 12. 10. 1970, p. 1. () O] No L 353, 17. 12. 1990, p. 48.