L 28/22 Official Journal of the European Union 31.1.2004 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 20 January 2004 authorising the Member States to provide for derogations from the phytosanitary certificate requirement of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of heat-treated wood of conifers origin- ating in Canada (notified under document number C(2004) 65) (2004/95/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 Com- munity of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community ('), as last amended by Commission Directive 2003/116/EC (%), and in particular the second indent of Article 15(1) thereof, Whereas: 1 Directive 2000/29/EC provides for protective measures against the introduction into the Community from third countries of organisms that are harmful to plants or plant products. Pursuant to Directive 2000/29/EC, wood of conifers (Coniferales) originating in Canada may not be intro- duced into the Community, with certain exceptions, unless accompanied by an official phytosanitary certifi- cate as provided for in that Directive. Directive 2000/29/EC permits derogations from that rule provided that it is established that equivalent safe- guards are ensured by means of alternative documenta- tion or marking. Wood of conifers originating in Canada is currently introduced into the Community. However, phytosanitary certificates are not generally issued in that country. The Commission has noted on the basis of information supplied by Canada and collected during a mission carried out in that country in September 2002 that an official programme, the Canadian Heat-Treated Wood Products Certification Program (CHTWPCP), has been () OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. () OJ L 321, 6.12.2003, p. 36. (10) established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The CHTWPCP contains an approval and moni- toring identification system for heat-treated wood products intended for export to the Community. The Commission has established that the CHTWPCP is sufficient to ensure that wood is heat-treated over a period of time sufficient to achieve the thermal death of the harmful organisms, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle et al. and its vectors, and thus elimi- nate the risk of spreading harmful organisms in the Community. The Commission has further established that each piece of wood is to have a unique kiln-dried — heat-treated (KD-HT) certification mark, recognised by the CFIA, including the registration number of the facility regis- tered and approved by the CFIA to produce, handle or export heat-treated wood in accordance with the specifi- cations set out in the CHTWPCP. Member States should therefore be authorised to provide for derogations allowing wood to be introduced into the Community when it bears a unique KD-HT certification mark as an alternative to a phytosanitary certificate. The Commission should request that Canada makes available all technical information necessary to assess the functioning of the CHTWPCP. In addition, Member States should continually assess the use of KD-HT certifi- cation marks. The authorisation of the identification system shall expire on 1 July 2005. The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health,