11. 1. 92 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 6/45 COMMISSION DECISION of 18 December 1991 amending Decision 91/107/EEC authonznng certain Member States to prov1de for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of sawn wood of conifers originating in the USA {(Only the Spanish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese texts are authentic) (92/12/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Eumpean Economic Community, Having regard to Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21 December 1976 on protective measures against the introduction into the Member States of organisms harmful to plants or plant products ('), as last amended by Commission Directive 91/27/EEC (3, and in particular the second and third indents of Article 14 (3) thereof, Having regard to the requests made by Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, Whereas under the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC, because of the risk of introducing harmful organisms, wood of Conéferae which meets the descriptions in CN code ex 4407 10, originating in Canada, China, Japan, Korea and the USA may not be introduced into the Community, unless it is properly kxln-dned and identified as such; Whereas, however, Article 14 (3), second indent, of Direc- tive 77/93/EEC permits derogations from that rule, provided that it is established that there is no risk of spreading harmful organisms ; Whereas, moreover, Article 14 (3), third indent, of the abovementioned Directive permits derogations from the rule requiring a phytosanitary certificate, if equivalent safeguards are given and provided that it is established that there is no risk of spreading harmful organisms; Whereas wood of conifers originating in the USA is currently introduced into the Community ; whereas in the case of sawn wood, phytosanitary certificates are not generally issued in that country; whereas it appears that kiln-drying capacity is at present limited in the USA; () OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. () O No L 16, 22. 1. 1991, p. 29. Whereas, in respect of the USA, the Commission has established, on the basis of the information supplied by the USA and collected in that country during a mission carried out in 1990, that an officially approved and moni- tored programme of issuing certificates of debarking and grub-hole control has been set up to ensure proper debarking and to reduce the risk from harmful or- ganisms; whereas the risk of spreading harmful organisms is reduced provided that the wood is accompa- nied by a Certificate of Debarking and Grub-Hole Control issued under that programme ; Whereas by Commission Decisions 91/107/EEC (*) and 91/636/EEC (*) the Commission authorized such deroga- tions under technical conditions in respect of sawn wood of conifers originating in the USA, based on the use of the aforementioned Certificate of Debarking and Grub- Hole Control ; Whereas there have been no findings of grub-holes on sawn wood of conifers imported pursuant to Decision 91/107/EEC ; whereas it has not been established, on the basis of available information, that there are elements which would militate against the proper functioning of the aforementioned debarking and grub-hole control programme ; Whereas Decision 91/636/EEC; stipulated that the autho- rization should expire on 31 December 1991 ; Whereas at present, proper kiln-drying is an effective measure to protect the Community against the introduc- tion of certain organisms affecting wood of conifers; whereas, however, various kiln-drying schedules are commonly applied to different timber species in order to dry them to a suitable level for end-use application; whereas these drying processes require the application of heat at various intensities and durations ; () OJ No L 56, 2. 3. 1991, p. 26. () OJ No L 341, 12. 12. 1991, p. 34.