18. 12. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 317/79 COMMISSION DECISION of 15 December 1993 authorizing Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal to provide for derogations from Council Directive 77/93/EEC in respect of seed potatoes originating in Poland (Only the Greek, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese texts are authentic) (93/681/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 93/19/EEC (3, and in particular Article 14 (3) thereof, Having regard to the request made by Italy, Whereas, pursuant to the provisions of Directive 77/93/EEC, seed potatoes originating in Poland 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 Italy the planting and growing of potatoes of the Sieglinde variety for ware potato production has been an established practice ; whereas part of the supply of seed potatoes of this variety has been ensured by imports from Poland ; Whereas, by Decision 90/613/EEC (), as last amended by Decision 92/467EEC (*), the Commission approved dero- gations based on the concept of ‘closed zones’, subject to certain technical conditions to prevent the risk of harmful organisms spreading ; whereas that approval expired on 31 December 1992; Whereas it is known that Poland is still not free from potato spindle tuber viroid or from Clavibacter michiga- nensis ssp. sepedonicus; Whereas Poland has developed a programme to eradicate these harmful organisms on a regional basis; whereas there are good reasons to believe that the programme to () OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1977, p. 20. () OJ No L 96, 22. 4. 1993, p. 33. () OJ No L 328, 28. 11. 1990, p. 21. () OJ No L 264, 10. 9. 1992, p. 23. eradicate these harmful organisms has become fully effec- tive, at least in certain ‘closed zones’ (strefy zamkniete) of the voievoidship of Lomza; Whereas there have been no confirmed findings of the disease on samples drawn from seed potatoes introduced pursuant to Decision 92/467/EEC; whereas Poland informed the Commission that the seed potatoes of the variety Sieglinde grown in 1993 in the aformentioned ‘closed zones’ originate from a Member State where Clavi- bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus is not known to occur, and have been officially certified pursuant to Council Directive 66/403/EEC(°), as last amended by Directive 93/3/EEC (%) ; whereas, however, it has not been established, on the basis of available information collected during a mission carried out in Poland in 1990, that there are elements which would militate against the proper functioning of the aforementioned concept of ‘closed zones’ and therefore against the recognition of the provi- sions 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 orgeanisms in question spreading, provided that the seed potatoes originate in such zones - and that certain special technical conditions are complied with ; Whereas the Commission will ensure that Poland makes all technical information available which is necessary to monitor the functioning of the protective measures required under the aforementioned technical conditions, and to assess the development of the Polish eradication programme ; Whereas the risk of establishing and spreading Clavi- bacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus is high in wet and cold regions; whereas, consequently, the derogation should not apply to Member States which are particularly exposed to such risks, i.e. Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom ; whereas, therefore, the authorization should not apply to the abovementioned Member States, taking into account the differences in agricultural and ecological conditions ; () OJ No 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2320/66. (9 OF No L 54, 5. 3. 1993, p. 21.