Article 4
Directive 66/403/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 1 This Directive shall apply to the production with a view to marketing, and to the marketing, of seed potatoes within the Community.`; 2. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 1: 'Article 1a For the purposes of this Directive "marketing" shall mean the sale, holding with a view to sale, offer for sale and any disposal, supply or transfer aimed at commercial exploitation of seed potatoes to third parties, whether or not for consideration. Trade in seed potatoes not aimed at commercial exploitation of the variety, such as the following operations, shall not be regarded as marketing: - the supply of seed potatoes to official testing and inspection bodies, - the supply of seed potatoes to providers of services for processing or packaging, provided the provider of services does not acquire title to seed potatoes thus supplied. The supply of seed under certain conditions to providers of services for the production of certain agricultural raw materials, intended for industrial purposes, or seed propagation for that purpose, shall not be regarded as marketing, provided the provider of services does not acquire title to either the seed thus supplied or the product of the harvest. The supplier of seed shall provide the Certification Authority with a copy of the relevant parts of the contract made with the provider of services and this shall include the standards and conditions currently met by the seed provided. The conditions for the application of this provision shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 3. Article 3(2)(B) shall be repealed; 4. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 3: 'Article 3a Notwithstanding Article 3(1), Member States shall provide that bred seed potatoes of generations prior to basic seed potatoes may be placed on the market.`; 5. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 4: 'Article 4a 1. Notwithstanding Article 3(1), Member States may authorise producers on their own territory to place on the market: (a) small quantities of seed potatoes for scientific purposes or selection work; (b) appropriate quantities of seed potatoes for other test or trial purposes, provided they belong to varieties for which an application for entry in the catalogue has been submitted in the Member State in question. In the case of genetically modified material, such authorisation may be granted only if all appropriate measures have been taken to avoid adverse effects on human health and the environment. For the environmental risk assessment to be carried out in this respect, the provisions of Article 7(4) of Directive 70/457/EEC shall apply accordingly. 2. The purposes for which the authorities referred to in paragraph 1(b) may be given, the provisions relating to the marking of packages, and the quantities and the conditions under which Member States may grant such authorisation shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19. 3. Authorisations granted before the date of adoption of this Directive by Member States to producers in their own territory for the purposes set out in paragraph 1 shall remain in force pending determination of the provisions referred to in paragraph 2. Thereafter, all such authorisations shall respect the provisions established in accordance with paragraph 2.`; 6. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 5: 'Article 5a 1. Member States may require that seed potatoes produced in their own territory may be separated during production from other potatoes for plant health reasons. 2. The requirements provided for in paragraph 1 may include measures to: - separate the production of seed and other potatoes; - separate the grading, storage, transportation and handling of seed and other potatoes.`; 7. Article 7(1) shall be replaced by the following: '1. Member States shall provide that seed potatoes may not be placed on the market unless they have a minimum size such that they do not pass through a square mesh of 25 × 25 mm. In the case of tubers which are too large to pass through a square mesh of 35 × 35 mm, the upper and lower size limits shall be expressed in multiples of 5. The maximum variation in size between tubers in a lot shall be such that the difference between the dimensions of the two square meshes used does not exceed 25 mm. These sizing standards may be modified in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 8. Article 7(4) shall be repealed; 9. in Article 9(3), the words 'sealed in their own territory. Conditions relating to these exceptions may be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19` shall be added after the words 'small packages`; 10. Article 10(2) shall be replaced by the following: '2. Member States may provide for exceptions to paragraph 1 in the case of small packages sealed in their own territory. Conditions relating to these exceptions may be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 11. Article 11 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 11 In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19, it may be provided that, in cases other than those provided for in this Directive, packages or containers of basic seed potatoes or certified seed potatoes shall bear a supplier's label (which may either be a label separate from the official label or take the form of the suppliers' information printed on the package or container itself). The particulars to be provided on any such label shall also be established in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 12. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 11: 'Article 11a In the case of seed potatoes of a variety which has been genetically modified, any label or document, official or otherwise, which is affixed to or accompanies the seed lot, under the provisions of this Directive, shall clearly indicate that the variety has been genetically modified.`; 13. Article 13(1) shall be replaced by the following: '1. Member States shall ensure that seed potatoes which are placed on the market under the provisions of this Directive, whether mandatory or discretionary, are not subject to any marketing restrictions as regards their characteristics, examination requirements, marking and sealing other than those laid down in this or any other Directive.`; 14. Article 13(4) shall be repealed; 15. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 13: 'Article 13a The conditions under which bred seed potatoes of generations prior to basic seed potatoes may be placed on the market under Article 3a, shall be as follows: (a) they must have been produced in accordance with accepted practices for the maintenance of the variety and of health; (b) they must be intended mainly for the production of basic seed potatoes; (c) they must satisfy the minimum conditions to be established by the procedure laid down in Article 19 for pre-basic seed potatoes; (d) they must have been found by official examination to satisfy the minimum conditions referred to in (c); (e) they must be placed in packages or containers in accordance with this Directive; and (f) the packages or containers must bear an official label giving at least the following particulars: - certification authority and Member State or their distinguishing abbreviation, - producer's identification number or lot reference number, - month and year of sealing, - species, indicated at least in Roman characters, under its botanical name, which may be given in abridged form and without the authors' names, or under its common name, or both, - variety, indicated at least in Roman characters, - the description "pre-basic seed potatoes". The label shall be white with a diagonal violet line.`; 16. Article 14(1) shall be replaced by the following: '1. In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19, the Commission may prohibit, in whole or in part, the marketing of seed potatoes harvested in a particular area of the Community if the progeny of officially drawn samples of basic seed potatoes or certified seed potatoes harvested in that particular area and grown in one or more Community test fields has for three successive years fallen appreciably below the minimum conditions laid down in Annex I(1c), (2c), (3) and (4). Satisfaction of the other minimum conditions laid down in Annex I may also be checked during the comparative tests.`; 17. Article 14(2) shall be replaced by the following: '2. Any measures taken under paragraph 1 shall be withdrawn by the Commission as soon as it has been established with adequate certainty that the basic seed potatoes and certified seed potatoes harvested in the particular area of the Community concerned will in future satisfy the minimum conditions referred to in paragraph 1.`; 18. Article 14(3) shall be repealed; 19. Article 16 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 16 1. In order to remove any temporary difficulties in the general supply of basic seed potatoes or certified seed potatoes that occur in the Community and cannot be otherwise overcome, it may be decided in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19 that Member States shall permit, for a specified period, the marketing throughout the Community in quantities necessary to resolve the supply difficulties of seed potatoes of a category subject to less stringent requirements, or of seed potatoes of varieties not included in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species or in the national catalogues of varieties of the Member States. 2. For a category of seed potatoes of any given variety, the official label shall be that provided for the corresponding category; for seed potatoes of varieties not included in the abovementioned catalogues the colour of the official label shall be brown. The label shall always state that the seed potatoes in question are of a category satisfying less stringent requirements. 3. Rules for the application of paragraph 1 may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 20. Article 18(1) shall be replaced by the following: '1. Member States shall ensure that official inspections are carried out in relation to the marketing of seed potatoes, at least by random checks, to verify compliance with the requirements and conditions of this Directive.`; 21. Article 18(2) shall be replaced by the following: '2. Without prejudice to the free movement of seed potatoes within the Community, Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that they are supplied with the following particulars during the marketing of quantities exceeding two kilograms of seed potatoes imported from third countries: (a) species; (b) variety; (c) category; (d) country of production and inspection authority; (e) country of dispatch; (f) importer; (g) quantity of seed potatoes. The manner in which these particulars are to be presented may be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.`; 22. the following Article shall be inserted after Article 20: 'Article 20a 1. Specific conditions may be established in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19 to take account of developments in the areas of: (a) conditions under which chemically treated seed may be marketed; (b) conditions under which seed may be marketed in relation to the conservation in situ and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources, including seed mixtures of species which also include species listed in Article 1 of Council Directive 70/457/EEC, and are associated with specific natural and semi-natural habitats and are threatened by genetic erosion; (c) conditions under which seed suitable for organic production may be marketed. 2. The specific conditions referred to in paragraph 1 shall include in particular the following points: (i) in the case of (b), the seed of these species shall be of a known provenance approved by the appropriate authority in each Member State for marketing the seed in defined areas; (ii) in the case of (b), appropriate quantitative restrictions.`