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EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/3026) so as to implement—

Commission Decision 2005/942/EC of 21st December 2005 authorising Member States to take decisions under Directive 1999/105/EC on assurances afforded in respect of forest reproductive material produced in third countries (O.J. L 342, 24.12.2005, p. 92) and Commission Regulation 69/2004/EC of 15th January 2004 authorising derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 1999/105/EC in respect of the marketing of forest reproductive material derived from certain basic material (O.J. L 10, 16.1.2004, p. 16).

The principal changes introduced by these Regulations are as follows—

(a)amendment of the definitions of “master certificate” to include an official certificate from a third country and of “official body” to include official bodies in third countries (regulation 3);

(b)exemption from the requirement in paragraph (c) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 (Seed Orchards) in the case of Pinus pinaster Ait. and corresponding requirement for a statement to be included in the supplier’s label for such material (regulations 4 and 6(b));

(c)provision for the conditions under which forest reproductive material from third countries may be marketed (regulation 5);

(d)addition of “the length of time in nursery” to the information which a registered supplier must provide when dispatching forest reproductive material to a destination in another member State (regulation 8);

(e)removal of the prohibition on importing forest reproductive material in respect of certain material from certain third countries (listed in Schedule 13), providing certain conditions are met (regulations 9 and 12);

(f)addition of phytosanitary certificates and import notifications to the list of documents which must be retained by a registered supplier or other person who undertakes the collecting or production, storage, processing or transportation of forest reproductive material (regulation 10); and

(g)insertion of new procedural provisions on the period for bringing a prosecution under the Regulations (regulation 11).

A transposition note has been prepared and a copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Plant Health Division, Defra, Foss House, Kings Pool, Peasholme Green, York YO1 7PX. A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as they have no impact on the costs for business.