Ornamental plants, marketing of propagating material SLIM (amend. direct. 93/49/EEC, 93/63/EEC, 93/78/EEC)

OBJECTIVE: to ensure the free marketing of ornamental plant propagating material throughout the territory of European Union and to establish minimum quality conditions in this respect. SUBSTANCE: the proposal is a thorough revision of Directive 91/682/EEC in the context of the SLIM initiative (Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market). The proposal aims to simplify legislation and promote competitiveness and the job-creating potential of enterprises. For the sake of clarity it is presented in the form of a recast of the former directive. Although the Directive will in future apply to all species, the provisions on accredited suppliers are limited to suppliers with the greatest influence on the quality of materials (formerly, all suppliers had to be accredited). The proposal also simplifies the former directive as follows: - it clarifies the ambiguous formulation of the provision on the authenticity of varieties and creates four well-defined categories by reference to which a variety can be marketed; - it provides for a less cumbersome procedure allowing material to be imported from third countries without a Community-level decision; - it removes the risk of duplication between accreditation under Directive 91/682/EEC and registration under the plant health directive 77/93/EEC, regarding all the producers registered under the latter directive as also accredited suppliers of propagation material.�