Commission Recommendation

of 11 August 2006

on containment programmes to limit the further spread of Diabrotica virgifera Le Conte in Community areas where its presence is confirmed

(2006/565/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the second indent of Article 211 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Decision 2003/766/EC of 24 October 2003 on emergency measures to prevent the spread within the Community of Diabrotica virgifera Le Conte [1] (the organism) provides for restrictions on growing maize in areas that were previously known to be free from the organism but where the organism has been found, as well as in areas where the organism is already established.

(2) According to Article 4a(2) of Decision 2003/766/EC, Member States can organise containment programmes on a yearly basis in the infested zones and their vicinity to limit the spread of the organism from the infested zones into areas that are free from the organism.

(3) In order to facilitate a coordinated approach for those containment programmes, technical guidance should be provided.

(4) The containment programmes should be based on sound scientific principles, the biology of the organism, the level of the infestation and the particular production system of maize in the Member State concerned.

(5) In developing the technical guidance, account has been taken of the work and the experiences of the responsible official bodies in the Member States as regards the control of the organism.

(6) The technical guidance provided for in this Recommendation is in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

1. The exact delimitation of infested zones referred to in Article 4a(1) of Decision 2003/766/EC should be based on sound scientific principles, the biology of the organism, the level of the infestation, and the particular production system of maize in the Member State concerned.

The delimitation of infested zones should be reviewed when, in at least two consecutive years, similar results as regards the absence or presence of the organism have been obtained in the surveys referred to in Article 2 of Decision 2003/766/EC.

2. For the purpose of the implementation of the containment programmes referred to in Article 4a(2) of Decision 2003/766/EC, Member States should take account of the following principles:

(a) Measures to limit the spread of the organism from the infested zones into areas that are free from the organism (containment measures). They should be established in a zone (containment zone) which should extend for at least 10 km within the infested zone and at least 30 km into the non-infested zone.

In the containment zone, Member States should ensure that in the maize fields:

- crop rotation is organised in such a way that maize is grown not more than once during any period of two consecutive years, or

- crop rotation takes place in such a way that maize can be grown twice in any period of three consecutive years and, linked to a local prediction system for the development of the organism, at least one of these maize crops is sown only after the emergence of the larvae, or

- crop rotation takes place in such a way that maize can be grown twice in any period of three consecutive years, each time in combination with efficient insecticide treatments against adults or any other measures or treatments resulting in a similar level of control of the organism.

(b) Measures, based upon area-wide pest management in the rest of the infested zone, to mitigate the possibilities for the further spread of the organism and to ensure a sustainable production of maize (suppression measures).

(c) The presence of the organism in the non-infested part of the containment zone should be monitored intensively using appropriate sex pheromone traps, taking into account the local circumstances and the characteristics of the containment zone.

Done at Brussels, 11 August 2006.

For the Commission

Markos Kyprianou

Member of the Commission

[1] OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 49. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/564/EC (see page 28 of this Official Journal).

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