4. A certificate shall not be issued by the Department unless an authorised officer is satisfied that:
(a)the land on which the seed potatoes are growing or were grown—
(i)is not land in respect of which a notice has been served under Article 22(4) of the Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 1993 declaring that land to be infected with wart disease, potato ring rot, or potato cyst nematode;
(ii)is not land in respect of which an Inspector has demarcated a zone under Article 23A(1) of the Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 1993 to prevent the spread of potato brown rot;
(iii)has by sampling and laboratory examination been found to be free from potato cyst nematode; and
(iv)is land which has not been used for growing potatoes in any of the previous 6 years for crops classified as Pre-basic 1, Pre-basic 2 or VTSC, or, in any of the previous 4 years for crops of any other class.
(b)the seed potatoes have been produced from—
(i)basic seed potatoes or pre-basic seed potatoes;
(ii)a crop grown with the authority of or in circumstances acceptable to the Department; or
(iii)seed potatoes grown elsewhere than in Northern Ireland and in respect of which an examination acceptable to the Department has been carried out;
(c)the seed potatoes in any crop are of a single variety;
(d)the seed potatoes are taken from a crop which is free from the following diseases or pests:
Wart Disease (Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilb.) Perc.)
Potato Cyst Nematode (Globodera (Heterodera) species infesting potatoes)
Ring Rot (Clavibacter michiganensis (Smith) Davis et al. ssp. sepedonicus (Spiek & Kotth) Davis et al.)
Brown Rot (Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al.)
Potato Tuber Moth (Phthorimaea (= Gnorimoschema) operculella (Zell.))
Potato Tuber Eelworm (Ditylenchus destructor (Thorne))
Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid
Colorado Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say));
(e)the seed potatoes are taken from a crop which has been classified in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 2 and in which the presence of diseased potato plants and rogues, ground keepers and undesirable variations is ascertained not to exceed the respective tolerances set out in Schedule 2 in relation to the classes described therein.