Decision 2008/971/EC is hereby amended as follows:
in Article 1, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:
‘This Decision determines the conditions under which forest reproductive material of the ‘source identified’, ‘selected’ and ‘qualified’ categories produced in a third country listed in Annex I shall be imported into the Union.’;
in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
‘2.Seed and planting stock of the ‘source identified’, ‘selected’ and ‘qualified’ categories of species listed in Annex I to Directive 1999/105/EC, produced in the third countries listed in Annex I to this Decision and officially certified by the third country authorities listed in that Annex, shall be considered equivalent to seed and planting stock complying with Directive 1999/105/EC, provided that the conditions laid down in Annex II to this Decision are satisfied.’;
in Article 4, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:
‘When seed and planting stock enter the Union, the supplier importing this material shall inform the official body of that Member State in advance of the import. The official body shall issue a Master Certificate based on the official OECD Certificate of Provenance before the material is placed on the market.’;
Annexes I and II are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.
This Decision shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2013.
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Strasbourg, 21 November 2012.
For the European Parliament
The President
M. Schulz
For the Council
The President
A. D. Mavroyiannis