Commission Directive 93/49/EEC is amended as follows:
The following Article 3a is added:
Propagating material of Palmae belonging to the genera and species referred to in the Annex and having a diameter of the stem at the base of over 5 cm shall comply with one of the following requirements:
it shall have been grown for their entire life in an area which has been established as free from Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) by the responsible official body in accordance with relevant International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures;
it shall have been grown in the two years prior to their marketing in a site within the Union with complete physical protection against the introduction of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), or in a site within the Union where the appropriate preventive treatments have been applied with respect to that harmful organism. It shall be subject to visual inspections carried out at least once every four months, confirming freedom of that material from Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier).
This Article shall apply without prejudice to the rules on protected zones adopted pursuant to point (h) of Article 2(1) and Article 5(3) of Directive 2000/29/EC’
The Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Directive.