COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 1593/93 of 24 June 1993 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3713/92 deferring the date of application of Article 11 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs, with regard to the imports from certain third countries

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2071/93 (2), and in particular Article 16 (3), second indent thereof,

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3713/92 (3) has deferred for a period of six months the date of application of Article 11 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 for products imported from certain third countries;

Whereas some third countries have introduced to the Commission a request for being included in the list of third countries provided for in Article 11 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 as well as certain information provided for in Article 2 (2) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 94/92 (4), before the date referred to in Article 16 (3), second subparagraph of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91;

Whereas for certain third countries, the examination of the information has been finalized;

Whereas for certain other third countries it has resulted from a first examination of the information that production and inspection rules are applied which appear largely to satisfy the requirement of equivalency provided for in Article 11 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91; whereas however on certain points the examination has to be completed and studied in detail, with the consequence that the stage in examining the information does not permit a decision regarding the inclusion of these third countries in the list provided for in Article 11 (1) (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91;

Whereas therefore the period for finalizing this examination needs to be prolonged;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee provided for in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3713/92 is amended as follows:

1. the words 'for a period of six months' are replaced by: 'for a period of 15 months';

2. the first indent concerning Argentina is amended as follows:

'Argentina, for products certified as being produced in this country by organic production methods by the Institudo Argentino para la Certificacion y Promocion de Productos Agropecuarios Organicos SRL (Argencert) or by the Fundacion de Alimentos Ecologicos Argentinos (FAEA);';

3. the fifth indent concerning Switzerland is amended as follows:

'Switzerland, for products produced in this country according to the organic production method established, inspected and certified by the Vereinigung Schweizerischer Biologischer Landbauorganisationen (VSBLO) or according to the organic production standards and inspection arrangements provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, inspected and certified by the Institut fuer Marktoekologie (IMO);';

4. after the last indent concerning Switzerland, the following indent is introduced:

'- Sweden, for products certified as being produced in this country by organic production methods by Kontrollfoereningen foer Ekologisk Odling (KRAV) or by the Svenska Demeterfoerbundet.'

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 1 July 1993.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 24 June 1993.

For the Commission

René STEICHEN

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 198, 22. 7. 1991, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 25, 2. 2. 1993, p. 5.

(3) OJ No L 378, 23. 12. 1992, p. 21.

(4) OJ No L 11, 17. 1. 1992, p. 14.