1.Member States shall ensure that the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are met when a plant passport is issued and attached to plants, plant products or other objects, to their packaging or to the vehicles transporting them.
The issuing includes the preparation of the passport, in particular the filling-in of the information, and the action necessary to make the plant passport available for use by the applicant.
2.For the purpose of paragraph 1, the responsible official bodies referred to in Article 1 (1) shall, without prejudice to the requirements laid down in Directive 77/93/EEC:
(a)ensure that the producer, person or importer referred to in Article 2 (2) applies to them for the issuance of a plant passport, or for the replacement of a plant passport;
(b)determine, where appropriate, on the basis of examinations provided for in Article 6 (1) (2) and (3) of Directive 77/93/EEC and carried out in accordance with Article 6 (4) or on the basis of the requirements laid down in Article 10 (3) or 12 (6) of the said Directive, the restrictions applicable to the plants, plant products or other objects, and accordingly the territorial validity of the plant passport, or determine the replacement of the said plant passport, as well as the information to be filled in.
If the producer, person or importer referred to in Article 2 (2) intends to dispatch a plant, plant product or other object into a protected zone referred to in Article 2 (1) (h) of the said Directive for which he does not have a valid plant passport, the said responsible official bodies shall take the necessary steps and determine accordingly whether the product is qualified for the relevant protected zone. The said responsible official bodies shall ensure that the producer, person or importer referred to in Article 2(2) shall notify the abovementioned intention to them within a reasonable period of time prior to dispatch and shall apply simultaneously for the corresponding plant passport;
(c)ensure that the information is filled in, either entirely in capital letters if the plant passport is pre-printed, or in capital letters or entirely in typescript in all other cases. The botanical name of the plants or plant products shall be indicated in Latin characters; uncertified alterations or erasures shall invalidate the said plant passport;
(d)ensure that if a plant, plant product or other object has received the qualification by them for a specific protected zone(s), the code for the protected zone(s) shall be indicated on the plant passport, against the distinctive marking ‘ZP’ (zona protecta) indicating that the said plant passport covers a plant, plant product or other object qualified for a protected zone(s);
(e)ensure that if a plant passport is to be delivered for a plant, plant product or other object originating outside the Community, the plant passport shall be used, with the indication of the name of the country of origin or, where appropriate, the consignor country on the said plant passport;
(f)ensure that if a plant passport is to be replaced by another plant passport, the plant passport referred to in Article 1 (1) shall be used; the code for the originally registered producer or importer shall be indicated on the said plant passport, against the distinctive marking ‘RP’ (‘replacement passport’) indicating that the said plant passport replaces another plant passport;
(g)depending on where the said plant passport is physically stored, either deliver the said plant passport, or authorize the producer, person or importer referred to in Article 2 (2) to use it accordingly;
(h)ensure that the part of the said plant passport consisting of the label be attached under the responsibility of the producer, person or importer referred to in Article 2(2), to the plants, plant products or other objects, to their packaging or to the vehicles transporting them in such a manner that it cannot be reused.