This Directive shall apply to the marketing of propagating material of ornamental plants within the Community. This shall be without prejudice to the rules on protection of wild flora laid down by Regulation (EC) No 338/97, the rules on packaging and packaging waste laid down by Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council7, or, save where otherwise provided for in this Directive or on the basis thereof, the plant health rules laid down by Directive 77/93/EEC.

This Directive shall not apply to:

• material shown to be intended for export to third countries, which is identified as such and is kept sufficiently isolated,

• material the products of which are not intended for ornamental purposes, if it is covered by other Community legislation on the marketing of such material.

In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17, it may be decided that some or all of the requirements of this Directive shall not apply in respect of seed of particular species or groups of plants, where intended for the production of further propagating material and where there is no significant connection between the quality of such seed and the quality of the material grown from it.