Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 20th January, 2012.

I, SIMON COVENEY, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Commission Implementing Directive 2011/68/EC of 1 July 2011¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Minimum Conditions for Examining Agriculture Plant Species) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

2. The European Communities (Minimum Conditions for Examining Agriculture Plant Species) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 122 of 2004 ) are amended by substituting in Regulation 2 the definition of "Directive" for the following-

" 'Directive' means Commission Directive No. 2003/90/EC of 6 October 2003² as amended by Commission Implementing Directive 2011/68/EU of 1 July 2011.".

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

29 December 2011.

SIMON COVENEY,

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations give effect to the provisions of Commission Implementing Directive 2011/68/EU of 1 July 2011 which amends Council Directive 2003/90/EC on the Characteristics and Minimum Conditions for Examining Agriculture Plant Species.

1 O.J. No. L 175, 2.7.2011, p.17

2 O.J. No. L 254, 8.10.2003, p.7