S.L. 433.34 Art. 4Establishment of the National Certification Authority.

(1) There shall be a national certification authority which shall be responsible for regulating the certification process at national level. The Directorate is hereby being established as the national certification authority.

(2) The tasks of the authority shall be:

(a) to establish guidelines for the certification of the (NATIONAL CERTIFICATION SCHEME)

various vegetatively-propagated species which are then made publicly available;

(b) to formulate the technical protocols for each species or group of species which are then made publicly available;

(c) to define the necessary schedules for the certification processes;

(d) to receive and approve the requests received from establishments to be recognised as centres for conservation, pre-multiplication and multiplication;

(e) to monitor the whole process of certification at national level;

(f) to verify that the propagated variety admitted for certification has already been included in the National Catalogue of Certified Varieties; and

(g) to make the necessary arrangements for propagation material from the repositories, foundation blocks, mother blocks or laboratories located abroad to be brought to Malta; in vitro

(h) to consult with the Plant Protection Board referred to in article 4 of the Act on paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above.