Paragraph 1. Inspection of the cropF1

The competent authority, or the professional operator under the official supervision of the competent authority, must carry out field inspections on the crop from which the seed of Helianthus annuus L. is produced concerning the presence of Plasmopara halstedii (Farlow) Berlese & de Toni in the crop to ensure that the presence of that pest does not exceed the thresholds set out in the table in Part G of Annex 4.

For the purposes of point (1), the competent authority may authorise inspectors, other than the professional operators, to carry out the field inspections on its behalf and under its official supervision.

Those field inspections must be carried out when the condition and the stage of development of the crop allow for an adequate inspection. At least one field inspection must be carried out each year, at the most appropriate time for the detection of the respective RNQPs.

The competent authority must determine the size, the number and the distribution of the portions of the field to be inspected in accordance with appropriate methods.

The proportion of the crops for the production of seed to be officially inspected by the competent authority must be at least 5%.