Whereas the production and marketing of fruit and vegetables should take full account of environmental concerns, including cultivation practices, the management of waste materials and the destruction of products withdrawn from the market, in particular as regards the protection of water quality, the maintenance of biodiversity and the upkeep of the countryside;

Whereas it is desirable to insert in that new regulation the main provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3285/83 of 14 November 1983 laying down general rules for the extension of certain rules issued by producers' organizations in the fruit and vegetables sector (4), of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1319/85 of 23 May 1985 on the reinforcement of supervision of the application of Community rules on fruit and vegetables (5), of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2240/88 of 19 July 1988 fixing, for peaches, lemons and oranges, the rules for applying Article 16b of Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (6), of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1121/89 of 27 April 1989 on the introduction of an intervention threshold for apples and cauliflowers (7), and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1198/90 of 7 May 1990 establishing a Community register of citrus cultivation (8);

is a perennial fruit tree that, with appropriate techniques, permits a return on what is invested in its cultivation,

Whereas satisfactory results in the cultivation of fruit depend to a large extent on the quality and plant health of the material used for their propagation and of the fruit plants intended for fruit production;

(c)ground intended for the cultivation of fruit and vegetable crops which are normally in direct contact with the soil and normally eaten raw, for a period of 10 months preceding the harvest of the crops and during the harvest itself.