WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.744
5December 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-5354)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofHealth, Welfare andSports
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification shallbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National Enquiry Point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Thethree drafts are
closely related andrelate toice-cream andother ice-cream products, mustard, legumes,
salt,spices andherbs.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document:
(a) Draft Commodities ActDecree containing therepeal oftheIce-Cream Decree
(Commodities Act)1978, theMustard Decree (Commodities Act), theLegumes
Decree Commodities Act), andtheSaltDecree (Commodities Act), andthe
amendment relating thereto oftheQuantity Designation Decree (Commodities
Act), theCommodities ActDecree ontheLabelling ofFoodstuffs, the
Commodities ActDecree ontheAddition ofMicro Nutrients toFoodstuffs and
theStarch Decree (Commodities Act);
(b) Draft Commodities ActDecree onReserved Designations; and
(c) Draft Commodities ActDecree onHerbs andSpices.
6. Description ofcontent: TheDutch government hasdecided toconsiderably simplify the
foodstuffs legislation. Inimplementation ofsaidDecree, fourDecrees arerepealed and,
asaconsequence ofthis,fourother Decrees areamended. Theamendments tothelatter
fourDecrees aremerely ofaneditorial nature (draft 5a).Through theradical repeal of
theregulations indraft 5a,thedesignation ofafewwidely consumed products,
surrounding which there arehighexpectations onthepartoftheconsumer, shall no
longer beprotected. Inthedraft Commodities ActDecree onReserved Designations a
minimum number ofrules areupheld fortherequired useofthedesignations mustard
andice-cream.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.744
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6. Description ofcontent (cont'd):Sothisdoesnotrelate tocompulsory designations but
todesignations which may beused under certain required minimum conditions
(draft 5b). Indraft 5c,theSpice Decree (Commodities Act)is,ontheonehand,
repealed and, ontheother hand, minimum rules (re-) established, whereby the
designation ofcertain herbs andspices maybeused, ifnecessary (sonotcompulsory).
This hasbeen opted for,since spices andherbs arerelatively expensive, widely
consumed products, whereby consumer expectations arehigh. After all,when herbs and
spices aresold, there isnolistofingredients.
7. Objective andrationale, including thenature ofurgent problems where applicable: The
three drafts were established with aview tothemarket operation, deregulation and
legislative quality oftheDutch foodstuffs legislation. Once thethree drafts have been
enacted, theDutch foodstuffs legislation willbesignificantly deregulated.
8. Relevant documents: Ice-cream Decree (Commodities Act) 1978, Mustard Decree
(Commodities Act), Legumes, Decree (Commodities Act), SaltDecree (Commodities
Act), Spice Decree (Commodities Act).
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 1March 1998
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 1April 1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 15January 1998
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress, e-mail andtelefax number
ofother body: