G/TBT/N/ESP/39  
19 June 2018 
(18-3826) Page: 1/2 
Committee on  Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.  
 
1. Notifying Member : SPAIN 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible : Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación  (Ministry of 
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) , Dirección General de la Industria Alimentaria  
(Directorate -General for the Food Industry)  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:  
Pº Infanta Isabel, 1  
28071 Madrid  
Tel.: 91 347 53 61/8477/5559  
Fax: (91) 347 57 70  
control.laboratoriosalimentarios@mapama.es  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading . ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable) : 1905 
Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares, whether or not containing cocoa ; 
communion wafers, empty cachets of a kind suitable for pharmaceutical use, sealing 
wafers, rice paper and similar products.  
Out of the products under heading  1905, the Quality Standard applies only to bread.  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document : Proyecto de Real 
Decreto por el qu e se Aprueba la Norma de Calidad para el Pan  (Draft Royal Decree 
approving  the Quality Standard for bread) (10 pages, in Spanish)  
6. Description of content : The new Standard updates Royal Decree No. 1137/1984 of 2 8 
March , which was in force until now, and which approve d the Technical and Sanitary 
Regulation for the production and distribution of, and trade in ordinary bread and special 
bread.  
The notified draft Royal Decree establishes a definition of bread and the two main types, 
that is, ordinary brea d and special bread, a s well as  the sales descriptions corresponding to 
each type.  
It defines other elements such as sourdough, inactive sourdough and artisanal bread -
making, which were not described in the previous Standard, but which are important in the  
current production of bread.  
It establishes the raw materials and other ingredients that can be used to make bread, as 
well as the permitted processing aids.  
The Standard refers to European Union law with regard to the mandatory provisions 
concern ing cons umer information on food . The mandatory provisions regulate, among G/TBT/N/ESP/39  
- 2 - 
  other things, the use of the terms "wholemeal" and "sourdough".  
It also provides for the marketing of certain types of bread at points of sale.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable : Due to the numerous amendments made to Royal Decree No. 1137/1984 of 
28 March  approving the Technical and Sanitary Regulation for the production and 
distribution of, and trade in ordinary bread and special bread,  the technological 
developments experienced by the sector for the production and marketing of bread, and 
the changes in consumption trends, it was necessary to carry out a comprehensive  review 
of Royal Decree No. 1137/1984.  
The new Standard aims to:  
- Facilitate fair competition between the different types of operators in the sector;  
- facilitate innovation and development in the bread sector;  
- guarantee that consumers purchase quality products with well -defined characteristics;  
- improve the information received by consumers, by clarifying the sales descriptions, as 
well as other non -mandatory information that may be used by operators.  
8. Relevant documents : Text of the draft Decree.  
9. Proposed date of adoption : 1 January 2 019 
Proposed date of entry i nto force : 1 January 2 019 
10. Final date for comments : 60 days from the date of notification  
11. Texts available from : National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación  (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)  
Dirección General de la Industria Alimentaria  (Directorate -General for the Food Industry)  
Pº Infanta Isabel, 1  
28071 Madrid  
Tel.: 91 347 53 61/8477/5559  
Fax: (91) 347 57 70  
dgia@magrama.es  
 
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