WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/291 
10 August 2006 
 (06-3840) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Commission of the European Co mmunities. Health & Consumer 
Protection Directorate-General.  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Food additives. Numerous HS positions  in Chapter 29 (Headings 2901 to 
2940) and other headings such as 2106. ICS: 67.220 and the foods in which they are used.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Member States of the European Communiti es (EC) and third countries exporting the 
products concerned to the EC.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Commission Document 
COM (2006) 428 final, 2006/0145(COD) Proposal for a Regulation of the European 
Parliament and Council on Food Additives  (48 pages)  
6. Description of content:  The Community legislation for food additives was created by 
Council Directive 89/107/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of  the laws of the 
Member States concerning food additives for use in foodstuffs intended for human 
consumption (Official J ournal L 40 of 11.02.1989), seventeen years ago, before the creation 
of the WTO Agreement on the Application of SPS measures.  Since then this legislation has 
been modified several times w ith the introduction of separate legislation on colours (European 
Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC), sw eeteners (European Pa rliament and Council 
Directive 94/35/EC) and other food additives (E uropean Parliament and Council Directive 
95/2/EC).  
This proposal aims:  
- To modernise and adapt the existing Eur opean legislation on food additives to 
technological and scientific developments. A single instrument for principles and approvals is proposed to update and simplify the legislation.   
- To set up a re-evaluation programme for existing food additives permitted within 
the European Communities. 
- To set provisions for the establishment of a community list of additives which are 
used in/added to food additives or food enzymes to facilitate their storage or 
integration into foods.  
 G/SPS/N/EEC/291 
Page 2  
 
  Further Background 
The commission with a view to clarifying and updating this legislati on to incorporate new 
scientific knowledge and with the ultimate aim of facilitating trade by setting clear rules, is 
presenting a package of four related proposals: of most relevance is the proposal notified under G/SPS/N/EEC/294 which includes the common procedure for the authorisation of 
food additives. 
The other proposals are notified in  
G/SPS/N/EEC/292 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on food enzymes 
and amending Council Directive 83/417/EEC, Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, 
Directive 2000/13/EC, and Council Directive 2001/112/EC [COM(2006) 425 final. 2006/0144(COD)] 37 pages. 
G/SPS/N/EEC/293 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring prope rties for use in and on foods and amending 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89, Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91, Regulation 
(EC) No 2232/96 and Directive 2000/13/EC [COM(2006) 427 final  2006/0147 (COD)] 49 pages. 
G/SPS/N/EEC/294 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a 
common authorisation procedure for food add itives, food enzymes and food flavourings 
[COM(2006) 423 final  2006/0143 (COD)]  21 pages.  
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [  ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[  ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  European  
Commission Document COM (2006) 428 final, 2006/0145(COD) ' Proposal for a 
Regulation of the European Par liament and Council on Food Additives' . 
Document available at: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriSe rv/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0428en01.pdf  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  This European Commission proposal is submitted to the 
Council and to the European Parliament fo r its adoption according to the co-decision 
procedure (Article 251 of the EC Treaty).  An exact date of adoption cannot be given at this 
moment although is expected to take place around April 2008. 
Detailed information about this pr ocedure is given at "Pre-Lex": 
http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail _dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=194538#380025  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  20 days as of publication in the Official Journal.   G/SPS/N/EEC/291 
 Page 3 
 
 
  12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after the date of notification.  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: