. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/118 
24 August 2006 
 (06-3999) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:    
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point  Fax:  (+32) 22995725 Email:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu 
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):   Plant protection products 
containing phosalone (pesticide active substance) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Commission 
Decision Concerning the Non-Inclusion of phosalone in Annex I to Council Directive 
91/414/EEC and the Withdrawal of Authorisati ons for Plant Protection Products Containing 
that Substance (5 pages, in English) 
6. Description of content:   Provides that phosalone is not included in the positive Community 
list and that Member States have to withdraw  authorisations for plant protection products 
containing this substance. This decision onl y concerns the placing on the market of this 
substance and does not affect the Commun ity or national Maxi mum Residue Levels 
(MRLs) for residues of the concerned pesticides. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market sets up a harmonised framework for the authorisation and placing on the market of plant 
protection products in order to protect  human health and the environment. 
Article 8(2) of this Directive provides a progr amme to be carried out over a period of 12 
years for the gradual examination of the active substances contained in the plant protection products on the market. Substances for which the outcome of the evaluation is favourable 
are then included in Annex I of the Directive. G/TBT/N/EEC/118 
Page 2  
 
  Phosalone is a substance covered by th e second stage of this work programme. 
Assessment made on the basis of the information submitted show a number of concerns in 
particular the risk for vulnerable groups of consumers, as estimated exposures to phosalone have not been demonstrated to be acceptabl e. Moreover, some of its metabolites and 
impurities need further toxicological character isation and additional concerns have been 
identified concerning the risk for birds, mamma ls, aquatic organisms, bees and non target 
arthropods. Therefore, it has not been demonstr ated that it may be expected that, under the 
proposed conditions of use, plant protection products containing phosalone satisfy in 
general the requirements laid down in Article  5(1)(a) and (b) of Directive 91/414/EEC.  
A period of grace for disposal, storage, placing on the market and use of existing stocks of 
plant protection products containing Phosalone a llowed by Member State, in accordance with 
the provisions of Article 4(6) of Directive 91/414 /EEC, is limited to a period not longer than 12 
months, i.e. 18 months from the date of adoption of this decision. 
8. Relevant documents:   Doc. SANCO/10157/2006 rev 2 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }October 2006 
MS have to withdraw all existing 
authorizations for plant protection products containing phosalone 6 m onths after date of 
adoption. 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from date of notification 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [    ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point  Fax:  (+32) 2 299 57 25 Email:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu