. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/361 
4 December 2009 
 (09-6248) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Commission of the European Communities. Health & Consumers 
Directorate-General Directorate E – Safety of the food chain 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Food additives other than colours a nd sweeteners (ICS Code 67.220.20) 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[ ] All trading partners   
[X] Specific regions or countries:  EC member States and third countries exporting 
these products to the European Communities.  
5. Title of the notified document:  "Draft Commission Directive of *** amending Directive 
95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners"  Language:  English  
Number of pages:  21 
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2009/sps/EEC/09_4216_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  Directive 95/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 20 February 1995 on food additives other than colours and sweeteners1 lays down a list 
of food additives that may be used in the Community and the conditions for their use.  
There have been technical developments in th e field of food additives since the adoption of 
Directive 95/2/EC. This Directive should be adapted to take into account those 
developments.  Therefore, the draft Commission Directive amending Directive 95/2/EC foresees to authorize new food additives or extend uses for food additives already permitted 
under Directive 95/2/EC. 
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.    
                                                      
1 OJ L 61, 18.3.1995, p. 1 G/SPS/N/EEC/361 
Page 2  
 
  8. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[X] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text) The General Standard on Food Additives 
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[ ] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [ ] Yes   [X] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:  The General Standard on Food Additives (GSFA) is currently 
under development.  There are some deviations from GSFA in the eventual directive to be 
adopted which may be expected to reflect th e particular circumstances of additive uses in 
the European Communities (good manufacturing practice, technological use, consumer considerations).  Technological justifications  have been discussed with member States and 
the EC economic operators to support the proposed uses. 
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:  European 
Commission Document SANCO/2009/10755.  When  adopted it will be published at the 
Official Journal available at:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu  (available in English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  March 2010 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  May 2010 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  20 days after publication 
[X] Trade facilitating measure To facilitate trade whilst ensuring consumer safety.  
12. Final date for comments:  [X] Sixty days  from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  2 February 2010 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [X] National Notification 
Authority, [X] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if 
available) of other body:  sps@ec.europa.eu 
13. Texts available from:  [X] National Notification Authority, [X] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
sps@ec.europa.eu  
Further to Document SANCO/2009/10755, informa tion relevant to this proposal can be 
found on the website of DG Health and Consumers at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/additives/index_en.htm