. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/354 
4 August 2009 
 (09-3787) 
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):  Foodstuffs  with the following CN Codes: 
− spices CN Codes 0904, 0908, 0910:  Capsicum spp  (dried fruits thereof, whole or 
ground, including chillies, chilli powder, cayenne and paprika); Piper spp  (fruits 
thereof, including white and black pepper); Myristica fragrans (nutmeg); Zingiber 
officinale  (ginger); Curcuma longa (turmeric);  and 
− liquorice root and liquorice extract:  CN Codes 130212 and 170490. 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners [ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  "Draft Commission Regulation of *** amending 
Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December  2006 setting maximum levels for certain 
contaminants in foodstuffs as regards ochratoxin A"  Language:  English  Number of 
pages:  6 
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2009/sps/EEC/09_2730_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  This draft Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) 
No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximu m levels for certain contaminants in 
foodstuffs as regards ochratoxin A aims at amending maximum levels as regards 
ochratoxin A in certain foodstuffs. 
Following the availability of the EFSA scientific opinion on ochratoxin A following 
changes are proposed as regards maximum levels for ochratoxin A:   
− Establishment of a maximum level for ochratoxin A in spices;  and 
− Establishment of a maximum level of ochratoxin A in liquorice (root and extract). 
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.    G/SPS/N/EEC/354 
Page 2  
 
  8. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[X] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [ ] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Opinion of 
the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain of the EFSA on a request from the 
Commission related to ochratoxin A in food. 
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Scie ntific_Opinion/contam_op_ej365_ochratoxin
_a_food_en.pdf?ssbinary=true  (available in English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  End of December 2009 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  End of December 2009 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  1 February 2010 
[ ] Trade facilitating measure 
12. Final date for comments:  [X] Sixty days  from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  3 October 2009 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [X] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] 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, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  
Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
sps@ec.europa.eu