. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/244 
22 January 2009  
 (09-0294) 
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 governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or auth ority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  +(32) 2299 8043 E-mail:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/
  
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):  Articles containing tri-
substituted organostannic compounds and di-subs tituted organostannic compounds (including 
in particular dibutyltin compounds (DBT) a nd dioctyltin compounds (DOT)).        
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Decision amending Council Directive 76/769/EEC as regards restrictions on the marketing 
and use of organostannic compounds for the pur pose of adapting its Annex I to technical 
progress (6 pages, in English).  
6. Description of content:  This proposal for a Commission Decision amends the existing 
restrictions on organostannic compounds, im posed by earlier amendments to Directive 
76/769/EEC. It will provide the following add itional restrictions on the use of certain 
organostannic compounds in consumer articles:  
(a) A ban on the use of tri-substituted or ganostannic compounds in all articles thus 
complementing the ban on their use in the EU  as a consequence of Directive 98/8/EC on 
biocidal products; 
(b) Concerning di-substituted organostannic co mpounds (commonly acti ng as stabilisers and 
catalysts), a ban on Dibutyltin (DBT) compounds in  all articles and mixtures (with certain 
time limited exemptions for applications for wh ich no alternatives currently exist) and a ban 
on Dicoctyltin (DOT) compounds in  specific products which were  identified as contributing 
significantly to overall exposure of consumers. 
These measures will become effective af ter a transition period of three years. G/TBT/N/EEC/244 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  The 
use of organostannic compounds in consumer arti cles has been found to pose a risk to human 
health, particularly for children, (e.g by adve rse effects on the immune system). This proposal 
intends to reduce the overall risk to human he alth from the use of organostannic compounds 
in a wide range of consumer goods.  
8. Relevant documents:   Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation 
of the laws, regulations and ad ministrative provisions of th e Member States relating to 
restrictions on the marketing and use of ce rtain dangerous substan ces and preparations 
Point 21 (organostannic compounds) of the late st consolidated version of the Directive 
available at: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1976L0769:20071003:EN:PDF  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    May 2009 
July 2010 For tri-substituted organostannic 
compounds;  
January 2012 for di-substituted organostannic 
compounds  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [  ], or addre ss, 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 80 43 
E-mail:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu 
The text is available on the EC-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/ 
  
And: here