. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/EU/8 
13 January 2012  
 (12-0171) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN UNION  
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 authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  mailto:eu-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):  Phenylmercury acetate, 
Phenylmercury propionate, Phenylmercury 2-et hylhexanoate, Phenylmercury octanoate, 
Phenylmercury neodecanoate as well as articles containing these substances. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Regulation amending Annex XVII to Regulat ion (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the Registrati on, Evaluation, Authoris ation and Restriction 
of Chemicals (REACH) (5 pa ges, in English).     
6. Description of content:  The draft Regulation proposes th e prohibition of manufacture, use 
and placing on the market of five phenylmercu ry compounds (indicated above at point 4) as 
substances or in mixtures, as well as the placing on the market of articles or parts thereof 
containing one or more of these substances.  
The above provisions concerning mixtures and arti cles are not applicable  if the concentration 
in a mixture or in articles or any parts th ereof does not exceed 0.01% weight by weight 
mercury. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  The 
objective of the draft Commissi on Regulation is to reduce the risk of exposure to mercury 
from the manufacture and use of phenylme rcury compounds for human beings and the 
environment. This is in line with the Comm unity Strategy concerni ng Mercury (COM (2005) 
20 final) which identified mercury as highly t oxic to humans, ecosyste ms and wildlife, posing 
a threat in the European Union and globally.  G/TBT/N/EU/8 
Page 2  
 
  8. Relevant documents:     
- Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the Europe an Parliament and of the Council on the 
 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) (OJ 
 L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1) 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=OJ :L:2006:396:0001:0849:EN:PDF  
- The compiled opinion of the Committee s for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-
 Economic Analysis (SEAC):  
http://echa.europa.eu/documents/ 10162/259efcb1-4c8c-4621-a007-b63f590634a0  
- The background document to RAC and SEAC opinions  
http://echa.europa.eu/documents/ 10162/4a71bea0-31f0-406d-8a85-59e4bf2409da  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    August 2012  
August 2012; the proposed da te of application is 
August 2017 (5 years afte r entry into force) 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
11. Text 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 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  mailto:eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
http://members.wto.org/crnatt achments/2011/tbt/EEC/11_4448_00_e.pdf