. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/290 
6 August 2009  
 (09-3804) 
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 (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 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 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 applicab le, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Bifenthrin (pesticide 
active substance).        
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Decision concerning the non-inclusion of bife nthrin 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:  The draft provides that bifenthrin is not included in the positive 
Community list and that Member States have  to withdraw authorisations for plant 
protection products containing that  substance. This draft Deci sion only concerns the placing 
on the market of this substance and does not affect the Community or national Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for residues of the concerned substance.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the natu re 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 pr ogramme to be carried out over a period of 12 
years for the gradual examination of the activ e substances contained in the plant protection 
products on the market. Substances for which th e outcome of the evaluation is favourable 
are then included in Annex I of the Directive. G/TBT/N/EEC/290 
Page 2  
 
  Bifenthrin is a substance covered by th e third stage of this work programme. 
During the evaluation of this active substance, a number of concerns have been identified. 
In particular, based on the data lodged by the notifier within the legal deadlines, it was not 
possible to assess the potential contamination of groundwater by a major soil degradation 
product (TFP acid). Furthermore, concerns have been raised as regards a possible 
underestimation of the risk to consumers, due to the limited number of residue data made 
available and the lack of investigation on the metabolism pattern of the two isomers 
constituting bifenthrin. As regards ecotoxicology , the risk to aquatic vertebrates has not 
shown to generate acceptable uses, while ther e is a remaining uncertainty as regards the 
effects of the experienced bioaccumulation in fish of the active substance. Furthermore, 
high risks have been identified for mammals (long term risk and secondary poisoning), 
earthworms (long term risk) and non-target arth ropods (in-field), while the risk to non-
target plants and non-target soil macro-organisms has not been sufficiently addressed. Consequently, it was not possible to conclude, on the basis of the information made available within the legal deadlines, that bifent hrin met the criteria for inclusion in Annex I 
to 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 bifenthr in allowed by Member States, in accordance 
with the provisions of Article 4(6) of Dir ective 91/414/EEC, is limited to a period not 
longer than 12 months, i.e. 18 months from th e date of adoption of this draft Decision. 
8. Relevant documents:   Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the 
placing of plant protection products on the market, OJ L 230, 19.8.1991, p. 1. 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriSe rv.do?uri=CONSLEG:1991L0414:20070201:EN:PDF  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    15 October 2009   
Member States have to withdraw all existing authorizations for plant protection products containing bifenthrin 6 months after the date of adoption.  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
11. Text available from: National enquiry po int [  ], 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 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 can also be downloaded here