. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/203 
21 July 2008 
 (08-3509) 
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 (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
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 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):   Napropamide (pesticide 
active substance) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Commission 
Decision concerning the non-inclusion of napropamide 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 napropamide is not included in the positive 
Community list and that Member States have to  withdraw authorisations for plant protection 
products containing that substance. This deci sion only concerns the placing on the market of 
that substance and does not affect the Comm unity or national Maximum Residue Levels 
(MRLs) for residues of the concerned pesticide. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture 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 progr amme to be carried out over a period of 12 
years for the gradual examination of the active substances contained in the plant protection 
products on the market. Substances for which the outcome of the evaluation is favourable 
are then included in Annex I of the Directive. G/TBT/N/EEC/203 
Page 2  
 
  Napropamide 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, it was not possible to perform a reliable risk assessment for the leaching of metabolites to the groundwater as reliable data was missing. 
A period of grace for disposal, storage, placing on the market and use of existing stocks of 
plant protection products containing napropamide allowed by Member States, in accordance 
with the provisions of Article 4(6) of Directive 91/414/EEC, is limited to a period not longer than 12 months, i.e. 18 months from the da te of adoption of this Commission 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/LexUriServ. do?uri=CONSLEG:1991L0 414:20070201:EN:PDF  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    15 October 2008 
Member States have to withdraw all existing 
authorizations for plant protection products containing napropamide 6 months after the date of adoption. 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from date of notification 
11. Texts 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 
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 at:  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2008/tbt/eec/08_2159_00_e.pdf