. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/154 
24 May 2007 
 (07-2124) 
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):   Benfuracarb  (pesticide 
active substances) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Commission 
Decision Concerning the Non-Inclusion of be nfuracarb in Annex I to Council Directive 
91/414/EEC and the Withdrawal of Authorisati ons for Plant Protection Products Containing 
that Substance  (6 pages, in English). 
6. Description of content:   Provides that benfuracarb is not included in the positive 
Community list and that Member States have to  withdraw authorisations for plant protection 
products containing this substance.  This deci sion only concerns the placing on the market 
of this substance and does not affect the Co mmunity or national Maximum Residue Levels 
(MRLs) for residues of the concerned pesticides. 
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. 
Benfuracarb is a substance covered by th e second stage of this work programme. G/TBT/N/EEC/154 
Page 2  
 
  During the evaluation of this active substance, a number of concerns have been identified. 
Benfuracarb is a substance of which the main  metabolite is carbofuran, itself an active 
substance which has been reviewed under Direc tive 91/414 and which is considerably more 
toxic than the parent compound benfuracarb.  For the carbofuran residues, resulting from the use of benfuracarb, the assessment has ra ised a concern about the acute exposure of 
vulnerable groups of consumers, in particular children.  However, the EFSA has stated that 
it is not possible to assess the risk for consumer s completely due to a lack of data in the 
dossier presented by the notifier.  Furthermor e, the data lodged within the legal deadlines 
were insufficient for the EFSA to allow a full assessment of the risk of ground water 
contamination from metabolites other than carbof uran.  Finally, based on the available data, 
it has not been demonstrated th at the risk to birds and mamm als, aquatic organisms, ground 
dwelling organisms, earthworms and other non-target organisms is acceptable. 
Consequently, it was not possible to conclude on the basis of the information available that 
benfuracarb 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 benfuracarb al lowed by Member State, 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 date of adoption of this decision. 
8. Relevant documents:   Doc. SANCO/03440/2006 rev 4 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    15 August 2007 
Member States have to withdraw all existing authorisations for plant protection products containing benfuracarb 6 months after date of adoption. 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from date of notification 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] 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 8043 
E-mail: ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu 
The text is available on the EC-TBT We bsite: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/