. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/201 
21 July 2008 
 (08-3507) 
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 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 applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Chlorate (pesticide 
active substance) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Commission 
Decision concerning the non-inclusion of ch lorate 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 Decision provides that chlorate is not included in the 
positive Community list and that Member States ha ve to withdraw authorisations for plant 
protection products containing this substance. This draft Decision 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 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. 
Chlorate is a substance covered by the third stage of this work programme. G/TBT/N/EEC/201 
Page 2  
 
  During the examination of this active subs tance by the Standing Committee on the Food 
Chain and Animals Health, it was concluded,  taking into account comments received from 
Member States, that there are clear indications  that it may be expected to have harmful 
effects on human health, in particular, taki ng into consideration the unacceptable exposure 
to operators given the proposed provisional AOEL. In addition, information was insufficient 
to
 establish a definitive AOEL and to assess the leaching of a relevant metabolite to 
groundwater 
A period of grace for disposal, storage, placing on the market and use of existing stocks of 
plant protection products containing chlorate a llowed 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 date of adoption of this draft 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 chlorate 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 8043 E-mail:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu
 
The text is available on the EC-TBT Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
And also at: 
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2008/tbt/eec/08_2157_00_e.pdf