. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/289 
6 August 2009  
 (09-3806) 
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):  Diphenylamine 
(pesticide active substance).        
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Decision concerning the non-inclusion of diphe nylamine 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 diphenylamine 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/289 
Page 2  
 
  Diphenylamine 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 perfor m a reliable consumer exposure assessment, as 
data are missing on the presence and toxicity of unidentified metabolites of the substance, 
as well as on the possible formation of nitrosam ines during storage of the active substance 
and during processing of treated apples. More over, no data was available on the potential 
breakdown or reaction product of diphenylam ine residues in pro cessed commodities. 
Consequently, it was not possible to conclude on  the basis of the information available that 
diphenylamine 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 diphe nylamine 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 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 diphenylamine 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