. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/329 
3 April 2008  
 (08-1472) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Commission of the European Communities.  Health & Consumer 
Protection Directorate-Gene ral, Directorate E – Safety of the food chain 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Food supplements, understood as numerous  food products used as complement 
to normal diet, normally circul ating under Chapters 21, 29 a nd 30, mostly under headings 
2106, 2109, 3004 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
Member States of the European Communities (E C) and third countries exporting the products 
concerned to the EC 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  European Commission 
document SANCO/1524/2007, rev. 5 "Draft  Commission Regulation amending Regulation 
(EC) No 1881/2006 setting maximum levels for cert ain contaminants in foodstuffs as regards 
heavy metals" (available in English, 5 pages) 
http://members.wto.org/crnatt achments/2008/sps/EEC/08_0999_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  The proposal sets new maximum levels for lead, cadmium and 
mercury in food supplements.  
For lead a maximum level of 3.0 mg/kg for all food supplements is proposed. 
For cadmium  a maximum level of 1.0 mg/kg is propo sed for all food supplements, excl. food 
supplements consisting exclusively or mainly of dried seaweed or of  products derived from 
seaweed.  For the latter group a maximu m level of 3.0 mg/kg is proposed. 
For mercury  a maximum level of 0.10 mg/kg for all food supplements  is proposed. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    G/SPS/N/EEC/329 
Page 2  
 
  9. Relevant documents and langu age(s) in which these are available:    
A consolidated version of Di rective 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to 
food supplements (date of reference 21 Marc h 2006) is available (ENG/FRA/ESP) from the 
hyperlinks indicated below: 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CON SLEG:2002L0046:20060421:EN:PDF  
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2002L0046:20060421:FR:PDF  
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CON SLEG:2002L0046:20060421:ES:PDF  
A consolidated version of Commission Regu lation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 
setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs (date of reference 1 July 2007) 
is available (ENG/FRA/ESP) from th e hyperlinks indicated below: 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CON SLEG:2006R1881:20070701:EN:PDF  
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2006R1881:20070701:FR:PDF  
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ /LexUriServ.do?uri=CON SLEG:2006R1881:20070701:ES:PDF  
The scientific opinions on lead, cadmium a nd mercury are available from the former 
Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) and the Eu ropean Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 
English:  
Lead:   http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/ scf/reports/scf_reports_32.pdf  
Cadmium:   http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/ scf/reports/scf_reports_36.pdf  
Mercury:   http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-
1178620753812_1178620763245.htm  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  As soon as possible 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  20 days after publication in th e Official Journal (it is not 
possible to estimate a precise date at the current stage) 
Proposed date of application:   1 April 2009 
12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after th e date of notification 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notifica tion authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
E-mail:  sps@ec.europa.eu