WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/293 
10 August 2006 
 (06-3842) 
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 Co mmunities. Health & Consumer 
Protection Directorate-General.  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties.  HS 0910, 
2103, 3302.10 and other headings, when circula ting for use in food. ICS: 67.220 and the 
foods in which they are used.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Member States of the European Communiti es (EC) and third countries exporting the 
products concerned to the EC.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Commission Document 
COM (2006) 427 final, 2006/0147(COD) 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring 
properties for use in and on foods and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89, 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91, Regulation (EC) No 2232/96 and Directive 2000/13/EC' (49  pages).  
6. Description of content:  The community legislation on food flavourings was created in 
1988, 17 years ago, before the creation of the WTO agreement on the application of SPS 
measures.  Since then the legislation has been  further developed and amended and includes:  
- Council Directive 88/388/EEC of 22 June 1988  on the approximation of the laws of 
the Member States relating to flavouring s for use in foodstuffs and to source 
materials for their production.  (OJ L 184, 15.7.1988 p.61) 
- Regulation (EC) No 2232/96 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 
October 1996 laying down a Community pr ocedure for flavouring substances used 
or intended for use in or on foodstuffs (OJ L 299, 23.11.1996, p. 1–4) 
It is therefore appropriate to replace the ex isting legislation with a new updated legal act. 
This proposal aims:  
- To modernise and adapt the existing legisl ation on flavourings to technological and 
scientific developments;  
- to establish clear evaluation and authorisation procedures; 
- to better inform the consumer about  the use of natural flavourings. G/SPS/N/EEC/293 
Page 2  
 
   Further Background 
The Commission with a view to clarifying the legislation, incorporating new scientific 
knowledge and the ultimate aim of  facilitating trade by setting clear rules, is presenting a 
package of four related proposals. Of most relevance is the pr oposal notified under 
G/SPS/N/EEC/294 which includes the common pro cedure for the authorisation of food 
flavourings. 
The other proposals are notified in  
G/SPS/N/EEC/291 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and Council on Food Additives 
[COM(2006) 428 final / 2006/0145 (COD)] 48 pages.  
G/SPS/N/EEC/292 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on food enzymes 
and amending Council Directive 83/417/EEC, Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, 
Directive 2000/13/EC, and Council Directive 2001/112/EC [COM(2006) 425 final. 2006/0144(COD)] 37 pages. 
G/SPS/N/EEC/294 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a 
common authorisation procedure for food add itives, food enzymes and food flavourings 
[COM(2006) 423 final  2006/0143 (COD)]  21 pages.  
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:  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Commission 
Document COM (2006) 427 final, 2006/0147(COD) 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on fl avourings and certain food ingredients with 
flavouring properties for use in and on foods and amending C ouncil Regulation (EEC) 
No 1576/89, Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91, Regulation (EC) No 2232/96 and 
Directive 2000/13/EC'.  
Document available at: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriSe rv/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0427en01.pdf  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  This European Commission proposal is submitted to the 
Council and to the European Parliament fo r its adoption according to the co-decision 
procedure (Article 251 of the EC Treaty). An ex act date of adoption ca nnot be given at this 
moment although is expected to take place around spring 2008.  
Detailed information about this pr ocedure is given at "Pre-Lex": 
http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail _dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=194540  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  20 days as of publication in the Official Journal.   G/SPS/N/EEC/293 
 Page 3 
 
 
  12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after the 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 notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: