. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/352 
26 November 2010  
 (10-6350) 
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 UNION
  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail 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, 
EU–TBT Enquiry Point, Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43, E-mail:  mailto: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):  Detergents  
(CN Code 3402) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Proposal for a 
Regulation of the European Parliament a nd of the Council amending Regulation (EC) 
No. 648/2004 as regards the use of phosphates and other phosphorous compounds in 
household laundry detergents (COM(201 0) 597) (14 pages, in English). 
6. Description of content:  The draft Regulation proposes to restrict the content of phosphates 
and other phosphorous compounds in household laund ry detergents in the EU by setting an 
upper limit of 0.5% by weight of  total phosphorus (P) content.  
The draft Regulation does not affect detergents  for automatic dishwashers or those used by 
professionals (institutional & industrial detergen ts) as technically and economically feasible 
alternatives are not yet availabl e throughout the EU but the proposal includes a review clause 
of the situation concerning automatic di shwashers detergents by end of 2014. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
– Better functioning of the European mark et through harmonisation of the total 
phosphorous content of household laundry detergent; 
– Environmental protection, in pa rticular a reduction of the risk of eutrophication in the 
aquatic environment;  
– Reduction of cost for the removal of phos phorous from waste wate r treatment plants, 
through elimination of phosphates load  originating from household laundry 
detergents. G/TBT/N/EEC/352 
Page 2  
 
  8. Relevant documents:  
– SEC(2010)1277 Impact Assessment accompanying the proposal: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2010:1277:FIN:EN:PDF
 
– SEC(2010) 1278 – summary Impact Assessment accompanying the proposal: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2010:1278:FIN:EN:PDF  
– Current legislation on detergents : 
Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Pa rliament and of the Council on detergents: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:104:0001:0035:en:PDF  
– Various background studies: 
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemical s/specific-chemicals/d etergents/index_en.htm  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    December 2011 
1 January 2013 
10. Final date for comments:  90 days from date of notification 
11. Text available from: National  enquiry point [ ], or address, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and website addresses, if available of the other body:  
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  mailto:ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu
 
The text is available on the EU–TBT Website :  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
and at: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0597:FIN:EN:PDF  
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0597:FIN:FR:PDF  
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0597:FIN:ES:PDF  
And can be downloaded at: 
http://members.wto.org/crnatt achments/2010/tbt/EEC/10_4384_00_e.pdf