WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/403 
20 May 2011 
 (11-2550) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN UNION
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission, Health & Consumers Directorate-General  
Directorate E-Safety of the food chain 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Oils and fats (HS Chapters 12 & 15); Cocoa beans and derived products (HS 
Code 18001);  Coconut oil (HS Code 1513); Smoked meat and smoke d meat products (HS 
Code 0210);  Barbecued and grilled meat/meat pr oducts sold to the final consumer;  Muscle 
meat of smoked fish and fishery product s (HS Code 0305);  Smoked sprats and canned 
smoked sprats;  Bivalve molluscs (HS Codes 0307, 1605);  Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children,  infant formulae and follow-on formulae, 
including infant milk and follow-on milk, dietary foods for special medical purposes 
intended specifically for infants (HS Codes 04 and 19, specially prepared for infants). 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  "Draft Commission  Regulation amending Regulation 
(EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels  for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in 
foodstuffs".  Language(s):  English  Number of pages:  9 
 http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2011/sps/EEC/11_1634_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  The objective of this draft Regulation is to align the maximum 
levels for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to  the scientific opinion of the European Food 
Safety Authority (EFSA) of June 2008, in wh ich EFSA concluded that  benzo(a)pyrene on 
its own is not a suitable marker for the group of  polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and that 
a system of four or eight marker substances would be more appropriate. The draft Regulation introduces maximum levels for the sum of four substances (benzo(a)pyrene, 
benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene) while maintaining separate 
maximum levels for benzo(a)pyrene. 
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.    G/SPS/N/EEC/403 
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  8. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[X] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [ ] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:  Document 
SANCO/10616/2009 rev. 7 (available in English).  When adopted it will be published in the 
Official Journal available at:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm  
The scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other scientific 
information (EN) is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/pah_en.htm
 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  Estimated for August 2011. 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  Estimated for August 2011. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  20 days after publication in the Official Journal.  It shall apply from 
September 2012. 
[ ] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments:  [X] Sixty days  from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  19 July 2011 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [X] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:   
European Commission 
DG Health and Consumers, Unit D3 - In ternational questions (multilateral)  
Rue Froissart 101 B-1049 Brussels Tel:  +(322) 29 68185/62847 
Fax:  +(322) 29 98090 
E-mail:  sps@ec.europa.eu  G/SPS/N/EEC/403 
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  13. Texts available from:  [X] National Notification Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  
Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
European Commission  
DG Health and Consumers, Unit D3 - In ternational questions (multilateral)  
Rue Froissart 101 
B-1049 Brussels 
Tel:  +(322) 29 68185/62847 Fax:  +(322) 29 98090 E-mail:  sps@ec.europa.eu