. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/328 
18 March 2008  
 (08-1214) 
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-General  Directorate D – Animal Health and Welfare 
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):  Mushrooms (HS Code 0709) and cert ain fish species (HS Code 0302) 
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:  "Draft Commission 
Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/ 2006 setting maximum levels for certain 
contaminants in foodstuffs " (European Commission document SANCO-1522-2007- Rev.4, 
9 pages) 
6. Description of content:  It is proposed to amend current provisions as regards lead, cadmium 
and mercury in mushrooms and certain fish species.  
Mushrooms :  The current division into "wild" and "cultivated" mushrooms are removed.  
Maximum levels of heavy meta ls are proposed on a species-ba sed approach as indicated 
below: 
Cadmium : 
Agaricus bisporus  0.20 mg/kg 
Pleurotus ostreatus  0.20 mg/kg 
Lentinula edoodes  0.20 mg/kg 
Other fungi  1.0 mg/kg 
Lead : 
Agaricus bisporus  0.30 mg/kg 
Pleurotus ostreatus  0.30 mg/kg 
Lentinula edoodes  0.30 mg/kg 
Fish:  Maximum levels for cadmium an d mercury  are proposed as follows: 
Cadmium :  
Mackerel ( Scomber  spp.)  0.10 mg/kg 
Bullet tuna ( Auxis  spp.)   0.20 mg/kg 
Anchovy ( Engraulis  spp.)  0.30 mg/kg 
Mercury :  
Pink cusk eel ( Genypterus blacodes ) 1.0 mg/kg 
Kingklip ( Genypterus capensis )  1.0 mg/kg G/SPS/N/EEC/328 
Page 2  
 
  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:  
[ X ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  The following Codex Guideline levels was 
adopted for methylmercury in fish by  CAC-19 in 1991 (ALINORM 91/40, § 202):  
- 0.5 mg/kg in fish and 1.0 mg/kg in predatory fish  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   European Commission 
document SANCO/ 1522/2007, rev. 4 (available  in English).  When adopted it will be 
published in the Official Journal available at:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm   
Scientific opinions on lead, cadm ium and mercury are available from the former Scientific 
Committee on Food (SCF) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the following 
hyperlinks:  
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:  11 April 2008   
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   20 days after publication in the Official Journal, 
estimated for June 2008 (it is not possible to estimate a more prec ise date at the current stage). 
12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after 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