. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/278 
13 December 2005 
 (05-5919) 
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 Directorate D – Food Safety: production and distribution chain  
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):  Foodstuffs in which food additives, notably food colours, are used;  Food 
additives (ICS 67.220)  
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 pa ges of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Directive amending Directive 95/45/EC as regards E110 Sunset Yellow FCF and E171 
Titanium dioxide (7 pages)  
6. Description of content:  The draft Directive updates the specific purity criteria for E110 
Sunset Yellow FCF and E171 Titanium dioxide in order to (1) restrict the presence of Sudan 
I (1-(Phenylazo)-2-naphthalenol) which may be formed as an impurity during the production of Sunset Yellow and (2) permit the u se of the rutile form of Titanium dioxide.  
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [ X ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests  Adoption of the purity criteria which will then become of a 
mandatory nature. 
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 draft takes into account the specifications 
established by international bodies such as JECFA (Joint FAO /WHO Expert Committee on 
Food Additives) G/SPS/N/EEC/278 
Page 2  
 
 9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  European 
Commission Document SANCO/2005/03189 Rev. 1 (available in English). When a dopted it 
will be published at the Offi cial Journal available at:   
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOYear.do?year=2005
 
The scientific risk assessments related to th e safety in use of rutile titanium dioxide is 
available at: 
http://www.efsa.eu.int/scie nce/afc/afc_opinions/819/op inion_titanium_dioxide1.pdf  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Early February 2006 (at this time  is not possible to estimate a 
more specific date)  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  20 days as of publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union (OJUE) 
12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after the date of notification. 
Comments may be welcome at any time. They wi ll be considered at the occasion of a new 
modification of Directive 95/45/EC laying down specific purity criteria concerning colours for use in foodstuffs.  
Agency or authority designated to handle co mments:  [ X ] EC notification authority, 
[   ] National enquiry point, or addre ss, fax number and E-mail address (if available) 
of other body:   
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [ X ] EC enquiry point, or 
address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: