. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/143 
15 January 2007 
 (07-0173) 
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 COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:    
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  +(32) 2 2995725 Email: ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
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):   Carbosulfan  (pesticide 
active substances) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Commission 
Decision Concerning the Non-Inclusion of carbosulfan in Annex I to Council Directive 
91/414/EEC and the Withdrawal of Authorisati ons for Plant Protection Products Containing 
that Substance  (6 pages, in English). 
6. Description of content:   Provides that carbosulfan is not included in the positive 
Community list and that Member States have to  withdraw authorisations for plant protection 
products containing this substance. This deci sion only concerns the placing on the market of 
this substance and does not affect the Comm unity or national Maximum Residue Levels 
(MRLs) for residues of the concerned pesticides. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:    
Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market sets up a harmonised framework for the authorisation and placing on the market of plant 
protection products in order to protect  human health and the environment. 
 Article 8(2) of this Directive provides a progr amme to be carried out over a period of 12 
years for the gradual examination of the active substances contained in the plant protection 
products on the market. Substances for which the outcome of the evaluation is favourable 
are then included in Annex I of the Directive.  G/TBT/N/EEC/143 
Page 2  
 
  Carbosulfan is a substance covered by the second stage of this work programme. 
 
During the evaluation of this active substance, a number of concerns have been identified. The 
use of carbosulfan leads to the appearance of  metabolites which have a hazardous profile. 
This leads to concerns about the exposure of consumers and the possible risk of ground water 
contamination. However, the data lodged by the notifier within the legal deadlines did not 
allow these concerns to be resolved. Furthermore, technical material (that is, the active substance as sold in the market) contains relevant impurities, of which at least one ( N-
nitrosodibutylamine ) is carcinogenic. This impurity is found in the technical material at levels 
which raise concerns. The data lodged by the notifier within the legal deadlines did not 
provide sufficient information to resolve these concerns. As a result, the risk to operators 
could not be assessed adequately. Finally, the data lodged by the notifier within the legal deadlines did not adequately address the risks to birds and mammals, aquatic organisms, bees, non-target arthropods, earthworms, and non-target  soil micro-organisms and plants. Therefore, 
concerns remain as regards the risk assessment for these species. Consequently, it was not 
possible to conclude on the basis of the in formation available that carbosulfan met the 
criteria for inclusion in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC.  
A period of grace for disposal, storage, placing on the market and use of existing stocks of 
plant protection products containi ng carbosulfan allowed by a Member State, in accordance 
with the provisions of Article 4(6) of Directive 91/414/EEC, is limited to a period not longer than 12 months, i.e. 18 months from the date of adoption of this decision. 
8. Relevant documents:   Doc. SANCO/03442/2006 rev 1 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    March 2007 
MS have to withdraw all existing 
authorizations for plant protection products 
containing carbosulfan 6 m onths after date of 
adoption. 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from date of notification 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [    ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point Fax: +(32) 2 299 5725 
Email:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu