COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION  
of 21 December 2011  
amending Annex I to Implementing Decision 2011/402/EU on emergency measures applicable to 
fenugreek seeds and certain seeds and beans imported from Egypt  
(notified under document C(2011) 9524)  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
(2011/880/EU)  
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union,  
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down 
the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing 
the European Food Safety Authority and laying down 
procedures in matters of food safety (  1 ), and in particular 
Article 53(1)(b)(i) and (iii) thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 lays down the general 
principles governing food and feed in general, and food 
and feed safety in particular, at Union and national level. 
It provides for emergency measures to be taken by the 
Commission where it is evident that food or feed 
imported from a third country is likely to constitute a 
serious risk to human health, animal health or the 
environment, and that such risk cannot be contained 
satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the 
Member State(s) concerned.  
(2) Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on 
the hygiene of foodstuffs (  2 ) lays down general rules for 
food business operators on the hygiene of foodstuffs. 
Those rules include hygiene requirements to ensure that 
imported foods are of at least the same hygiene standards 
as food produced in the Union, or are of an equivalent 
standard.  
(3) Certain lots of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt have 
been identified as the causative agent of an outbreak in 
the Union of Shiga-toxin producing  Escherichia coli  
bacteria (STEC), serotype O104:H4. The origin of the 
outbreak was identified as fenugreek seeds from Egypt 
consumed as sprouts.  
(4) Accordingly, Commission Implementing Decision 
2011/402/EU (  3 ) introduced a ban on the release for free circulation in the Union of certain seeds and beans 
imported from Egypt that fall within the CN codes listed 
in the Annex thereto. That ban expires on 31 March 
2012.  
(5) However, dried split leguminous vegetables, broken soya 
beans or broken oil seeds and oleaginous fruits are not 
used for sprouting purposes. Dried split leguminous 
vegetables, broken soya beans or broken oil seeds and 
broken oleaginous fruits imported from Egypt should no 
longer be considered as a food safety risk and should be 
reauthorised for import into the Union.  
(6) The emergency measures laid down in Implementing 
Decision 2011/402/EU should therefore be amended 
on the basis on this new information.  
(7) The Annex to Implementing Decision 2011/402/EU 
should therefore be amended accordingly.  
(8) The measures provided for in this Decision are in 
accordance with the opinion of the Standing 
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,  
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  
Article 1  
The Annex to Implementing Decision 2011/402/EU is replaced 
by the text in the Annex to this Decision.  
Article 2  
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.  
Done at Brussels, 21 December 2011.  
For the Commission  
John DALLI  
Member of the CommissionEN 23.12.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 343/117  
( 1 ) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.  
( 2 ) OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 179, 7.7.2011, p. 10.ANNEX  
‘ANNEX  
Seeds and beans from Egypt whose release for free circulation in the Union is prohibited until 31 March 2012  
CN Code (*)  Description  
ex 0704 90 90  Rocket sprouts  
ex 0706 90 90  Beetroot sprouts, radish sprouts  
ex 0708  Sprouts of leguminous vegetables, fresh or chilled  
ex 0709 90 90 
ex 0709 99 90 (  1 ) Soya bean sprouts  
ex 0713  Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned, not broken  
0910 99 10  Fenugreek seeds  
ex 1201 00 
ex 1201 (  1 ) Soya beans not broken  
1207 50  Mustard seeds  
ex 1207 99 97 
ex 1207 99 96 (  1 ) Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, not broken  
1209 10 00  Sugar beet seeds  
1209 21 00  Lucerne (alfalfa) seeds  
1209 91  Vegetable seeds  
ex 1214 90 90  Lucerne (alfalfa) sprouts  
(*) The “CN codes” mentioned in this Decision refer to codes specified in Part Two of Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 26 58/87 of 
23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1). 
( 1 ) CN code as at 1.1.2012.’EN L 343/118 Official Journal of the European Union 23.12.2011