. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/308 
29 January 2010  
 (10-0439) 
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 UNION
  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :  
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point Fax: +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail: ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/
  
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):  
- Halons, listed as ozone depleting substances in Annex A, Group II of the Montreal Protocol 
and in Annex I, Group III of Regulation (EC)  No 1005/2009 on substances that deplete the 
ozone layer; and  
- Products and equipment containing or relying on those substances, in particular fire 
extinguishers and fire protection sy stems in the defence, aviation,  oil, gas and petrochemicals, 
nuclear and transport sectors. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Commission 
Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer, with regard to the cri tical uses of halons 
(9 pages, in English).     
6. Description of content:  The draft measure amends Anne x VI to Regulation (EC) No 
1005/2009, which lists the critical uses of halons  that are exempted from the ban on uses of 
halons in the Regulation.  
The draft new Annex VI contains the following main changes to the current Annex VI: 
- It clarifies the descriptions of the permitted critical uses of halons; - It sets a timetable for the phased removal, over the period until 2035, of the critical use 
exemption for all remaining halon appl ications in the European Union. G/TBT/N/EEC/308 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  The 
main objectives of this revi sion of the Annex VI are to:  
- Ensure that halons in fire protection applica tions are replaced in a timely manner where it is 
technically and economically feasible to do so; 
- Incentivise the development and implementation of alte rnatives to halons for fire protection 
applications where alternatives are not yet available; 
- Ensure that dwindling stocks of recycled halo ns are conserved for continuing critical uses; 
- Ensure that emissions of halons to atmosphere are further reduced. 
8. Relevant documents:   Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L exUriServ.do?uri=OJ :L:2009:286:0001:0030:EN:PDF  
IMO Resolution MSC.27(61) prohibits (since 1994) the installation of halons in commercial 
ships: 
http://www.imo.org/includes/blastDa taOnly.asp/data_id%3D15387/27%2861%29.pdf  
ICAO Assembly Resolution A36-12 may lead to  the development of future standards 
restricting certain halon uses in civil aircraft: 
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/asse mbl/a36/docs/A36_res_prov_en.pdf  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    July 2010 
September 2010 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [  ], or addre ss, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:    
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu 
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website :  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
And can also be downloaded here: 
http://members.wto.org/crnatt achments/2010/tbt/eec/10_0343_00_e.pdf