WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/EEC/100
25 October 2000
(00-4441)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission, General Directorate for Health and Consumer
Protection
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable).
• Cereals (including buckwheat), bran, germ, wheat grain and rice, legumes and pulses,
soybeans;
• Vegetables and fruits, leafy vegetables, Brassica  spp, fresh herbs, all fungi, stem
vegetables, root vegetables, potatoes, celeriac, all cultivated fungi, peeled potatoes;
fruits, berries and small fruits;  fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices (for direct
consumption) and fruit nectars;
• Wines (including sparkling wines and excl uding liqueur wines), aromatized wines,
aromatized wine-based drinks, wine-product cocktails, ciders, perry and fruit wines;
• Fats and oils, including milk fat;  hydrolyzed vegetable protein;  soy sauce;
• Meat of bovine animals, sheep, pig, poultry, horse;  edible offal of cattle, sheep, pig
and poultry;  liver of cattle, sheep, pig and poultry;  kidney of cattle, sheep, pig and
poultry;
• Milk:  cow’s milk (raw milk, milk for the manufacture of milk-based products and
heat-treated milk);  infant formulae and follow-on formulae;
• Fish: Anglerfish ( Lophius spp.); Atlantic catfish ( Anarhichas lupus ); Bass
(Dicentrarchus labrax ) ;  B l u e  l i n g  ( Molva dipterygia ); Bonito ( Sarda spp.); Eel
(Anguilla spp.); Escolar or butter fish ( Lepidocybium flavobrunneum ); Halibut
(Hippoglossus hippoglossus ); Little tuna ( Euthynnus spp.); Marlin ( Makaira spp.);
Oilfish ( Ruvettus pretiosus);  Pike ( Esox lucius ); Plain bonito ( Orcynopsis unicolor );
Portuguese dogfish ( Centroscymnes coelolepis ); Rays ( Raja spp.); Redfish ( Sebastes
marinus, S. mentella, S. viviparus ); Sail fish (Istiophorus platypterus ); Scabbard fish
(Lepidopus caudatus, Aphanopus carbo ); Shark (all species); Snoek mackerel
(Lepidocybium spp., Ruvettus spp.); Sturgeon ( Acipenser spp.); Swordfish ( Xiphias
gladius ). Muscle meat of fish;  crustaceans, excluding brown meat of crab;  bivalve
mollusks;  cephalopods (without viscera)
Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: EC
member States and countries exporting to the European CommunitiesG/SPS/N/EEC/100
Page 2
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:
• Draft Commission Regulation setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in
foodstuffs (SANCO/890/2000/Rev4, 19 pages);
• Draft Commission Directive laying down the sampling methods and the methods of
analysis for the official control of the levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs
(SANCO/1045/2000/Rev 4, 11 pages);
• Draft Commission Decision repealing Comm ission Decision 93/351/EEC of 19 May
1993 determining analysis methods, sampling plans and maximum limits for mercury
in fishery products (SANCO/ 1046/2000/Rev2 3 pages).
5. Description of content:
Draft Regulation (SANCO/890/2000/Rev4) recasts Regulation (EC) N° 194/97
• Repeats the levels of nitrates and aflatoxins already set in existing legislation;  and
• Sets new maximum levels of lead, cadmium , mercury  and 3-MCPD  in certain
foodstuffs .
Thus, comments are expected for the newly proposed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and
3-MCPD only, but not for nitrates and aflatoxins.
The draft Directive (SANCO/1045/2000/Rev4) la ys down the quality criteria for sampling
and methods of analysis for the specified contaminants.
The draft Decision (SANCO/1046/2000/Rev2) repeals maximum levels of mercury in fish
products set by Decision 93/351/EEC. The latt er is now being replaced by the Regulation
(SANCO/890/2000/Rev4)
An overview of the new setting is given below:
1. Lead limits:  Cereals (including buckwheat), legumes and pulses, leafy vegetables,
fresh herbs and all fungi, peeled potatoes, brassica  spp and all cultivated fungi;
fruits, berries and small fruits. Fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices (for direct
consumption) and fruit nectars;  fats and oils, including milk fat;  wines (including
sparkling wines and excluding liqueur wine s), aromatized wines, aromatized wine-
based drinks, wine-product cocktails, ciders, perry and fruit wines;  cow’s milk (raw
milk, milk for the manufacture of milk-based products and heat-treated milk);infant formulae and follow-on formulae;  meat of bovine animals, sheep, pig and
poultry;  edible offal of cattle, sheep, pig and poultry;  muscle meat of fish;
crustaceans, excluding brown meat of crab, bivalve mollusks, cephalopods (without
viscera);
2. Cadmium limits:  Cereals, bran, germ, wheat grain and rice, soybeans;  vegetables
and fruits, leafy vegetables, fresh herbs, root vegetables, potatoes, celeriac and all
cultivated fungi;  meat of bovine animals, sheep, pig and poultry excluding offal,
horse meat;  liver of cattle, sheep, pig and poultry;  kidney of cattle, sheep, pig and
poultry;  muscle meat of certain fish, crustaceans, excluding brown meat of crab,
bivalve molluscs, cephalopods;
3. Mercury limits : Anglerfish ( Lophius  spp.); Atlantic catfish ( Anarhichas  lupus);
Bass ( Dicentrarchus  labrax); Blue ling ( Molva  dipterygia ); Bonito ( Sarda  spp.); Eel
(Anguilla  spp.); Escolar or butter fish ( Lepidocybium flavobrunneum ); Halibut
(Hippoglossus hippoglossus ); Little tuna ( Euthynnus  spp.); Marlin ( Makaira  spp.);
Oilfish ( Ruvettus  pretiosus); Pike ( Esox  lucius ); Plain bonito ( Orcynopsis  unicolor);
Portuguese dogfish ( Centroscymnes  coelolepis ); Rays ( Raja  spp.); Redfish
(Sebastes  marinus , S. mentella , S. viviparus ); Sail fish ( Istiophorus platypterus );
Scabbard fish ( Lepidopus caudatus, Aphanopus carbo ); Shark (all species); Snoek
mackerel ( Lepidocybium  spp., 
Ruvettus  spp.); Sturgeon ( Acipenser  spp.); Swordfish
(Xiphias gladius ).G/SPS/N/EEC/100
Page 3
4. Products with 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol [3-MCPD] limits :  Hydrolized
vegetable protein;  soy sauce.
6. 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   
7. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [    ].
Where these exist, the drafts are in conformity with levels established by CodexAlimentarius (Codex Committee on F ood Additives and Contaminants).
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  European
Commission Documents;  SANCO/ 890/2000/Rev4, SANCO/1045/2000/Rev4,
SANCO/1046/2000/Rev2  (Available in all EC languages)
9. Proposed date of adoption:  End of January 2001
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  End of February 2001
11. Final date for comments:  6 December 2000
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [     ] National notification
authority, [  X ] EC enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:           
12. Texts available from: [    ] National notification authority, [  X ] EC enquiry point or
address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: