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            COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1635/2006

of 6 November 2006         

laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 737/90 on the conditions governing imports of agricultural products originating in third countries following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power-station

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 737/90 of 22 March 1990 on the conditions governing imports of agricultural products originating in third countries following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power-station (1), and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas:

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.   Checks on the radiocaesium content referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 737/90 of products referred to in Article 1 of the same Regulation, to ensure that the maximum permitted levels laid down by the said Regulation are observed, shall be carried out by the Member States in which the products are released for free circulation and at the latest at that time.

2.   Checks shall be carried out by sampling in accordance with the following minimum standards:

3.   Checks on specific products shall be carried out in accordance with the following rules:

4.   Where failure to comply with the maximum permitted levels is observed in respect of a given product, the competent authorities of the Member State may require the imported product to be destroyed or returned to the country of origin. In the latter case, written evidence that the product has left the territory of the Community will be forwarded to the customs authority which refused the release for free circulation.

5.   For the products referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the competent authorities may levy charges on the importer for the sampling and analysis of products for compliance with Regulation (EEC) No 737/90. For consignments which exceed the maximum permitted levels, the competent authorities may also recover from their intended importer costs associated with either the destruction of the consignment or its return to the country of origin.

Article 2

1.   Each Member State shall by analogy apply Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 to notify the Commission without delay of recorded cases of non-compliance with the provisions on maximum permitted levels, set out in Regulation (EEC) No 737/90, stating the country of origin, the description and degree of contamination of the goods, the means of transport, the exporter and the decision taken in respect of the lots in question.

2.   Member States shall inform the Commission of the bodies assigned to implement checks.

3.   The Commission shall inform the Member States without delay of recorded cases of non-compliance with the maximum permitted levels through the Community rapid alert system established pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

Article 3

1.   The Member States shall ensure that the export certificates issued by the competent authorities of third countries listed in Annex II attest that the products that they accompany comply with the maximum permitted levels laid down in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 737/90. The export certificates shall be compiled using a form printed on white paper in accordance with the specimen in Annex III.

2.   The Commission shall communicate to the Member States the details received concerning the authorities authorised in the third countries in question to issue export certificates.

Article 4

Regulation (EC) No 1661/1999 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 6 November 2006.

For the Commission

Andris PIEBALGS            

Member of the Commission

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(1)OJ L 82, 29.3.1990, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 1.)

(2)OJ L 197, 29.7.1999, p. 17. Regulation as last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession.

(3)  COM(2005) 535 final.

(4)OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 575/2006 (OJ L 100, 8.4.2006, p. 3).

(5)OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 55.

(6)OJ L 302, 13.10.1992, p. 1.

(7)OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.

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ANNEX I

List of products for which the provisions of Article 1(3)(b) shall be fulfilled

CN codes:

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ANNEX II

List of third countries referred to in Article 3

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ANNEX III

EXPORT CERTIFICATE FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS (ONE CERTIFICATE PER SPECIES)

This certificate must be lodged in triplicate with the entry for free circulation and be kept by the customs
Text of image

Statement by the exporter

1. Exporter (name, full address, country)

5. Country of origin

6. Country of destination

2. Consignee (name, full address, country)

7. Invoice No(s)

3. Identity of means of transport

8. Number and kind of packages

9. Marks and batch numbers

4. Description of products

10. Gross mass (kg)

11. Net mass (kg)

12. I, the undersigned, responsible for these exports, certify the above information:

Date: Place: Name (in block letters):

Signature (1):

(1) Signatures and stamps must be in a different colour to that of the text.

Text of image

Certification by the laboratory

13. Number of analysed samples from the above products representatively taken by a person authorised by the competent authorities

15. Identity of the laboratory (name, full address, country)

14. Recorded radioactivity levels for each sample (Bq/kg)

(specify the batch No for each sample) Report No: Date:

This report must be presented immediately on the demand of the control authorities

16. Accredited by (name and address of the body)

17. Date, name (in block letters), signature and stamp of the laboratory (1)

Certification by the competent authority

18. I, the undersigned, certify that the accumulated radioactivity level in terms of caesium 134 and 137 for the products described above does not exceed:

370 Bq/kg for milk and milk products and for foodstuffs intended for the special feeding of infants, and 600 Bq/kg for all other products listed in the current Commission Regulation relating to Council Regulation (EEC) No 737/90 (2)

Place: Date: Name (in capital letters):

Signature (1): Stamp (1):

(1) Signatures and stamps must be in a different colour to that of the text.

(2) Delete as appropriate.

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