1997D0830 — EN — 24.03.2000 — 002.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSION DECISION
of 11 December 1997
repealingCommission Decision 97/613/EC and imposingspecial conditions on the import of
pistachios and certain products derived from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran
(Text with EEA relevance)
(97/830/EC)
(OJ L 343, 13.12.1997, p. 30)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►M1 Commission Decision 98/400/EC of 10 June 1998 L 176 37 20.6.1998
►M2 Commission Decision 2000/238/EC of 9 March 2000 L 75 59 24.3.2000
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▼B
COMMISSION DECISION
of 11 December 1997
repealingCommission Decision 97/613/EC and imposingspecial
conditions on the import of pistachios and certain products derived
from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran
(Text with EEA relevance)
(97/830/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to CouncilDirective 93/43/EEC of 14 June 1993 on the
hygiene of foodstuffs (1) and in particular Article 10 (1) thereof,
Whereas Commission Decision 97/613/EC of 8 September 1997 on the
temporary suspension of imports of pistachios and certain productsderived from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran (
2)i s
applicable until 15 December 1997 and should be repealed;
Whereas pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran have been
found to be, in many cases, contaminated with excessive levels ofAflatoxin B1;
Whereas the Scientific Committee for Food has noted that Aflatoxin B1,
even at extremely low doses, causes cancer of the liver and in additionis genotoxic;
Whereas this constitutes a serious threat to public health within the
Community and it is imperative to adopt protective measures atCommunity level;
Whereas an examination of conditions of hygiene in Iran has been
undertaken and revealed that improvements in hygiene practices and thetraceability of pistachios are required; whereas the mission team wasunable to check all stages of the handling of pistachios prior to exporta-tion; whereas commitments have been received from the IranianAuthorities in particular in relation to improvements in production,handling, sorting, processing, packaging and transport practices;whereas it is therefore appropriate to subject pistachios or productsderived from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran to specialconditions to provide a high level of protection to public health;
Whereas pistachios and products derived from pistachios originating in,
or consigned from Iran, may be imported, provided that these specialconditions are applied;
Whereas it is necessary that pistachios and products derived from
pistachios have been produced, sorted, handled, processed, packagedand transported following good hygienic practices; whereas it is neces-sary to establish the levels of Aflatoxin B1 and total Aflatoxin insamples taken from the consignment immediately prior to leaving Iran;
Whereas it is necessary for documentary evidence to be provided by the
Iranian Authorities to accompany each consignment of pistachiosoriginating in, or consigned from Iran, relating to the conditions ofproduction, sorting, handling, processing, packaging and transport andthe results of laboratory analysis of the consignment for levels ofAflatoxin B1 and total Aflatoxin;
Whereas, it is necessary to submit for analyses lots of pistachios origin-
ating in, or consigned from all third countries, in order to determine thelevels of contamination of pistachios from all sources with Aflatoxin B1and totalAfl atoxin, whereas co-ordinated officialcontrolprogrammesfor foodstuffs shall be completed to this end;
(1) OJ L 175, 19. 7. 1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 248, 11. 9. 1997, p. 33.
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▼B
Whereas Member States have been consulted on 29 October 1997 andon 10 November 1997,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
This Decision repeals Decision 97/613/EC of 8 September 1997 on the
temporary suspension of imports of pistachios and products derivedfrom pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran.
Article 2
1. Member States may import:
— pistachios falling within CN code 0802 50 00,
— roasted pistachios falling within CN codes 2008 19 13 and
2008 19 93;
originating in, or consigned from Iran, only where the consignment is
accompanied by the results of official sampling and analysis, and thehealth certificate in Annex I, completed, signed and verified by arepresentative of the Iranian Ministry of Health.
2. Pistachios and products derived from pistachios originating in, or
consigned from Iran, may only be imported into the Communitythrough one of the points of entry listed in Annex II.
3. Each consignment shall be identified with a code which corre-
sponds to the code on the sampling results of the official sampling andanalysis and health certificate referred to in paragraph 1.
4. The competent authorities in each Member State shall ensure that
imported pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran, are subjectto documentary checks to ensure that the requirement for the healthcertificate and sampling results referred to in paragraph 1, are compliedwith.
5. The competent authority shall ensure that before release onto the
market from the point of entry into the Community, each consignmentis subject to systematic sampling and analysis for Aflatoxin B1 and totalAflatoxin. The Commission shall be informed by the competentauthority of the results of these analyses.
Article 3
The present Decision shall be reviewed before the 31 October, 1998, in
order to assess whether the specialconditions referred to in Articl e 2provide a sufficient level of protection to public health within theCommunity. The review shall also assess whether there is a continuingneed for the specialconditions.
Article 4
Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with this
Decision. They shall inform the Commission thereof.
Article 5
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
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▼B
ANNEX I

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Member State Point of entry▼M2
ANNEX II
List of points of entry through which pistachios and products derived from pistachios originating
in, or consigned from Iran may be imported into the European Community
BELGIQUE — BELGIË Antwerpen
DANMARK All Danish harbours and airports and all border stations
DEUTSCHLAND HZA Lörrach — ZA Weilam Rhein-Autobahn, HZA Stuttgart
— ZA Flughafen, HZA München-Flughafen, HZA Hof — ZASchirnding, HZA Weiden — ZA Furth im Wald-Schafberg,HZA Weiden — ZA Waidhaus-Autobahn, Bezirksamt Rein-ickendorf von Berlin, Abteilung Finanzen, Wirtschaft undKultur, Veterinär- und Lebensmittelaufsichtsamt, Grenzkon-trollstelle, HZA Frankfurt (Oder) — ZA Autobahn, HZACottbus — ZA Forst-Autobahn, HZA Bremen — ZANeustädter Hafen, HZA Bremerhaven — ZA ContainerTerminal, HZA Bremerhaven — ZA Rotersand, HZAHamburg-Freihafen-Abfertigungsstelle, HZA Hamburg-Frei-hafen — ZA Ericus-Abfertigungsstelle Südbahnhof, HZAHamburg-Freihafen — ZA Köhlfleetdamm, HZA Hamburg-St.Annen — ZA Altona, HZA Hamburg-Waltershof-Abferti-gungsstelle, HZA Hamburg-Waltershof — ZA Flughafen,HZA Frankfurt am Main-Flughafen, HZA Braunschweig-Abfertigungsstelle, HZA Hannover-Abfertigungsstelle, HZALüneburg — ZA Stade, Stadtverwaltung Dresden, Lebensmit-telüberwachungs- und Veterinäramt, GrenzkontrollstelleDresden-Friedrichstadt (für Bahntransport), Landratsamt Weis-seritzkreis, Lebensmittelüberwachungs- und Veterinäramt,Grenzkontrollstelle (für Straßentransport), LandratsamtNiederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis Lebensmittelüberwa-chungs- und Veterinäramt, Grenzkontrollstelle Ludwigsdorf(für Straßentransport), HZA Itzehoe — ZA Pinneberg, HZATrier — ZA Idar-Oberstein, ZA Oldenburg — ZA Wilhelm-shaven
ΕΛΛΑ∆Α Αθήνα ,Πειραιάς ,Ελευσίνα ,Αερολιµένας Αθηνών ,
Θεσσαλονίκη ,Βόλος ,Πάτρα ,Ηράκλειο Κρήτης ,Αερολι -
µένας Κρήτης ,Εύζωνοι ,Ειδοµένη ,Ορµένιο ,Κήποι ,
Κακαβιά ,Νίκη ,Προµαχώνας ,Πύθιο ,Ηγουµενίτσα ,
Κρυσταλλοπηγή
ESPAÑA Algeciras (Puerto), Alicante (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Almería(Aeropuerto, Puerto), Barcelona (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Bilbao(Aeropuerto, Puerto), Cádiz (Puerto), Cartagena (Puerto),Gijón (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Huelva (Puerto), A Coruña-Santiago de Compostela (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Las Palmas deGran Canaria (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Madrid-Barajas (Aero-puerto), Málaga (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Palma de Mallorca(Aeropuerto), Pasajes-Irún (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Santa Cruz deTenerife (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Santander (Aeropuerto, Puerto),Sevilla (Aeropuerto, Puerto), Tarragona (Puerto), Valencia(Aeropuerto, Puerto), Vigo-Villagareia (Aeropuerto), Marín(Puerto), Vitoria (Aeropuerto), Zaragoza (Aeropuerto)
FRANCE Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône)
Le Havre (Seine-Maritime)
IRELAND All harbours, airports and border stations
ITALIA Ufficio Sanità marittima ed aerea di Ancona
Ufficio Sanità marittima ed aerea di BariUfficio Sanità marittima ed aerea di GenovaUfficio Sanità marittima di LivornoUfficio Sanità marittima ed aerea di NapoliUfficio Sanità marittima di RavennaUfficio Sanità marittima di Salerno
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▼M2
Member State Point of entry
Ufficio Sanità marittima ed aerea di Trieste
Dogana di Fernetti-Interporto Monrupino (Trieste)
LUXEMBOURG Centre douanier, Croix de Gasperich, Luxembourg
NEDERLAND Rotterdam
ÖSTERREICH HZA Graz, Nickelsdorf, Spielfeld, HZA Wien
PORTUGAL Lisboa
SUOMI — FINLAND Helsinki
SVERIGE Göteborg
UNITED KINGDOM ChannelTunnelTerminal , Dover, Fel ixstowe, Gatwick
Airport, Goole Grangemouth, Harwich, Heathrow Airport,Heysham, Hull, Immingham, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Leith,Liverpool, London (including Tilbury and Thamesport),Manchester Airport, Manchester Container Port, Manchesterincluding Ellesmere Port, Middlesbrough, Newhaven, Poole,Shoreham, Southampton