6.

Article 18 shall be replaced by the following: ‘Article 18 Compliance with MRLs 1. The products covered by Annex I shall not contain, from the time they are placed on the market as food or feed, or fed to animals, any pesticide residue exceeding: (a) the MRLs for those products set out in Annexes II and III; (b) 0,01 mg/kg for those products for which no specific MRL is set out in Annexes II or III, or for active substances not listed in Annex IV unless different default values are fixed for an active substance while taking into account the routine analytical methods available. Such default values shall be listed in Annex V. That measure, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 45(4). On imperative grounds of urgency, the Commission may have recourse to the urgency procedure referred to in Article 45(5) in order to ensure a high level of consumer protection. 2. Member States may not prohibit or impede the placing on the market or the feeding to food-producing animals within their territories of the products covered by Annex I on the grounds that they contain pesticide residues provided that: (a) such products comply with paragraph 1 and Article 20; or (b) the active substance is listed in Annex IV. 3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may authorise, further to a post-harvest treatment with a fumigant on their own territory, residue levels for an active substance which exceed the limits specified in Annexes II and III for a product covered by Annex I where the active substance/product combinations are listed in Annex VII provided that: (a) such products are not intended for immediate consumption; (b) appropriate controls are in place to ensure that such products cannot be made available to the end user or consumer, if they are supplied directly to the latter, until the residues no longer exceed the maximum levels specified in Annexes II or III; (c) the other Member States and the Commission have been informed of the measures taken. Measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation and defining the active substance/product combinations listed in Annex VII shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 45(3). 4. In exceptional circumstances, and in particular further to the use of plant protection products in accordance with Article 8(4) of Directive 91/414/EEC or pursuant to obligations set out in Directive 2000/29/EC (6), a Member State may authorise the placing on the market and/or the feeding to animals within its territory of treated food or feed not complying with paragraph 1, provided that such food or feed does not constitute an unacceptable risk. Such authorisations shall immediately be notified to the other Member States, the Commission and the Authority, together with an appropriate risk assessment for consideration without undue delay with a view to setting a temporary MRL for a specified period or taking any other necessary measure in relation to such products. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 45(4). On imperative grounds of urgency, the Commission may have recourse to the urgency procedure referred to in Article 45(5) in order to ensure a high level of consumer protection.